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LL. 


THE   LIFE 


SAMUEL  P.  B.  MORSE,  LL.  D., 


INYENTOR   OF   THE 


ELECTRO-MAGNETIC  RECORDING  TELEGRAPH. 


BY 

SAMUEL  IREN^US^PRIME,. 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  NEW   YORK   ASSOCIATION   FOK   THE   ADVANCEMENT   OF   SCIENCE   AND   AET  J 

CORRESPONDING    MEMBER    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY  ; 

AUTHOR    OF    "TRAVELS     IN    EUROPE    AND     THE    EAST," 

"THE   ALHAMBEA  AND  THE   KREMLIN,"   ETC. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

549   AND   551   BROADWAY. 

1875. 


m7 


p 


Enteked,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874, 

By  D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  CongTess,  at  "Washington. 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY  MAY  2  9  199° 

CHESTNUT  HILL  AHA    071A7 


PEE  FAO  E. 


In  Ms  last  will  and  testament  Professor  Moese  gave  to  his 
executors  authority  "  to  place  his  manuscripts  in  the  hands  of 
some  suitable  person  for  the  purpose  of  examining  and  using 
the  same  in  preparing  a  biographical  or  historical  note,"  relating 
to  himself.  The  family  of  the  great  inventor  and  the  executors 
of  his  estate  united  in  an  urgent  request  that  the  author  of  this 
volume  would  take  charge  of  the  papers  and  "prepare  and 
present  to  the  public  a  biography  of  Professor  Morse  in  such  a 
style  that  it  would  be  generally  read." 

With  great  reluctance,  and  after  repeated  solicitations,  I 
consented  to  attempt  the  service.  My  studies  and  pursuits  had 
not  qualified  me  for  the  task,  and  it  would  have  been  far  more 
in  harmony  with  my  wishes  and  judgment,  had  the  work  been 
confided  to  other  hands.  But,  having  been  associated  with  the 
brothers  of  the  Professor  more  than  thirty  years,  and  during 
that  time  on  terms  of  friendly  and  pleasing  intercourse  with 
him,  having  heard  from  his  own  lips  again  and  again  the  story 
of  his  struggles  and  triumphs,  I  had  some  peculiar  facilities  to 
understand  and  interpret  the  man.  But  I  would  have  decisively 
declined  the  honorable  service  assigned  me,  had  I  anticipated 
the  difficulties  and  labors  it  involved.  During  his  lifetime 
Professor  Morse  was  often  applied  to  for  materials  out  of  which 
his  biography  might  be  prepared.  To  one  of  the  applications 
he  replied  by  letter,  "  My  time  is  so  much  absorbed  in  making 


iv  PREFACE. 

my  life,  I  have  none  to  spare  for  writing  it."  And  so  literally 
true  is  this  remark,  that,  in  the  huge  mass  of  manuscripts  left  by 
him,  there  is  not  a  page  that  appears  to  have  been  written  with 
the  expectation  that  it  would  be  employed  in  his  biography. 

If  it  were  possible  to  compensate  my  lack  of  preparation,  it 
would  be  supplied  by  the  remarkable  ability,  extent,  and  value 
of  the  assistance  which  has  been  generously,  and  I  may  add 
nobly,  rendered  by  others.  Professor  E.  !N".  Horsford,  at  my 
request,  cheerfully  prepared  the  admirably  lucid  and  condensed 
history  of  "Electro-Magnetic  Science,"  and  the  measure  of 
Morse's  indebtedness  to  his  predecessors.  The  Hon.  E.  O.  J. 
Smith  furnished  the  most  important  letters  and  memoranda  of 
the  early  years  of  the  Telegraph.  Colonel  T.  P.  Shaffner  put 
at  my  service  his  vast  telegraphic  collections  and  illustrations. 
Hon.  Ezra  Cornell,  with  his  own  hand,  wrote  for  me  his  recol- 
lections of  the  construction  of  the  experimental  line  froni 
Washington  to  Baltimore.  To  the  Hon.  William  Orton  and  to 
George  B.  Prescott,  Esq.,  I  am  indebted  for  those  important 
facts  which  bring  the  history  of  telegraphy  down  to  the  present 
time.  Robert  G-.  Rankin,  Esq.,  Benson  J.  Lossing,  Esq.,  Gen- 
eral T.  S.  Cummings,  Daniel  Huntington,  Esq.,  General  James 
Grant  Wilson,  Rev.  Dr.  Wheeler,  and  others,  have  contributed 
sketches  with  incidents  and  observations  that  enliven  and  enrich 
the  volume. 

The  life  of  Professor  Morse  is  very  naturally  divided  into 
three  parts,  to  each  of  which  has  been  assigned  about  one-third 
of  the  volume.  The  first  includes  his  career  as  an  artist,  which 
was  precisely  one-half  of  his  life.  The  second  was  employed 
in  the  construction  and  establishment  of  the  Telegraph,  a  period 
of  twelve  years.  The  third  and  last  presents  the  rewards 
that  he  received,  and  the  benefits  he  conferred  upon  mankind. 
These  portions  of  time  have  distinctive  values  and  interest ; 
combined,  they  form  au  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 
Freely  and  thoroughly  as  the  history  of  Morse  and  his  work 


PREFACE.  v 

has  been  sifted  and  searched  by  critics  and  courts,  by  friends 
and  foes,  it  was  left  for  his  biographer  to  discover  and  present 
facts  which  explain  with  simplicity  and  ease  the  phenomenon 
that  an  artist  suddenly  grasped  the  profoundest  secrets  of  sci- 
ence, and  welded  them  into  an  invention  to  revolutionize  the  in- 
tercourse of  the  civilized  world.  We  have  learned  that  Samuel 
F.  B.  Morse  was  a  born  inventor,  with  a  genius  for  mechanism ; 
that  he  invented  machinery  and  secured  patents  long  before  he 
made  the  Telegraph  ;  that  his  education  and  habits  of  thought, 
his  antecedents  and  associations,  fitted  him  for  the  task ;  and, 
when  the  hour  arrived,  the  instrument  was  ready  and  the  work 
was  done !  This  was  at  least  the  third  of  his  mechanical  and 
scientific  contributions.  Electrical  science  was  his  favorite  study 
in  college  and  afterward  ;•  evidence  of  this  is  here  given  unknown 
to  himself  as  in  existence.  He  propounded  the  idea  of  the 
Electric  Telegraph  to  familiar  friends  before  he  seriously  under- 
took to  make  it  practical.  He  wrought  out  his  invention  and 
made  it  a  mechanical,  working  instrument,  doing  all  that  it  now 
does,  before  any  man,  scientist  or  artisan,  gave  him  a  particle  of 
assistance.  As  the  recording  Telegraph  is  the  sublimest  of  all 
human  agencies,  so  the  conception  and  construction  of  the  in- 
strument by  a  solitary,  unaided  man,  mark  it  as  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  facts  in  human  progress. 

Embarrassed  by  the  wealth  of  material  that  would  easily 
have  filled  many  volumes  as  large  as  this,  and  being  compelled 
by  want  of  space  to  suppress  hundreds  of  letters  and  documents 
that  would  honor  the  memory  of  Professor  Morse,  I  have  con- 
scientiously executed  a  trust  most  reluctantly  accepted.  With 
all  its  imperfections,  with  which  no  one  can  be  made  better  ac- 
quainted than  the  author  is  already,  the  volume,  with  unfeigned 
diffidence,  but  with  confidence  in  its  justice  and  truth,  is  com- 
mitted to  the  public. 

S.  I.  P. 

New  York,  July  8,  1874. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I. 

MORSE. 

Genealogy — Characteristics  of  Ancestors — His  Grandfather  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Finley — 
His  Father  Rev.  Dr.  Jedediah  Morse — His  Brothers  Sidney  Edwards  and  Richard 
Cary  Morse — Birth  of  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse — Predictions    .        .        .  Pp.  1-12 

CHAPTER  II. 
1791-1811. 
Early  Education — His  School-mistress — Drawing  with  a  Pin — At  Grammar-school — 
Yale  College — President   Dwight — Professors   Day  and   Silliman — Studies  in 
Electricity — Germs  of  the  Telegraph — Portrait-painting — Recollections  by  Fel- 
low-students   13-2*7 

CHAPTER  III. 

1811-1815. 
Washington  Allston — Morse  goes  to  London  under  his  Tuition — The  Voyage — Long- 
ings for  a  Telegraph — Benjamin  West — Morse's  Letters  to  his  Parents — To  a 
Friend  at  Home — Impressions  of  West — Leslie  the  Painter — He  and  Morse  be- 
come Room-mates — Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge — Triumphs  of  the  Young  Artist — 
Meets  with  William  Wilberforce,  Henry  Thornton,  Zachary  Macaulay,  Lord 
Glenelg,  and  Others — Visit  at  Mr.  Thornton's — Intercourse  with  Coleridge — 
Travels  to  Oxford,  and  Incidents — First  Portrait  abroad — Leslie  and  Morse — 
Letters  to  his  Parents — Zerah  Colburn — Dartmoor  Prisoners — Attempts  to 
serve  them — Dunlap's  Account  of  Morse — Dying  Hercules — Judgment  of  Jupi- 
ter— Gold  Medal — Mrs.  Allston's  Death — Scene  at  Mr.  Wilberforce's — Return 
Home 28-88 

CHAPTER   IV. 

1815-1823. 

Return  to  America — Opens  a  Studio  in  Boston — No  Success — Invents  Improvement 

in  Pump — Travels  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  as  Portrait-painter — Meets 

his  Future  Bride — Pursues  his  Invention — Goes  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina — 

Dr.  Finley — Success — Allston's  Encouragement — Returns  North — Marriage — 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Charleston  again — The  Pump — W.  Allston — Morse  paints  the  Portrait  of  Pres- 
ident Monroe — Third  Winter  in  Charleston — New  Haven — Painting  "  House  of 
Representatives  " — History  of  the  Picture Pp.  89-126 

CHAPTER   V. 

1823-1828. 
Invents  a  Machine  for  cutting  Marble — Goes  to  Albany — Little  Success — Returns  to 
New  York — Portrait  of  Chancellor  Kent — Ichabod  Crane — Arrangements  to  go 
to  Mexico  as  Attache  to  the  Legation — Letter  from  Hon.  Robert  Y.  Hayne — 
The  Scheme  abandoned — In  New  Haven — Travels  in  New  England — Settles  in 
New  York — Commissioned  to  paint  Portrait  of  General  Lafayette — Goes  to 
Washington — Sudden  Death  of  his  Wife — Death  of  his  Father — Founds  the 
National  Academy  of  Design — Sketch-Club — Letter  from  General  T.  S.  Cum- 
mings — Lord  Lyndhurst's  Letter — Studies  in  Electro-magnetism — Professor 
Dana's  Lectures — His  Own  Lectures — Escape  from  Death  .         .     127-171 

• 

CHAPTER  VI. 

1829-1832. 
Commissions  to  paint  in  Italy — Journey  to  Rome — Letter  to  his  Cousin — England — 
Paris — Avignon — Marseilles — Nice — The  Cornice  Road — Geneva — Pisa — Rome 
— The  Vatican — Galleries  of  Art — Notes — Thorwaldsen — Portrait — James  Fen- 
imore  Cooper — H.  Greenough — Letters — Return  to  Paris — Friendship  with  La- 
fayette— Sympathy  with  Poland — Imprisonment  of  Dr.  Howe — Fall  of  Warsaw 
— Letters  to  his  Brother — Suggests  Lightning-Telegraph — Humboldt — Presides 
at  Fourth-of-July  Dinner — Letters  of  Lafayette — Interior  of  the  Louvre — Hum- 
boldt and  Morse — Dunlap's  Notices  of  Morse  in  Paris  and  London    .     172-250 

CHAPTER  VII. 

1832. 
Packet-ship  Sully — Electro-magnetism — Dinner-table  Conversation — Idea  of  the  Tel- 
egraph— First  Marks  made — The  Invention  announced  to  Passengers — Draw- 
ings exhibited — Prediction  to  Captain  Pell — Prof.  E.  N.  Horsford's  History  of  the 
Science — Stephen  Grey — Leyden  Jar — Franklin's  Experiments — Charles  Mar- 
shall— Le  Sage — Lomond — Reusser — Cavallo — Wedgewood — Ronalds — Dyar — 
Galvanism,  or  Voltaism — Volta — Schweigger  —  Coxe  —  Magnetism  —  Electro- 
magnetism — Ampere  —  Schilling  —  Cooke  and  Wheatstone — Oersted  —  Spiral 
Coil,  1821 — Arago — Sturgeon — James  Freeman  Dana — Joseph  Henry — Fech- 
iner — Ohm's  Law — Steinheil  —  Daniel — Soemmering — Samuel  Finley  Breese 
Morse — Invention  and  Discovery — Claims  of  Discoverers  and  Inventors — Suc- 
cessive Steps  in  Telegraphic  Invention 251-284 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

1832-1838. 
Arrival  in  New  York — The  Brothers'  Testimony — Mould  and  Type  the  First  Things 
made  for  the  Telegraph — Castings  preserved — Struggles  of  the  Inventor — Pov- 
erty and  Distress — His  Brothers'  Sympathy  and  Aid — Making  the  Telegraphic 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


Instrument — At  the  Lathe — Faith  in  God  and  Himself — Rejected  as  One  of  the 
Painters  of  a  Picture  for  the  Capitol — Artists'  Sympathy — Elected  Professor  in 
University  of  New  York — Rooms  in  Building — Apparatus — Cooks  his  Own  Food 
in  his  Room — Announcement  of  his  Invention — French  Idea  of  Telegraph — 
Professor  Gale's  Statement — Daniel  Huntington — Hamilton  Fish — Rev.  Mr. 
Seelye — Commodore  Starbuck — Robert  G.  Rankin — Rev.  Dr.  H.  B.  Tappan — 
Alfred  Vail  becomes  a  Partner — Letter  to  Secretary  of  Treasury — Secretary's 
Report  to  Congress — Professor  Gale  a  Partner — The  Instrument  at  Speedwell — 
Three  Miles  of  Wire — Experiments — Exhibition  in  New  York — Ten  Miles  of 
Wire — First  Dispatch  preserved — Exhibited  to  the  Franklin  Institute — Report 
— The  Instrument  in  Washington — Exhibited  to  the  President  and  Cabinet — 
Hon.  F.  0.  J.  Smith — Professor  Morse's  Letters  to  Mr.  Smith — Report  of  Com 
mittee  of  Commerce — Partnership  with  Mr.  Smith — Letters  to  Vail — Prepara- 
tions for  a  Journey  to  Europe     .......  Pp.  285-346 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1838-1839. 
Professor  Morse  goes  to  England — Application  for  Patent — Refusal — Reasons — 
False  Statement  of  an  Official — Goes  to  Paris — Letters  to  his  Daughter — Dr. 
Kirk's  Recollections — Arago — His  Great  Kindness — Exhibition  before  Academy 
of  Sciences — Baron  Humboldt's  Congratulations — Report  upon  it — Letters  to 
Friends — Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth's  Letters — Patent  in  France — Count  Montalivet 
— Professor  Morse's  Letters  to  Mr.  Smith — Lord  Lincoln's  and  Lord  Elgin's 
Interest  in  the  Telegraph — Professor  Morse  goes  to  London — Exhibits  the  Tel- 
egraph at  the  House  of  Lord  Lincoln 347-393 

CHAPTER  X. 

1839-1843. 
Return  to  New  York — Russian  Contract — Disappointment  at  Inaction  of  Congress — 
Mr.  Smith's  Views  of  the  State  of  Things — The  Daguerreotype  introduced — 
Experiments — Success — Teaches  Others — Sully  and  Allston  —  Russia  fails — 
Deep  Depression — Letter  to  his  Partners  Mr.  A.  Vail  and  Hon.  F.  0.  J.  Smith- 
Consultation  with  Professor  Henry — Letters  of  Professor  Henry — Struggles  of 
Morse  under  Poverty — Letters  to  Mr.  Vail — An  Agent  employed  at  Washing- 
ton— Failure — An  Old  Sorrow — Hon.  W.  W.  Boardman,  M.  C. — Letter  to  Hon. 
F.  0.  J.  Smith  on  Professor  Henry's  Encouragement — First  Submarine  Cable 
laid  by  Professor  Morse — Report  of  American  Institute — Hon.  C.  G.  Ferris — 
Letter  to  him — Professor  Morse  in  Washington — Favorable  Report  in  Con- 
gress— Debate — Passage  of  Bill  in  the  House  and  the  Senate  appropriating 
Thirty  Thousand  Dollars  for  an  Experimental  Line  of  Telegraph — Death  of 
Allston     .         ..        ..        ..        ..        ..        ...         ...         .     394-472 

CHAPTER  XL 

1843-1844. 
Preparations  to  lay  the  First  Line — Use  of  Tubes   underground — Ezra  Cornell — 
Tubes  abandoned — Wires  put  upon  Poles — Experiments  with    160   Miles  of 
Wire — Professor  Henry's  Letter — Progress  of  the  Work — National  Whig  Con- 


x  CONTENTS. 

vention — Nomination  of  Henry  Clay  announced  at  Washington  by  Telegraph — 
The  Line  complete — The  First  Message — Triumph  of  the  Inventor — His  Letter 
to  Bishop  Stevens — National  Democratic  Convention — James  K.  Polk  nom- 
inated—  Conference  with  Silas  Wright  —  Working  of  the  Telegraph  —  Pro- 
fessor Morse's  Report  of  the  Completion  of  the  Line — Enthusiasm  of  the 
Press  and  the  Public — Telegraph  offered  to  the  Government — Determining  the 
Longitude   .        .        . Pp.  473-509 

CHAPTER  XII. 
1845. 
Congress  refuses  Further  Appropriations — Letter  of  Professor  Morse  to  his  Daughter 
— Hon.  Amos  Kendall  engaged  as  Agent — Formation  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph 
Company — Letters  to  Mr.  Vail — Mr.  Vail's  Replies — Professor  Morse  goes 
abroad — In  London — General  Commercial  Telegraph  Company — Hon.  Louis 
McLane — Professor  Morse  in  Hamburg — Returns  to  London — Exhibitions  of 
the  Telegraph  in  Hamburg,  St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  and  Vienna — Mr.  Fleisch- 
mann's  Account  of  its  Reception — Professor  Morse  in  Paris — Arago — Exhibition 
before  Chamber  of  Deputies — Return  to  America     ....     510-538 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

1846-1847. 
Extension  of  Patent — The  Inventor's  Claim — New  Lines  established — Sidney  E. 
Morse's  Predictions — Report  to  the  Postmaster-General — Artists'  Petition — 
Line  between  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York  —  French  Chambers 
Debate — Letter  to  Arago — First  Fruits — Smithsonian  Institution — Professor 
Henry  appointed  Secretary — Printing-Telegraph — Letter  to  Daniel  Lord — Pi- 
ratical Invasions — Ocean-Telegraph 539-556 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

RIVAL   CLAIMS   AND   LAWSUITS. 

Invasion  of  Patent-right — O^Rielly  Contract — Injunction — Lawsuit  in  District  Court 
of  Kentucky — Decision — Morse  Patent  sustained — Incidents  of  the  Trial — Dis- 
tinguished Men  engaged — Judge  Pirtle's  Epigram — The  Case  appealed — Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  sustains  the  Morse  Patent — Opinion — French 
and  Rogers  Case — Judge  Kane's  Opinion — Sustains  Morse's  Patent — House's 
and  Bain's  Instruments — Dr.  Jackson's  Pretensions — Improvements  in  the  Tel- 
egraphic Instrument — Extent  and  Value  of  the  Telegraph  Business — Morse 
Instruments  compared  with  Others — Western  Union  Telegraph  Company — 
William  Orton — George  B.  Prescott — The  World's  Verdict — Only  One  System, 
that  of  Morse.        ...        .        .■       .        .     557-588 

CHAPTER  XV. 

1847-1854. REST    AND   REWARDS. 

A  Home  at  last — Purchase  of  a  Country-seat  and  Farm  at  Poughkeepsie — Mar- 
riage— Social  and  Domestic  Life — Love  of  Nature — Birds — His  Neighbors'  Es- 
teem— Letter  to  his  Daughter — Rembrandt  Peale  visits  Morse — Letter  of  Benson 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


J.  Lossing — House  in  the  City  of  New  York — Letter  to  Arago — Adoption  of  the 
Morse  System  by  the  German  Convention — Extension  into  Denmark,  Sweden, 
Kussia,  and  Australia  —  Honorary  Distinctions  and  Testimonials  —  Scientific 
Bodies — Tale  College — Foreign  Governments       .        .  .  Pp.  589-613 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

1854-1855. 
Submarine  Telegraph — The  First  Experiment — Newfoundland  Electric  Telegraph — 
Cyrus  W.  Field — Lieutenant  Maury's  Opinion — Formation  of  a  New  Company 
— Morse  to  Faraday — Extension  of  Patent — Letters  to  Mr.  Field  and  Mr.  White 
— Dr.  Steinheil's  Letter — Hon.  D.  D.  Barnard — Professor  Morse's  Predictions — 
Expedition  to  Newfoundland — Attempt  to  lay  the  Cable — Failure — Renewed 
Attempt,  and  Success        .  614-625 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

1856. 
Professor  Morse  visits  his  Native  Place — Goes  to  Europe — Consultations  in  London 
on  the  Atlantic  Telegraph — Mr.  Peabody's  Dinner — Landseer  and  Leslie — 
Whitebait  Dinner — Letter  to  the  Children — Goes  to  Paris  and  Hamburg — At- 
tentions shown  to  him  there — Copenhagen — Visit  to  the  King  of  Denmark — 
Goes  to  Russia — Reception — Presentation  to  the  Emperor — Visit  to  Berlin — 
Reception  by  Humboldt — Return  to  London — Scientific  Experiments — Letters 
to  Mr.  Field — Banquet  to  Morse — Legion  of  Honor — Tupper's  Sonnet — London 
Times — Robert  Owen        .        .        . 626-648 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
185V. 
Submarine  Cables — Early  Attempts — Construction  of  the  Cables — Congressional 
Action — Professor  Morse,  the  Electrician — Embarks  on  the  Niagara — Letters 
to  Mrs.  Morse — Experiments  with  Dr.  Whitehouse  in  London — Lord  Mayor's 
Banquet — In  Paris — Mr.  Mason — Professor  Morse's  Claim — Return  to  London 
— Embarking — Narrow  Escapes — Cable  Festival — Cove  of  Cork — An  Accident 
— Valentia — Sailing  of  the  Expedition — Parting  of  the  Cable — Attempt  aban- 
doned for  the  Season — Return  to  New  York — Mr.  Field's  Efforts — The  Second 
Expedition — Failure — Third  Expedition — The  Cable  laid — The  Continents  con- 
nected— First  Message — Great  Rejoicing — Celebration — TJie  Cable  silent  Eight 
Years — Fourth  Expedition — Great  Eastern — Failure — Return — Fifth  Expedi- 
tion— Success  at  last 649-666 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

1858-1859. 
Return  to  America — Winter  in  New  York — Bridal  Party  and  Festivities — Invited  to 
Paris — Preparations  for  the  Journey — Instruction  to  Farmer  and  Coachman — 
Voyage — Remarkable  Prediction  and  Fulfillment — Paris — Banquet — Memorial 
to  Foreign  Powers — Hon.  Lewis  Cass — Hon.  John  Y.  Mason — The  French  Gov- 
ernment — Convention    called — Governments    represented — Count  Walewski's 


xii  CONTENTS. 

Letter  to  Professor  Morse — Proceedings  of  the  Convention — Amount  of  Award 
— Proportion  of  the  Several  Governments — Summary  of  Foreign  Distinctions — 
Visit  to  the  West  Indies — Erection  of  a  Telegraph — Southern  Atlantic  Tele- 
graph— Correspondence — Letter  from  Professor  Steinheil — Morse's  Reply — Pro- 
posal to  raise  a  Testimonial  to  Steinheil — Professor  Morse's  Return — Reception 
at  Poughkeepsie Pp.  667-694 

CHAPTER  XX. 

1860-1870. 
At  Home — Views  on  Secession  and  the  War — Education  of  his  Children — Letters  to 
them — Applications  for  Aid — Last  Visit  to  Europe — Diisseldorf  and  Artists — 
Paris — Attentions  paid  him — Reception  at  Court — The  Great  Exhibition — Habit 
of  Life  in  Paris — Labors  in  the  Committee  on  Telegraphs — Isle  of  Wight — 
Dresden — Presentation  at  Court — Berlin  and  the  Telegraph  Corps — Return  to 
America — Purchase  of  Allston's  "  Jeremiah  "  and  Present  to  Yale  College — 
Allston's  Portrait  by  Leslie  he  presents  to  Academy  of  Design — Donation  to 
Theological  Department  of  Yale  College  —  To  New  York  Union  Theological 
Seminary — Banquet  in  New  York — Chief-Justice  Chase's  Remarks — Professor 
Morse's — Mr.  Huntington's — Summer  at  Poughkeepsie — His  Leg  is  broken — 
Prostrate  for  Three  Months — Statue  of  Humboldt — Statue  of  Morse — Erected 
by  Telegraph-operators — Ceremonies  in  the  Central  Park — Academy  of  Music — 
Address  by  Professor  Morse 695-724 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

LITERARY   AND    RELIGIOUS   LIFE. 

A  Ready  Writer — Studies  in  his  Department — Authorship — Lucretia  Maria  David- 
son— The  Serenade — Roman  Catholic  Controversy — Foreign  Conspiracy — Con- 
fessions of  a  Priest — General  Lafayette's  Remark — Our  Liberties  defended — 
Imminent  Dangers — Defense  of  his  Invention — Religious  Life — Analysis  of  his 
Christian  Character — Sketch  by  Rev.  Dr.  Wheeler — Anticipations  of  Death — 
Death  of  his  Brother  Richard — The  Three  Brothers — The  Tortoise  and  Hare — 
In  his  Library — Asiatic  Society — Evangelical  Alliance — Literary  and  Benevolent 
Labors — Domestic  Peace — The  Evening  of  Life        ....     725-737 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

1870-1872. 
An  Old  Painting — Letter  to  the  Convention  in  Rome — Death  of  Sidney  E.  Morse — 
Last  Public  Service — Unveiling  the  Statue  of  Franklin— Sickness — Death — 
Funeral — Memorial  Services  in  Washington — Boston — Action  of  Congress — 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts— Telegraphic  Sympathy — Tributes  of  Respect — 
Sketch  of  Character 738-753 

Appendix ' 754-776 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


MORSE,  MT.  75 Frontispiece 

REV.  DR.  MORSE  AND  FAMILY To  face  page  26 


THORWALDSEN. . .................. 

MORSE,  MT.  45...........    ........ 

MORSE'S   WORKSHOP 

ARAGO,  HUMBOLDT,  AND  MORSE. 
MORSE,  PEALE,  AND  LOSSING.... 

TURKISH  DIPLOMA 

HUMBOLDT......................... 

MORSE  IN  HIS  STUDY. ............ 


205 
251 
289 
365 
596 
608 
641 
726 


Drawings  illustrative  of  the  invention  will  be  found  in  their  appro- 
priate places  in  the  text  and  the  appendix. 


LIFE  OP  SAMUEL  E.  B.  MOESE. 


CHAPTEE    I. 

MORSE. 

GENEALOGY — OHABACTEEISTIOS    OP   ANOESTOES HIS     GEANDFATHEE   EEV.     DE. 

SAMUEL  FINLEY — HIS  FATHEE  BEY.  DE.  JEDEDIAH  MOESE — HIS  BEOTHEE8 
SIDNEY  EDWAEDS  AND  EIOHAED  OAEY  MOESE — BIETH  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B. 
MOESE PEEDIOTIONS. 

THE  name  of  Morse  is  readily  traced  to  the  time  of  Edward 
III.  of  England.  It  is  variously  written  Mors,  Moss,  Morss, 
and  Morse.  During  the  last  five  hundred  years  the  family  coat- 
of-arms  has  borne  the  motto,  "  In  Deo,  non  armis,  fido :  "  In 
God,  not  akms,  I  trust. 

Anthony  Morse,  who  was  born  at  Marlborough,  in  Wilt- 
shire, England,  May  9,  1606,  came  to  New  England  in  1635. 

He  settled  in  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  about  half  a  mile 
south  of  the  most  ancient  cemetery  in  the  old  town.  The  house 
in  which  he  dwelt  was  on  a  slight  eminence  in  a  field  that  is 
known  as  the  Morse  field  to  this  day.  He  was  a  man  of  cour- 
age, energy,  enterprise,  and  great  integrity  of  character,  traits 
which  have  been  transmitted  through  the  successive  generations 
of  his  family.  His  son  Anthony  succeeded  to  the  paternal  acres, 
lived  upon  them,  and  died  February  25,  1677-78. 

Peter  Morse,  grandson  of  the  first  Anthony,  and  son  of  the 
second,  removed  about  the  year  1698  to  New  Roxbury,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  died  there  November  2,  1721. 

John,  the  oldest  son  of  Peter,  resided  in  the  same  place,  and 


2  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

was  married  to  Sarah  Peak,  who  lived  within  a  month  of  a  hun- 
dred years.  She  died  March  15,  1801,  having  had  ten  children, 
seventy-two  grandchildren,  two  hundred  and  nineteen  great- 
grandchildren, and  fourteen  great-great-grandchildren.  Their 
tenth  and  last  child  was  Jonathan,  who  (it  is  not  strange  to  say) 
died  at  the  age  of  three  years  and  four  months,  having  read  the 
Bible  through  twice,  committed  many  passages  to  memory,  and 
conducted  family  worship,  for  which  he  must  have  been  emi- 
nently qualified ! 

Dolly  Morse  died  in  "West  Woodstock,  Connecticut,  on  the 
29th  of  November,  1870,  in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  her  age, 
leaving  one  sister,  in  her  eighty-fifth,  and  two  brothers,  one  in 
his  eighty-first  and  the  other  in  his  ninetieth  year — all  cousins 
of  Professor  Morse.  The  grandfather  of  these  seven  cousins 
died  in  the  ninety-fourth,  their  grandfather's  brother  in  the 
ninety-third,  one  of  his  sisters  in  the  eighty-eighth,  another  in 
her  seventy-eighth,  his  oldest  son  in  the  eighty-fifth,  and  his 
mother  in  the  ninety-ninth  year  of  their  respective  ages.  The 
descendants  of  the  great-grandmother,  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
numbered  three  hundred  and  nineteen,  of  whom  thirty-one  were 
of  the  fifth  generation  ;  and  one  or  more  of  each  of  the  last  four 
generations  resided  under  the  same  roof  with  the  old  lady  when 
she  died.  If  the  great-grandmother,  who  was  born  in  1701,  had 
at  the  time  of  her  birth  any  living  ancestor  over  eighty-one 
years  old,  three  lives,  viz.,  the  lives  of  this  ancestor,  of  the  great- 
grandmother,  and  one  of  her  surviving  great  -  grandchildren, 
would  cover  the  whole  period  of  American  history  from  the 
landing  on  Plymouth  Pock  to  the  death  of  Professor  Morse  in 
1872.  Professor  Morse  compiled  a  table  of  longevity  in  his 
family,  leaving  a  blank  in  it  for  his  own  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  was  eighty-one.  In  this  table  he  records  the  age 
of  his  great-great-grandmother  seventy-nine,  great-great-grand- 
father eighty-one,  great-great-grandmother  ninety,  great-grand- 
mother ninety-nine  years  and  eleven  months,  grandfather  nine- 
ty-four, grandmother  eighty-one,  great  uncle  ninety-three,  great 
aunt  eighty-eight,  cousins  ninety-one,  eighty-seven,  eighty-seven, 
eighty-two. 

Jedediah  was  the  oldest  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Morse.  He 
was  born  July  8,  1726,  in  New  Koxbury.     In  the  year  1719  the 


JEDEDIAH  MORSE.  3 

town  passed  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  to  that  of 
Connecticut,  and  was  called  Woodstock.  Here  Jedediah  Morse, 
with  seventy-three  others,  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Connect- 
icut at  the  first  freemen's  meeting.  He  was  a  strong  man,  in 
body  and  mind,  an  upright  and  able  magistrate,  for  eighteen 
years  one  of  the  selectmen  of  the  town,  twenty-seven  years  town 
clerk  and  treasurer,  fifteen  years  a  member  of  the  Colonial  and 
State  Legislature,  and  a  prominent,  honored,  and  useful  member 
and  officer  of  the  Church.  He  died  December  29,  1819,  at  the 
age  of  ninety-four. 

Jedediah  Morse,  D.  D.,  father  of  Samuel  Finley  Breese 
Morse,  was  the  eighth  child  of  Jedediah  Morse,  and  was  born  in 
Woodstock,  August  23, 1761.  Dr.  John  Todd  said  of  him,  "  Dr. 
Morse  lived  before  his  time,  and  was  in  advance  of  his  genera- 
tion." He  was  a  projector,  author,  founder,  inventor.  His 
works  were  in  the  line  of  intellectual  and  moral  progress,  but  to 
him  the  world  owes  large  and  lasting  gratitude,  as  well  as  to  his 
illustrious  son.  In  early  years  he  exhibited  a  fondness  for  books ; 
and  a  delicacy  of  constitution  unfitting  him  for  the  severe  labors 
of  the  farm,  his  ardent  desire  for  education  was  gratified  by  his 
judicious  and  intelligent  father.  In  the  spring  of  1779,  in  the 
midst  of  the  War  of  American  Independence,  he  was  admitted 
into  Yale  College.  Before  the  term  began  he  was  drafted  as  a 
soldier  in  the  Connecticut  Line  of  the  army.  His  health  was  so 
frail,  there  was  no  probability  of  his  being  able  to  endure  the 
hardships  of  the  camp  and  field,  and  at  the  request  of  his  fa- 
ther, the  Governor  of  the  State,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  issued  an 
order,  as  captain-general,  to  Colonel  Samuel  McClellan  (grand- 
father of  Major-General  George  B.  McClellan),  directing  his 
discharge,  if  in  the  judgment  of  the  colonel  it  was  proper.  He 
was  accordingly  excused  from  the  service,  prosecuted  his  studies, 
and  graduated  in  the  class  of  1783.  He  studied  theology  under 
Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  son  of  President  Edwards,  and 
Professor  Samuel  Wales.  Before  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and 
while  teaching  school  in  New  Haven,  he  projected  and  began 
his  "  American  Geography,"  which  afterward  was  inseparably 
identified  with  his  name.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  and  began 
his  ministry  at  Norwich,  whence  he  was  called  back  to  be  tutor 
in  Yale.     His  health  was  inadequate  to  the  work,  and  he  went  to 


4  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Georgia,  and  spent  the  winter  preaching  at  Medway.  On  his 
journey  he  became  acquainted  with  Benjamin  Franklin  in  Phila- 
delphia, George  Washington  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  Dr.  Ram- 
say, the  historian,  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  all  of  whom, 
and  many  others,  including  Drs.  Eodgers,  Green,  Witherspoon, 
and  Keith,  made  valuable  contributions  to  the  material  with 
which  he  enriched  his  geography,  and  afterward  his  "  Gazetteer 
of  the  United  States." 

After  returning  from  the  South  with  improved  health  he 
spent  a  few  months  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  then  was  set- 
tled as  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Charlestown, 
Massachusetts,  April  30,  1789,  the  same  day  and  hour  when 
Washington  was  inaugurated,  in  New  York,  President  of  the 
United  States.  Here  he  became  the  champion  of  that  system 
of  religious  doctrine  which  he  professed,  preaching  with  bold- 
ness and  power,  publishing  pamphlets  and  essays,  establishing 
a  religious  magazine,  the  JPanoplist,  and  subsequently  a  reli- 
gious newspaper,  the  Boston  Recorder ;  with  others  laying  the 
foundations  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  the  Ameri- 
can Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  American  Bible  Society,  the 
American  Tract  Society,  and  other  benevolent  institutions  which 
have  marked  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  with  moral 
grandeur  unequaled  since  the  morning  of  the  Christian  era.  Dr. 
Eliot,  speaking  of  Dr.  Morse,  said,  "  What  an  astonishing  impetus 
that  man  has  !  "  Judge  Jonas  Piatt  pronounced  him  "  one  of 
the  most  industrious  men  our  country  has  produced."  Presi- 
dent Dwight  said,  "  He  is  as  full  of  resources  as  an  egg  is  of 
meat."  Daniel  Webster  spoke  of  him  as  "  always  thinking,  al- 
ways writing,  always  talking,  always  acting." 

Having  preached  a  sermon  in  1799  on  the  "  Duties  of  Citi- 
zens," he  sent  a  copy  of  it  when  published  to  General  Washing- 
ton, which  was  acknowledged  in  the  following  letter,  the  origi- 
nal of  which  is  preserved. 

"  Mount  Vernon,  May  26,  1T99. 
"  Rev.  Sir  :  I  thank  you  for  your  sermon  '  exhibiting  the  pres- 
ent dangers  and  consequent  duties  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  "America,'  which  came    to  hand  by  the  last  post,  and 
which  I  am  persuaded  I  shall  read  with  approbating  pleasure,  as 


DR.   MORSE'S  PREDICTIONS.  5 

soon  as  some  matters  in  which  I  am  engaged  at  present,  are  dis- 
patched. 

"  With  esteem  and  regard, 
"  I  am,  Rev.  sir, 

"  Your  obedient  and  obliged 

"  Humble  servant, 
"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Morse.  G.  WASHINGTON"." 

He  was  a  man  of  genius  :  not  content  with  what  had  been 
and  was ;  but  originating,,  and  with  vast  executive  ability  com- 
bining, the  elements  to  produce  great  results.  To  him  more 
than  to  any  other  one  man  may  be  attributed  the  impulses  given 
in  his  day  to  religion  and  learning  in  the  United  States.  A  pol- 
ished gentleman  in  his  manners ;  the  companion,  correspondent, 
and  friend  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  Church  and  State ;  hon- 
ored at  the  early  age  of  thirty-four  with  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  by  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland ;  sought 
by  scholars  and  statesmen  from  abroad  as  one  of  the  foremost 
men  of  his  country  and  time,  such  a  man  was  the  father  of  the 
inventor  of  the  Telegraph. 

On  the  10th  of  May,  1821,  in  the  City  Hotel  of  New  York, 
at  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  Dr.  Morse 
delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  said,  in  substance  : 

"  This  is  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times ;  one  of  the  grand 
prodigies  of  external  Providence.  But  all  we  now  see  is  less  the 
end  than  the  beginning.  It  will  be  prodigy  on  prodigy,  wonder 
following  wonder,  greater  as  they  go,  till  wonders  become  the 
order  of  the  day ;  wonders  on  wonders,  the  steady  and  estab- 
lished method  of  Providence.  Besides,  they  will  anticipate  us, 
not  we  them.  New  resources  will  be  opened.  New  truth  will 
be  learned — new  only  to  us,  though  old  itself  as  its  Eternal  Au- 
thor !  For  God  is  our  '  king  of  old,  working  salvation  in  the 
midst  of  the  earth.'  Like  himself  always,  ever  original,  as  well 
( as  supreme,  He  will  do  his  own  pleasure,  and  illustrate  his  own 
word,  as  equally  '  wonderful  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  work- 
ing.'" 

Such  were  the  visions  of  future  progress  before  the  mind  of 
Dr.  Morse,  and  which  he  was  wont  to  impress  upon  the  minds 
of  his  children. 

The  mothers  of  great  men  are  deservedly  held  in  honor. 


6  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

On  the  corner  of  "Wall  and  Hanover  Streets,  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  where  is  now  standing  the  banking-house  of  Brown, 
Brothers  &  Co.,  the  mother  of  Morse  was  born,  September  29, 
1766.  Elizabeth  Ann  Breese  was  her  maiden  name.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Samuel  Breese,  Esq.,  of  Shrewsbury,  New  Jer- 
sey, and  his  wife  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Samuel  Finley,  D.  D., 
President  of  Princeton  College.  Dr.  Einley  was  of  Scotch  par- 
entage. He  was  born  in  Ireland,  came  to  America  when  he 
was  nineteen  years  old,  became  a  distinguished  preacher  and 
divine,  and,  before  he  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  Nassau 
Hall,  he  had  been  the  teacher  of  pupils  whose  names  are  familiar 
in  American  history.  Among  them  were  Benjamin  Rush,  Eb- 
enezer  Hazard,  James  Waddell,  D.  D.,  John  Bayard,  and  many 
others.  In  1743  he  was  invited  to  preach  to  the  Second  Society 
in  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  but,  as  that  society  was  not  recog- 
nized by  the  civil  authority  or  the  New  Haven  Association,  it 
was  an  indictable  offence  to  preach  to  it !  As  he  was  on  his 
way  to  church,  he  was  seized  by  a  constable  and  imprisoned.  A 
few  days  afterward  he  was  indicted  by  the  grand  -  jury,  and 
judgment  was  given  that  he  should  be  carried  out  of  the  colony 
as  a  vagrant.  The  sentence  was  executed.  He  petitioned  the 
Colonial  Assembly  in  the  following  month  to  review  the  case, 
but  his  prayer  was  denied !  Twenty  years  from  the  time  he 
was  carried  out  of  New  Haven  as  a  vagrant  he  was  President 
of  Nassau  Hall,  and  the  University  of  Glasgow  conferred  upon 
him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  being,  it  is  believed,  the 
first  time  the  degree  was  conferred  by  a  foreign  university. upon 
any  Presbyterian  clergyman  in  America. 

Dr.  Einley  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  extensive  learn- 
ing, every  branch  of  study  that  was  taught  in  the  college  being 
familiar  to  him.  He  died  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  trustees  of 
the  college  caused  a  cenotaph  to  be  placed  to  his  memory, 
among  the  monuments  of  the  illustrious  presidents  whose  dust 
is  in  the  Princeton  graveyard. 

The  wife  of  Dr.  Einley  was  Sarah  Hall,  a  lady  of  rare  ex- 
cellence ;  and  their  daughter,  Rebecca  Einley,  became  the  wife 
of  Samuel  Breese,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth  Ann  Breese  was 
married,  May  14,  1789,  to  the  Rev.  Jedediah  Morse,  of  Charles- 
town,  Massachusetts. 


WEDMNG-PKESENTS.  7 

They  began  house-keeping  shortly  afterward  in  a  hired  house 
.on  Main  Street,  just  at  the  foot  of  Breed's  Hill.  Of  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  times  and  the  circumstances  that  surrounded  the 
childhood  of  our  subject,  something  may  be  inferred  from  the 
gifts  which  the  newly-married  couple  received  from  their  ad- 
miring people.    Mr.  Morse  writes  to  his  father  : 

"  The  people  have  been  very  kind  in  assisting  us  to  furnish  the 
house.     We  have  had  the  following  presents,  viz. : 

"  An  iron  bake-pan  and  tea-kettle  ;  a  japanned  box  for  sugar ; 
three  iron  pots,  two  iron  skillets,  a  spider,  loaf  of  sugar,  mahogany 
tea-table,  price  nine  dollars ;  five  handsome  glass  decanters,  twelve 
wine-glasses,  two  pint-tumblers,  a  soup-tureen,  an  elegant  tea-set 
of  china,  price  about  ten  dollars ;  two  coffee-pots,  four  bowls,  a 
beautiful  lantern,  japanned  waiter,  price  five  dollars. 

"  These  are  quite  a  help  to  us  at  this  time,  and  are  manifesta- 
tions of  the  affection  of  the  people." 

Two  persons  more  unlike  in  temperament,  it  is  said,  could 
not  have  been  united  in  love  and  marriage  than  the  parents  of 
Morse.  The  husband  was  sanguine,  impulsive,  resolute,  regard- 
less of  difficulties  and  danger.  She  was  calm,  judicious,  cau- 
tious, and  reflecting.  And  she,  too,  had  a  will  of  her  own.  One 
day  she  was  expressing  to  one  of  the  parish  her  intense  displeas- 
ure with  the  treatment  her  husband  had  received,  when  Dr. 
Morse  gently  laid  his  hand  upon  her  shoulder  and  said,  "  My 
dear,  you  know  we  must  throw  the  mantle  of  charity  over  the 
imperfections  of  others."  And  she  replied,  with  becoming  spirit, 
"  Mr.  Morse,  charity  is  not  a  fool." 

Miss  Lucy  Osgood,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Osgood,  of 
Medford,  Massachusetts,  knew  them  well,  and  in  one  of  her  let- 
ters gives  us  this  life-like  portrait  of  both  : 

"  His  tall,  slender  form,  the  head  always  slightly  inclining  for- 
ward, his  extremely  neat  dress,  mild  manners,  and  persuasive  tones, 
aided  by  the  charm  of  that  perfect  good-breeding  which  inspires 
even  the  rudest  with  a  sense  of  respect  for  the  true  gentleman, 
made  him  in  all  places  a  most  acceptable  guest ;  while  his  own 
house  was  always  celebrated  as  the  very  home  of  hospitality. 

"  Foreigners  very  extensively  brought  letters  of  introduction  to 
Dr.  Morse ;  and,  though  his  kindness  of  heart  sometimes  exposed 


8  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

him  to  imposition,  he  often  had  the  opportunity  of  yielding  efficient 
service  to  estimable  and  meritorious  characters.  In  his  duties  as  a 
host,  his  admirable  wife  zealously  coSperated,  making  her  home 
attractive  to  visitors  of  every  description  by  her  cordial,  dignified, 
and  graceful  manners,  and  her  animated  conversation.  She  was, 
indeed,  distinguished  for  possessing,  in  an  eminent  degree,  both 
the  fascination  and  the  virtues  which  most  adorn  a  woman." 

One  of  her  sons  wrote  of  her  : 

"  Her  pleasing  manners  and  remarkable  social  powers  amused 
and  enlivened  her  husband's  guests,  while  engaged  in  grave  debate. 
When  the  Middlesex  Canal,  the  earliest  enterprise  of  the  kind  in 
our  country,  and  projected  by  the  Hon.  James  (afterward  Governor) 
Sullivan,  was  in  process  of  construction,  it  met  with  strong  opposi- 
tion. Dr.  Morse,  who  believed  it  of  great  public  utility,  espoused 
the  enterprise  with  his  accustomed  ardor,  and  at  his  house  the  able 
engineer,  Colonel  Loammi  Baldwin,  under  whose  superintendence 
the  canal  was  built,  repeatedly  met  the  other  directors  sociably  to 
talk  over  their  difficulties. 

"  Mrs.  Morse  was  present,  not  merely  as  a  listener,  but  occa- 
sionally spoke,  and  her  words  elicited  from  Baldwin,  that '  madam's 
conversation  and  cup  of  tea  removed  mountains  in  the  way  of 
making  the  canal.'  She  was  a  good  reader,  and  delighted  to  gather 
around  her  listeners,  to  whom  she  would  read  aloud  from  Leighton 
or  other  favorite  authors.  The  best  portrait  of  her  is  an  oil  paint- 
ing by  her  son,  in  my  possession,  which  represents  her  reading  by 
candle-light.  She  was  unassuming  in  her  manners,  and  her  remark 
that  she  liked  the  Charlestown  people,  because  ladies  could  wear 
calico  dresses  when  making  visits,  increased  her  popularity  among 
the  good  people  of  the  parish.  Of  her  influence  in  making  her 
home  happy,  Dr.  Todd  says :  '  An  orphan  myself,  and  never  hav- 
ing a  home,  I  have  gone  away  from  Dr.  Morse's  house  in  tears,  feel- 
ing that  such  a  home  must  be  more  like  heaven  than  any  thing  of 
which  I  could  conceive.'  " 

To  these  parents  eleven  children  were  born,  of  whom  only 
three  survived  their  infancy.  These  three  were  sons,  who  at- 
tained old  age,  and  were  distinguished  for  purity,  integrity,  and 
great  usefulness.  The  youngest  of  these  brothers  died  first,  then 
the  second,  and  finally  the  oldest. 


RICHARD   C.   MORSE.  9 

Richard  Cary  Morse  was  born  on  the  18th  of  June,  1795. 
He  entered  Yale  College  in  1808,  when  he  was  in  his  four- 
teenth year,  and  graduated  in  1812,  the  youngest  member  of  his 
class.  The  year  immediately  following  his  graduation  he  spent 
in  New  Haven,  being  employed  as  the  amanuensis  of  President 
Dwight,  and  living  in  his  family.  In  1814  he  entered  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  and,  having  passed  through 
the  regular  three  years'  course,  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1817. 
The  winter  immediately  succeeding  his  licensure  he  spent  in 
South  Carolina  as  supply  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  John's 
Island. 

On  his  return  to  New  England,  he  was  associated  with  his 
father  for  some  time  in  a  very  successful  geographical  enter- 
prise ;  and,  in  the  spring  of  1823,  enlisted  with  his  brother  in 
another  enterprise  still  more  important — establishing  the  New 
York  Observer,  of  which  he  was  associate  editor  and  proprietor 
for  thirty-five  years ;  and  during  this  long  period  he  contributed 
largely  to  its  columns,  especially  by  translations  from  the  French 
and  German.  He  became  early  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
he  had  not  the  requisite  natural  qualifications  for  the  ministry, 
and  therefore  silently  retired  from  it — though  his  whole  life 
was  a  continued  act  of  devotion  to  the  objects  which  the  min- 
istry contemplates. 

He  had  great  aptness  for  acquiring  languages.  Not  only 
was  he  familiar  with  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  but  was 
also  well  versed  in  the  French  and  German,  and  had  become,  in 
some  degree,  a  proficient  in  several  other  modern  languages. 
His  mind  was  of  a  highly-inquisitive  cast ;  and,  though  he  moved 
about  so  quietly  and  noiselessly,  he  was  always  adding  to  the 
stores  of  his  information.  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague  said  of  him  :  "  If 
I  were  to  designate  any  particular  feature  of  his  mind  as  more 
prominent  than  another,  perhaps  it  would  be  his  literary  taste. 
The  productions  of  his  pen,  though  I  believe  they  rarely  if 
ever  appeared  before  the  world  in  connection  with  his  name, 
were  singularly  faultless,  and  might  well  challenge  the  closest 
criticism."  He  died  in  Kissingen,  Bavaria,  September  23, 
1868.  His  remains  were  brought  home,  and  buried  in  Green- 
wood. 

Sidney  E.  Morse  was  born  February  7,  1791 ;  entered  the 


10  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Freshman  class  at  Yale  in  1805,  when  but  eleven  years  old,  and 
was  graduated  in  1811. 

When  Mr.  Morse  was  only  seventeen  years  old,  he  wrote  a 
series  of  articles  in  the  Boston  Centinel,  on  the  dangers  from 
the  undue  multiplication  of  new  States,  thus  early  in  life  con- 
necting himself  with  the  newspaper  press.  He  then  studied 
theology  at  Andover,  and  law  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  in  the 
famous  law-school  there-  His  father  and  Mr.  Evarts  (father  of 
Hon.  William  M.  Evarts,  of  this  city),  and  other  clergymen  and 
laymen  in  and  near  Boston,  wishing  to  establish  a  religious 
newspaper,  Mr.  Sidney  E.  Morse,  at  their  invitation,  undertook 
it,  wrote  the  prospectus,  employed  a  printer,  and,  as  sole  editor 
and  proprietor,  issued  the  Boston  Recorder,  the  prototype  of 
that  numerous  class  of  journals  now  known  as  "  religious  news- 
papers." In  1823,  in  connection  with  his  younger  brother, 
Richard  C.  Morse,  he  established  the  New  York  Observer. 

Mr.  Morse  was  the  author  of  a  school  geography  which  has 
had  a  vast  circulation,  and  his  father  before  him  was  the  pioneer 
in  the  same  field. 

His  genius  was  inventive.  In  1817  he  and  his  elder  brother 
patented  the  flexible  piston-pump.  In  1839  he  produced  the 
new  art  of  cerography,  for  printing  maps  on  the  common  print- 
ing-press, illustrating  his  new  geography  with  it,  one  hundred 
thousand  copies  being  sold  the  first  year.  This  art  has  not  been 
patented,  and  the  process  has  never  been  made  public.  In  his 
later  years  he  engaged  with  his  son,  Mr.  Gr.  Livingston  Morse, 
in  the  invention  of  the  bathometer,  for  rapid  explorations  of  the 
depths  of  the  sea. 

With  a  thorough  theological  and  legal  education,  his  mind 
trained  to  patient  thought  and  cautious  investigation,  slow  in  his 
intellectual  operations,  and  accurate  in  his  statements,  he  had 
the  highest  possible  qualifications  for  the  great  work  of  his  life. 
When  his  mind  was  "  made  up,"  and  his  position  taken,  it  was 
next  to  impossible  to  dislodge  him.  The  tenacity  with  which 
he  held  his  ground  was  justified  by  the  caution  with  which  it 
had  been  chosen  ;  and  it  was  held  with  conscientious  sincerity 
and  herculean  ability. 

His  cast  of  mind  was  eminently  mathematical  and  statistical, 
finding  for  itself  enjoyment  in  the  most  abstruse,  perplexing, 


SIDNEY  E.   MORSE.  H 

and  extended  calculations  and  computations,  tracing  the  peculi- 
arities of  numbers  and  the  results  of  combinations.  His  memory 
of  figures  was  extraordinary,  and  for  hours  he  would  descant  in 
general  converse  upon  the  results  obtained,  with  the  same  accu- 
racy as  if  the  figures  were  before  him.  To  discourse  upon  the 
discoveries  in  art  and  science,  and  still  more  upon  the  moral 
progress  of  the  age,  and  the  great  agencies  in  the  past  that  had 
brought  on  the  present,  was  the  recreation  and  enjoyment  of  his 
life.  His  physical  health  was  remarkable,  as  he  never  was  laid 
aside  a  day  in  his  life  by  illness,  until  the  final  blow  fell  on  him. 
Of  large  frame  and  of  very  sedentary  habits,  he  yet  retained  so 
great  muscular  power  that  he  could,  and  sometimes  did  perform, 
from  choice,  the  severest  manual  labor  for  an  entire  day,  with- 
out exhaustion.  No  one  ever  saw  him  unduly  excited,  or  heard 
from  his  lips  a  severe  and  unkind  expression ;  while  kindness, 
gentleness,  and  grace,  pervaded  his  spirit  and  life.  With  great 
intellectual  force,  and  energy  that  suffered  no  weariness  or  re- 
laxation, there  was  also  this  evenness  of  temperament  and  perfect 
self-control,  that  never  suffered  him  to  be  betrayed  into  a  rash, 
hasty,  or  ill-advised  word  or  deed.  He  died  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  December  23,  1871,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age, 
and  was  buried  in  Greenwood. 

Samuel  Finley  Bkeese  Mokse,  the  oldest  of  these  brothers, 
and  the  inventor  of  the  Telegraph,  was  born  at  the  foot  of  Breed's 
Hill,  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  April  27,  1791. 

Dr.  Belknap,  of  Boston,  writing  to  Postmaster-General  Haz- 
ard, in  New  York,  says  :  "  Congratulate  the  Monmouth  Judge  " 
(Mr.  Breese,  the  grandfather)  "  on  the  birth  of  a  grandson. 
Next  Sunday  he  is  to  be  loaded  with  names,  not  quite  so  many 
as  the  Spanish  ambassador  who  signed  the  treaty  of  peace  of 
1783,  but  only  four!  As  to  the  child,I  saw  him  asleep,  so 
can  say  nothing  of  his  eye,  or  his  genius  peeping  through  it. 
He  may  have  the  sagacity  of  a  Jewish  rabbi,  or  the  profundity 
of  a  Calvin,  or  the  sublimity  of  a  Homer,  for  aught  I  know. 
But  time  will  bring  forth  all  things." 

This  was  a  very  curious  prognostication  on  the  birth  of  a 
child  who  became  as  widely  known  to  the  world  as  Calvin  or 
Homer. 

Dr.  "Witherspoon,  the  successor  of  Dr.  Finley  in  the  presi- 


12  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

dency  of  Princeton  College,  visited  Mr.  Morse  a  few  days  after 
the  birth  of  his  son,  and,  many  years  afterward,  the  father,  writ- 
ing of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  said  :  "  With  that  great  and  good  man 
I  was  well  acquainted.  When  my  eldest  son  was  an  infant  of  a 
few  days  old,  the  doctor  paid  us  his  last  visit.  It  will  never  be 
forgotten;  for,  deeply  affected  with  this  interview  with  the 
granddaughter  of  his  revered  predecessor  in  office,  he  took  her 
infant  son  into  his  arms,  and,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancient 
patriarchs,  with  great  solemnity  gave  him  his  blessing." 


CHAPTEE  II. 

1791-1811. 

EARLT  EDUCATION — HIS  SOHOOL-MISTEESS — DRAWETG  WITH  A  PIN — AT  GRAM- 
MAE-SCHOOL — TALE  COLLEGE — PRESIDENT  DWIGHT — PROFESSORS  DAT  AND 
SILLEMAN — STUDIES  IN  ELEOTEIOITT — GERMS  OF  THE  TELEGRAPH — POR- 
TRAIT-PAINTING  RECOLLECTIONS   BT   FELLOW-STUDENTS. 

ON  tlie  father's  and  the  mother's  side,  from  an  early  period 
in  the  history  of  the  Morse  family,  we  have  discovered 
traits  of  character  which  were  developed  in  a  remarkable  man- 
ner in  the  inventor  of  the  Telegraph.  His  brothers  and  his  an- 
cestors were  distinguished  for  intelligence,  energy,  original 
thinking,  perseverance,  and  unbending  integrity. 

The  boy  was  trained  in  the  school  of  the  Puritans,  by  a 
father  who  was  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Pa- 
rental discipline  was  not  severe,  but  religious  principles  were 
inculcated  as  the  source  of  the  highest  enjoyment,  as  well  as  the 
basis  of  right  action.  Although  the  son  never  broke  away  from 
the  restraints  of  early  instruction,  he  manifested  in  early  child- 
hood and  in  youth  a  beautiful  playfulness,  and  fondness  for 
amusements,  that  were  never  checked  by  his  parents,  however 
unlike  the  school  in  which  he  was  trained  they  may  now  appear. 

The  boy  was  sent,  when  he  was  four  years  of  age,  to  an  old 
lady's  school  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  parsonage.  She 
was  an  invalid,  and  unable  to  leave  her  chair.  She  was  known 
as  "  Old  Ma'am  Rand."  Her  school  was  in  a  small  building 
opposite  the  public-school  house.  She  governed  her  unruly  little 
flock  with  a  long  rattan,  which  reached  across  the  small  room  in 
which  they  were  gathered.     One  of  her  punishments  was  pin- 


14  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

ning  the  young  culprit  to  her  own  dress.  The  first  essays  at 
painting  or  rather  drawing  of  the  young  artist  were  quite  dis- 
couraging; for  he,  unfortunately,  had  selected  the  old  lady's 
face  as  his  model,  a  chest  of  drawers  for  his  canvas,  and  a  pin  for 
his  pencil.  "We  do  not  know  now  successful  he  was  in  this  his 
first  attempt,  but  his  reward  was  an  attachment  by  a  large  pin 
to  the  old  lady's  dress.  In  his  struggles  to  get  free  the  dress 
parted,  and  was  dragged  to  a  distant  part  of  the  room,  but  not 
out  of  reach  of  the  terrible  rattan,  which  descended  vigorously 
on  his  devoted  head. 

At  seven  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  the  preparatory  school 
of  Mr.  Foster,  at  Andover,  where  he  was  fitted  for  entering 
Phillips  Academy,  in  the  same  place,  then  under  the  direction 
of  Mark  Newman,  the  predecessor  of  John  Adams.  Here  for 
several  years  he  pursued  the  studies  preparatory  to  entering 
Yale  College. 

Among  the  letters  addressed  to  him  at  this  early  period  in 
his  life  by  his  father,  is  one  that  incidentally  shows  the  style  of 
boy,  who  was  capable  of  appreciating  such  instructions  before 
he  was  ten  years  old. 

From  Rev.  Dr.  Morse  to  his  Son  Finley. 

"  Charlestown,  February  21,  1801. 

"  My  dear  Son  :  You  do  not  write  me  as  often  as  you  ought. 
In  your  next,  you  must  assign  some  reason  for  this  neglect.  Pos- 
sibly I  have  not  received  all  your  letters.  Nothing  will  improve 
you  so  much  in  epistolary  writing  as  practice.  Take  great  pains 
with  your  letters.  Avoid  vulgar  phrases.  Study  to  have  your 
ideas  pertinent  and  correct,  and  clothe  them  in  an  easy  and  gram- 
matical dress.  Pay  attention  to  your  spelling,  pointing,  the  use  of 
capitals,  to  your  handwriting.  After  a  little  practice,  these  things 
will  become  natural,  and  you  will  thus  acquire  a  habit  of  writing 
correctly  and  well.  General  Washington  was  a  remarkable  in- 
stance of  what  I  have  now  recommended  to  you.  His  letters  are  a 
perfect  model  for  epistolary  writers.  They  are  written  with  great 
uniformity  in  respect  to  the  handwriting  and  disposition  of  the 
several  parts  of  the  letter.  I  will  show  you  some  of  his  letters 
when  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  next  vacation,  and  when  I 
shall  expect  to  find  you  much  improved. 

"  Your  natural  disposition,  my  dear  son,  renders  it  proper  for  me 


DR.   MORSE'S  LETTER.  15 

earnestly  to  recommend  to  you  to  attend  to  one  thing  at  a  time  /  it 
is  impossible  that  you  can  do  two  things  well  at  the  same  time, 
and  I  would  therefore  never  have  you  attempt  it.  Never  undertake 
to  do  what  ought  not  to  be  done,  and  then,  whatever  you  undertake, 
endeavor  to  do  it  in  the  best  manner.  It  is  said  of  De  Witt,  a  cel- 
ebrated statesman  in  Holland,  who  was  torn  to  pieces,  in  the  year 
1672,  that  he  did  the  whole  business  of  the  republic,  and  yet  had 
time  left  to  go  to  assemblies  in  the  evening,  and  sup  in  company. 
Being  asked  how  he  could  possibly  find  time  to  go  through  so 
much  business,  and  yet  amuse  himself  in  the  evenings  as  he  did, 
he  answered :  '  There  was  nothing  so  easy,  for  that  it  was  only  doing 
one  thing  at  a  time,  and  never  putting  off  any  thing  till  to-morrow, 
that  could  be  done  to-day.'  This  steady  and  undissipated  attention 
to  one  object,  is  a  sure  mark  of  a  superior  genius ;  as  hurry,  bustle, 
and  agitation,  are  the  never-failing  symptoms  of  a  weak  and  frivo- 
lous mind.  I  expect  you  will  read  this  letter  over  several  times, 
that  you  may  retain  its  contents  in  your  memory.  Give  me  your 
opinion  on  the  advice  I  have  given  you.  If  you  improve  this  well, 
I  shall  be  encouraged  to  give  you  more,  as  you  may  need  it.  Your 
mamma  is  very  well,  as  are  your  brothers  Edward,  Richard  Cary,  and 
James  Russell ;  the  last  named  you  have  never  seen ;  your  brothers 
are  very  fond  of  him,  as  we  all  are,  for  he  is  a  fine  little  boy. 

"  We  all  unite  in  love  to  you  and  Mr.  Brown.  Tell  Mr.  Brown 
that  I  have  a  little  pain  in  my  breast,  which  renders  writing  hurt- 
ful to  me,  else  I  would  write  to  him. 

"  Your  affectionate  parent, 

"J.  Morse." 

The  reply  to  this  letter  has  not  been  preserved,  but  the 
judicious  counsel  of  the  father,  repeated  often,  was  not  lost  on 
his  son.  He  studied,  read,  and  wrote,  at  this  early  age,  as  if  he 
were  conscious  that  man's  work  was  expected  of  him.  Even  at 
this  period  of  life,  before  habits  could  have  been  formed,  or 
character  developed,  he  showed  a  tendency  to  turn  away  from 
the  routine  studies  of  the  school,  to  think  and  act  for  himself. 

He  roved  among  books,  but  books  that  were  not  in  the 
course.  He  pored  over  Plutarch's  "  Lives  of  Illustrious  Men," 
and  his  ambition  was  fired  by  the  records  of  their  deeds  and 
fame.  When  he  was  only  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  at  this 
preparatory  school  in  Andover,  he  wrote  a  sketch  of  the  "  Life 
of  Demosthenes,"  and  sent  it  to  his  father,  among  whose  papers 


16  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

it  is  preserved,  as  a  mark  of  the  genius,  learning,  and  taste  of 
the  child ! 

He  dreamed  while  he  was  awake.  He  grew  rapidly  in  stat- 
ure. His  attainments  in  general  scholarship  were  remarkable, 
and  in  the  regular  studies  of  the  school  his  proficiency  was  such 
that,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was  thoroughly  qualified  to  enter 
college,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Freshman  class  in  Tale. 

Domestic  reasons  induced  his  father  to  detain  him  from  col- 
lege another  year,  and  he  joined  the  class  in  1807. 

Timothy  Dwight,  D.  D.,  was  then  the  President  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, and  at  his  feet,  and  under  the  forming  power  of  this  great 
man,  Finley  Morse  sat  four  years.  Dr.  Dwight  was  the  warm 
personal  friend,  correspondent,  and  counselor  of  Dr.  Morse, 
Finley's  father,  and  at  his  expressed  desire,  as  well  as  from  the 
promptings  of  his  own  feelings  of  friendship,  Dr.  Dwight  took 
the  deepest  personal  interest  in  the  young  student  confided  to 
his  special  care.  The  president  was  a  man  of  vast  and  varied 
learning,  and  of  strong  original  powers  of  mind.  He  was  a 
master  of  inductive  philosophy.  Few  men  have  ever  lived  pos- 
sessing such  command  of  facts,  having  them  arranged  in  such 
order,  in  his  wonderful  memory,  as  to  he  able  to  bring  them 
always  and  instantly  to  his  use.     Professor  Olmstead  says  : 

"  He  combined,  in  a  remarkable  'degree,  the  dignity  that  com- 
mands respect,  the  accuracy  that  inspires  confidence,  the  ardor 
that  kindles  animation,  and  the  kindness  that  wins  affection.  He 
urged  upon  his  students  the  importance  of  observing  and  retain- 
ing facts ;  he  explained  the  principles  of  association,  and  the  vari- 
ous acts  which  would  contribute  to  fix  them  in  the  mind,  and  also 
displayed,  in  the  reasonings  and  illustrations,  both  the  efficacy  of 
his  rules  and  the  utility  of  the  practice  which  he  earnestly  recom- 
mended. 

"In  theology  and  ethics,  in  natural  philosophy  and  geogra- 
phy, in  history  and  statistics,  in  poetry  and  philosophy,  in  hus- 
bandry and  domestic  economy,  his  treasures  seemed  alike  inex- 
haustible. Interesting  narration,  vivid  description,  and  sallies  of 
humor;  anecdotes  of  the  just,  the  good,  the  generous,  the  brave, 
the  eccentric — these  all  were  blended  in  fine  proportions  to  form 
the  bright  and  varied  tissues  of  his  discourse.  Alive  to  all  the 
sympathies  of  friendship,  faithful  to  its  claims,  and  sedulous  in  per- 


A  METEORIC   STONE.  17 

forming  its  duties,  he  was  beloved  by  many  from  early  life  with 
whom  he  entered  on  the  stage,  and  whom,  as  Shakespeare  says,  he 
'  grappled  to  his  soul  with  hooks  of  steel.' 

"  I  think  it  may  safely  be  said  that  those  who  gained  the  most 
intimate  access  to  him,  whether  associates,  or  pupils,  or  amanuenses, 
admired,  revered,  and  loved  him  most." 

Before  Finley  Morse  finished  his  collegiate  course  his  two 
brothers  entered  Yale,  and,  Dr.  D wight's  eyesight  having  been 
impaired,  these  young  men  became  his  amanuenses.  Thus,  their 
relations  to  the  president  being  intimate  and  confidential,  they 
were  in  a  situation  to  feel  the  full  influence  of  his  almost  magi- 
cal power.  "When  Finley  Morse  was  a  sophomore  in  college  he 
wrote  in  one  of  his  letters  to  his  parents,  dated  December  23, 
1807: 

"  A  remarkable  phenomenon  appeared  here  a  few  days  ago.  A 
meteor  passed  some  distance  from  the  town  and  burst  in  Fairfield 
County ;  large  pieces  of  stone  were  contained  in  it,  and  lay  scat- 
tered round  a  number  of  miles.  Mr.  Silliman  went  with  Mr.  Kings- 
ley  to  see  a  piece  of  this  stone ;  he  applied  a  magnet  to  it,  and  by 
its  attraction  found  it  to  contain  iron.  The  explosion  was  very  loud  ; 
it  was  heard  here  in  New  Haven  while  the  students  were  in  at 
prayers ;  I  heard  it  at  the  same  time.  I  will  try  and  obtain  a  piece 
of  the  stone  of  Mr.  Silliman,  and  keep  it  to  bring  home  for  a  curi- 
osity." 

And  in  his  next  he  gives  a  report  of  a  scene  which  shows 
that  boys  in  college  were,  two  generations  ago,  about  the  same 
as  now.     He  was  boarding  in  commons,  and  thus  he  writes : 

"  December  28,  1807. 
"  "We  had  a  new  affair  here  a  few  days  ago.  The  college  cooks 
were  arraigned  before  the  tribunal  of  the  students,  consisting  of  a 
committee  of  four  from  each  class  in  college ;  I  was  chosen  as  one 
of  the  committee  from  the  Sophomore  class.  "We  sent  for  two  of  the 
worst  cooks,  and  were  all  Saturday  afternoon  in  trying  them  ;  found 
them  guilty  of  several  charges,  such  as  being  insolent  to  the  stu- 
dents, not  exerting  themselves  to  cook  clean  for  us,  in  concealing 
pies  which  belonged  to  the  students,  having  suppers  at  midnight, 
and  inviting  all  their  neighbors  and  friends  to  sup  with  them  at  the 
expense  of  the  students*  and  this  not  once  in  a  while,  but  almost 
2 


18  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

every  night.  We  extorted  this  from  one  of  them,  that  the  reason 
they  were  so  neglectful  toward  us  was,  because  there  had  been  no 
disturbance  in  college  for  seven  years ;  that  the  students,  and  the 
authority,  not  taking  much  notice  of  their  conduct,  they  meant  to 
do  as  they  please.  The  committee,  after  arranging  the  charges  in 
their  proper  order,  presented  them  to  the  president;  he  has  had 
the  authorities  together,  and  they  are  now  considering  the  subject. 
This  afternoon,  Tuesday,  December  29th,  they  have  been  together, 
and  I,  with  many  others,  have  been  with  them  all  the  afternoon ; 
there  was  no  recitation  at  four  o'clock,  they  were  so  busily  engaged. 
I  know  not  how  this  affair  will  end,  but  I  expect  in  the  expulsion  of 
some,  if  not  all,  of  the  cooks.  It  is  now  three  weeks  since  the  stu- 
dents convened  to  appoint  their  committee,  and  since  that  we  have 
lived  extremely  well ;  indeed,  for  my  part,  I  think  we  have  lived 
very  well  this  term.  The  fault  is  not  so  much  in  the  food  as  in  the 
cooking,  for  our  bill  of  fare  has  generally  been  in  the  following 
way :  Chocolate,  coffee,  and  hashed  meat,  every  morning ;  at  noon, 
various ;  roast-beef  twice  a  week,  pudding  three  times,  and  turkeys 
and  geese  upon  an  average  once  a  fortnight ;  baked  beans  occasion- 
ally ;  Christmas,  and  other  merry  days,  turkeys,  pies,  and  puddings, 
many  as  we  wish  for ;  at  night  for  supper  we  have,  chocolate  and 
tea  in  general,  pies  once  a  week ;  I  ought  to  have  added  that  in  fu- 
ture we  are  to  have  beefsteaks  and  toast  twice  a  week  ;  before  this 
the  cooks  were  too  lazy  to  cook  them.  I  will  inform  you  of  the 
result  of  this  affair  as  soon  as  it  is  completed. 

"  I  have  just  now  as  much  as  I  can  do ;  my  leisure  moments  are 
employed  in  composing,  reviewing  geometry,  and  reading  history ; 
I  am  now  reading  Winterbottom's  "  China."  I  have  read  Cave's 
"  Stranger  in  Ireland,"  and  intend  soon  to  read  his  "  Northern  Sum- 
mer," I  am  very  much  pleased  with  him  as  an  author.  I  began  to 
read  Robertson's  "  Charles  V.,"  but,  finding  several  leaves  in  the 
book  missing,  I  have  deferred  it  till  another  time." 

"  January  25,  1808. 
"  The  result  of  the  cooks'  trial  is :  one  has  been  dismissed,  two 
remain  on  trial  for  good  behavior,  the  rest  are  in  their  former 
standing." 

Jeremiah  Day  was  at  this  time  the  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy  in  Yale  College.  Under  his  instructions  Mr.  Morse 
began  the  study  of  electricity,  and  received  those  impressions 
which  were  destined  to  produce  so  great  an  influence  upon  him 


PROFESSOR  DAY'S  EXPERIMENTS.  19 

personally,  and  upon  the  business,  the  intercourse,  and  the 
happiness  of  the  human  race.  Dr.  Dwight  was  the  man  who 
prepared  his  naturally  susceptible  mind  to  receive,  retain,  and 
utilize  those  impressions.  Professor  Day  was  then  young  and 
ardent  in  his  pursuit  of  science,  kindling  readily  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  students  by  the  fire  of  his  own.  Afterward  he  became 
the  president  of  the  college,  and  his  name  is  identified  with  its 
subsequent  renown.  Forty  years  after  Morse  had  left  the  insti- 
tution, Dr.  Day,  ex-president  of  the  college,  bore  this  testi- 
mony :  , 

"In'  my  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,  the  subject  of  elec- 
tricity was  specially  illustrated  and  experimented  upon.  Enfield's 
work  was  the  text-book. 

"  The  terms  of  the  21st  Proposition  of  Book  V.  of  '  Enfield's 
Philosophy,'  are  these  :  '  If  the  circuit  be  interrupted,  the  fluid  will 
become  visible,  and  when  it  passes  it  will  leave  an  impression  upon 
any  intermediate  body.' 

"  I  lectured  upon  and  illustrated  the  first  two  experiments  pro- 
pounded by  the  21st  Proposition,  and  I  recollect  the  fact  with 
certainty,  by  memoranda  now  in  my  possession.  The  experiments 
referred  to  are  in  terms  as  follows : 

"  Experiment  1st.  Let  the  fluid  pass  through  a  chain,  or  through 
any  metallic  bodies,  placed  at  small  distances  from  each  other,  the 
fluid  in  a  dark  room  will  be  visible  between  the  links  of  the  chain, 
or  between  the  metallic  bodies. 

"  Experiment  2d.  If  the  circuit  be  interrupted  by  several  folds 
of  paper,  a  perforation  will  be  made  through  it,  and  each  of  the 
leaves  will  be  protruded  by  the  stroke  from  the  middle  to  the  out- 
ward leaves." 

This  was  the  germ  of  the  great  invention  that  now  daily 
and  hourly  astonishes  the  world,  and  has  given  immortality  of 
fame  to  the  student  who,  twenty-two  years  afterward,  conceived 
the  idea  of  making  this  experiment  of  practical  value  to  mankind. 
Writing  on  the  subject  in  1867,  Mr.  Morse  said :  "  The  fact 
that  the  presence  of  electricity  can  be  made  visible  in  any  de- 
sired part  of  the  circuit  was  the  crude  seed  which  took  root  in 
my  mind,  and  grew  up  into  form,  and  ripened  into  the  invention 
of  the  Telegraph." 

But  there  was  at  the  same  time,  in  the  faculty  of  Yale  Col- 


20  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

lege,  another  illustrious  man,  to  whom,  more  than  to  Dr.  Dwight 
or  Dr.  Day,  Mr.  Morse  was  indebted  for  those  impressions 
which  resulted  finally  in  his  great  invention.  Benjamin  Silli- 
man  long  held  front  rank  among  men  of  science.  His  contribu- 
tions made  rich  the  journal  that  was  known  by  his  name,  and 
his  lectures,  letters,  and  travels,  rendered  his  name  familiar 
throughout  the  bounds  of  civilization  and  learning.  Silliman 
was  Professor  of  Chemistry  while  Morse  was  a  student  in  Tale, 
and  was  at  once  his  teacher  and  friend.  When  his  testimony 
was  required,  to  show  when  and  how  the  mind  of  Morse  was 
first  turned  to  the  study  of  electricity,  and  in  what  stage  of 
advancement  the  science  was  at  the  time  of  Morse's  attention  to 
it  in  college,  Professor  Silliman  said :  "  S.  F.  B.  Morse  was  an 
attendant  on  my  lectures  in  the  years  1808,  1809,  and  1810. 
I  delivered  lectures  on  chemistry  and  galvanic  electricity.  The 
batteries  then  in  use  were  the  pile  of  Volta,  the  battery  of 
Cruikshanks,  and  the  Couronne  des  tasses,  well  known  to  the 
cultivators  of  that  branch  of  science.  I  always  exhibited  these 
batteries  to  my  classes  /  they  were  dissected  before  them,  and 
their  members  and  the  arrangement  of  the  parts,  and  the  mode 
of  exciting  them,  were  always  shown." 

And  the  professor  went  on  to  show  that,  when  Mr.  Morse 
came  to  reside  in  New  Haven,  ten  years  after  his  graduation, 
he  resumed  his  inquiries  in  the  same  direction,  with  lively  in- 
terest in  the  pursuit  of  electrical  science.  He  says  :  "Mr. 
Morse  resided  near  me  for  several  years,  from  1821-22  onward. 
The  families  were  on  terms  of  intimacy,  and  Mr.  Morse  was  in 
the  habit  of  frequent  communication  with  me.  About  this  time 
Dr.  Hare's  splendid  galvanic  calorimoter,  and  his  galvanic  defla- 
grator,  were  invented,  and  were  in  my  possession,  and  many 
interesting  and  beautiful  results  were  exhibited  by  them,  as,  for 
example,  the  fusion  of  charcoal,  and  the  combustion  of  metals. 
Mr.  Morse,  vjas  often  present  in  my  laboratory  during  my  pre- 
paratory  arrangements  and  experiments,  and  was  thus  made 
acquainted  with  them." 

In  the  year  1809,  while  Mr.  Morse  was  yet  a  student  in 
Yale,  a  work  was  published,  entitled  an  "Epitome  of  Electricity 
and  Galvanism,"  by  two  gentlemen  of  Philadelphia.  The  work 
excited  interest  beyond  the  city  where  it  was  published,  and 


STUDIES  IN  ELECTRICITY.  21 

arrested  the  attention  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morse,  the  father  of  Finley 
Morse,  still  residing  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts.  Dr.  Morse 
wrote  to  Dr.  John  McLean,  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy 
in  Princeton  College,  asking  him  to  write  a  review  of  the  work 
for  the  Panojrtist,  a  magazine  then  published  in  Boston.  The 
subject  was  at  that  time  commanding  marked  attention,  and  the 
Morses,  father  and  sons,  were  the  men  to  be  intelligently  inter- 
ested in  the  developments  of  the  science.  We  shall  find  the  son, 
Finley  Morse,  renewing  his  studies  in  the  same  direction  with 
Professor  Dana,  of  the  University  of  New  York,  five  years  be- 
fore the  invention,  and,  at  a  still  later  date,  with  Professor  Ren- 
wick,  of  Columbia  College,  becoming  charged  with  all  the 
principles  and  phenomena  of  the  science,  as  if,  even  then,  in  his 
own  mind,  as  in  the  recesses  of  providential  design,  the  grand 
result  was.  maturing. 

The  testimony  of  Professors  Day  and  Silliman  was  given  in 
court,  when  it  was  important,  in  the  defence  of  his  claim  to  pri- 
ority in  the  invention  of  the  Telegraph,  for  Mr.  Morse  to  be 
able  to  show  that  his  mind  was  early  interested  in  the  study  of 
chemistry  and  electricity.  While  he  was  collecting  testimony 
from  his  instructors,  at  whose  feet  he  sat  while  a  boy  in  college, 
he  was  not  aware  that,  among  the  letters  and  papers  of  his 
venerable  father,  long  since  deceased,  there  were  quietly  repos- 
ing some  of  the  letters  that  the  young  student  wrote  to  his 
parents  while  he  was  in  college,  and  in  which  he  refers  to  the 
studies  that  specially  interested  him,  and  made  a  lasting  impres- 
sion upon  his  mind.  These  letters  were  found  among  the  old 
papers  of  his  father,  Dr.  Morse,  after  the  death  of  the  son,  and 
it  is  quite  probable  they  have  never  been  read  from  the  year 
of  their  date  to  the  present  time,  a  term  of  sixty-five  years.  Cer- 
tainly if  Mr.  Morse  had  known  of  their  existence,  he  would 
have  brought  them  from  their  hiding-place,  and  by  their  evi- 
dence proved  what  he  was  in  the  habit  of  asserting,  that  while 
in  college  these  subjects  engaged  his  special  attention.  Writing 
to  his  parents,  and  dating,  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  January  1, 
1809,  he  says  : 

"I  am  very  much  pleased  with  chemistry.  It  is  very  amusing, 
as  well  as  instructive.  There  are  many  very  beautiful  and  surpris- 
ing experiments  performed,  which  are  likewise  very  useful.     I  in- 


22  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

tend,  with  your  leave,  getting  me  '  a  chemical  trough '  and  small 
apparatus  when  I  come  home,  Ward  "  (a  classmate)  "  and  I  to  bear 
the  expense  together.  You  will  find  our  experiments  very* entertain- 
ing. There  will  be  a  number  of  articles  which  we  shall  want,  which 
we  shall  be  obliged  to  get  here,  on  account  of  their  being  obtained 
here  cheaper,  such  as  gun-barrels,  retorts,  etc.,  the  use  of  which  I 
will  explain  to  you  hereafter." 

January  9,  1809,  be  writes  again  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
he  would  pass  an  approaching  vacation,  when  he  was  not  going 
home  on  account  of  the  expense  of  travel ;  he  says :  "  Please  to 
write  often,  as  it  will  serve  to  heighten  our  spirits  ;  they  are  a 
little  depressed  at  the  approach  of  a  vacation,  which  we  are  not 
destined  to  enjoy.  I  find  it  a  difficult  task  to  do  nothing.  I 
shall  be  employed  in  the  vacation  in  the  '  Philosophical  Cham- 
ber '  with  Mr.  Dwight,  who  is  going  to  prepare  a  number  of  ex- 
periments in  electricity." 

February  27,  1809,  he  writes.:  "My  studies  are,  at  present, 
optics  in  philosophy,  dialing,  Homer,  besides  attending  lect- 
ures, etc.,  all  of  which  I  find  very  interesting,  and  especially 
Mr.  Day's  lectures,  who  is  now  lecturing  on  electricity."  Still 
more  explicit  and  emphatic  are  his  words,  in  a  letter  of  March 
8,  1809 : 

"  My  studies  are  quite  easy  to  what  they  were  last  term. 
Homer  is  quite  easy ;  optics  in  philosophy  are  in  some  degree 
hard,  but  interesting ;  and  spherics,  in  the  second  volume  of  Web- 
ber, is  very  hard.  Our  disputes  and  compositions  require  a  great 
deal  of  hard  thinking  and  close  application,  which  I  hope  they  do 
not  want  from  me.  Our  chemical  lectures  at  present  are  not  very 
interesting.  Mr.  Silliman  is  now  lecturing  on  the  earths,  and  this 
part  has  always  been  considered  very  dry.  Mr.  Day's  lectures  are 
very  interesting,  they  are  upon  electricity ;  he  has  given  us  some  very 
fine  experiments,  the  whole  class  taking  hold  of  hands,  form  the 
circuit  of  communication,  and  we  all  received  the  shock  apparently  at 
the  same  moment.  I  never  took  an  electric  shock  before ;  it  felt  as 
if  some  person  had  struck  me  a  slight  blow  across  the  arms.  Mr. 
Day  has  given  us  two  lectures  on  this  subject,  and  I  believe  there 
are  two  more  remaining ;  I  will  give  you  some  account  of  them  as 
soon  as  they  are  delivered,  which  will  probably  be  in  the  course  of 
this  week." 


ENTHUSIASM  IN  CHEMISTRY.  23 

These  passages  are  taken  from  the  very  few  of  his  college 
letters  which  have  been  found.  Scores  have  been  lost,  and  it  is 
extraordinary  that  so  many  have  survived  the  half  of  a  century. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Barstow,  of  Keene,  N.  H.,  a  great  student 
and  a  distinguished  divine,  was  in  college  with  Finley  Morse, 
and  his  two  brothers,  who  entered  before  Finley  completed  his 
course.     Dr.  Barstow  writes  of  the  three  brothers  : 

"  All  three  were  exceedingly  reputable,  studious,  and  conformed 
to  the  laws  of  the  college,  holding  an  honorable  rank  in  the  curric- 
ulum of  branches  pursued  in  their  several  classes.  But,  beyond  all 
this,  they  accomplished  much  in  pursuit  of  branches  agreeable  to 
their  respective  tastes,  talents,  and  inclinations ;  exhibiting  as 
wonderful  a  variety  as  we  ever  see  in  the  members  of  the  same 
household.  Richard,  with  all  the  sedateness  and  gravity  of  a  young 
theologue,  studied  and  pondered  the  deep  mysteries  of  theology, 
and  the  deeds  and  doctrines  of  the  Reformers.  Sidney  E.  pursued 
with  avidity  those  branches  of  learning  that  prepared  him  so  ad- 
mirably to  perform  the  important  duties  of  a  religious  journalist,  to 
the  great  satisfaction  and  benefit  of  the  Christian  public ;  and  the 
Professor,  Samuel  Finley  Breese,  inquired  with  enthusiasm  into 
those  physical  sciences  that  prepared  him  for  his  distinguished 
career  as  an  electrician,  together  with  the  aesthetics  of  a  self-taught 
artist  and  painter. 

"  The  lectures  of  Professor  Silliman,  upon  chemistry  and  miner- 
alogy, were  then  exciting  great  interest  upon  those  subjects  among 
the  students ;  and  in  them  Finley  Morse  exhibited  especial  enthusi- 
asm. Finley  was  the  most  companionable  and  genial  of  the  three ; 
he  was  ever  ready  to  welcome  to  his  rooms  those  college  friends  that 
loved  to  associate  with  him;  always  gentlemanly;  always  having  a 
kind  word  for  others,  and  alwaj'S  ready  to  do  kind  offices  to  all. 

"  On  a  certain  occasion,  the  writer  of  this  note  was  admiring  his 
pictures,  and  the  inquiry  was  made,  '  Why  can  you  not  paint  my 
likeness  ? '  The  answer  immediately  was, '  I  will  do  it ; '  and  the 
result  was  a  most  perfect  likeness,  though  the  coloring  was  not  so 
perfect  as  Mr.  Morse  accomplished  after  attending  upon  the  instruc- 
tion of  others.  But  he  would  receive  no  compensation  for  the 
portrait,  delighting  to  do  a  favor  to  those  he  esteemed." 

Dr.  John  "W.  Sterling,  of  Port  Richmond,  Staten  Island,  in 
a  letter  dated  January  10,  1872,  about  three  months  before  the 


24  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

death  of  Professor  Morse,  incidentally  gives  some  pleasant  recol- 
lections of  the  college-life  of  the  young  Morses  : 

"  It  so  happened  that,  in  the  year  1809,  when  I  was  of  the  Fresh- 
man class  of  Yale  College,  Mr.  S.  F.  B.  Morse  was  a  member  of 
the  Senior,  Sidney  E.  Morse  of  the  Junior,  and  Richard  Morse  of 
the  Sophomore  classes.  Among  the  reminiscences  of  those  early 
days,  I  recall  to  mind  the  portraits  painted  on  the  walls  of  his  room 
by  the  celebrated  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  and  also  an  amusing  sketch,  by 
this  gentleman,  of  '  Freshmen  climbing  the  Hill  of  Science,'  repre- 
senting these  poor  fellows  scrambling  upon  their  hands  and  knees 
in  order  to  reach  the  pinnacle  of  eminence.  But  what  remains  most 
vividly  in  my  memory  is,  the  balloon  which  they  constructed  of 
letter-paper,  purchased,  I  think,  at  the  paper-mill  at  Humphreysville, 
styled  Rock  of  Rimmon  by  its  poetic  proprietor,  Colonel  Hum- 
phreys. 

"  This  balloon  was  eighteen  feet  in  length,  was  suspended  from 
the  tower  of  the  Lyceum  of  Yale  College,  inflated  with  rarefied  air, 
and  sent  aloft  with  its  blazing  tail,  rising  most  gloriously  until  it 
vanished  in  the  distance.  This  balloon  was  recovered,  and  another 
effort  was  made  to  raise  it.  In  rising,  however,  it  lurched,  driven 
by  the  wind  against  the  middle  college-building,  took  fire,  ascended 
in  a  blaze,  but  was  soon  reduced  to  black  ashes." 

When  four  years  old,  the  boy  began  to  scratch  the  portrait 
of  his  teacher  with  a  pin  upon  a  chest  of  drawers,  and  this  early 
tendency  manifested  itself  as  he  grew.  In  college  it  contributed 
to  his  support.  Dr.  Barstow  recollects  that  he  would  not  take 
pay  for  the  picture  made  of  him,  but  Morse  was  glad  to  get 
what  he  could  in  this  way,  to  aid  him  in  the  payment  of  ex- 
penses, which  were  exceedingly  heavy  upon  a  clergyman  having 
three  sons  in  college  at  the  same  time. 

He  tried  his  hand  upon  some  of  his  classmates.  The  im- 
perfect likenesses,  and  worse  paintings,  appeared  marvelous, 
when  produced  by  an  untaught  boy.  The  young  men  were 
willing  to  pay  moderate  prices  for  rude  pictures  of  themselves, 
which  were  a  surprise  and  delight  to  their  friends  at  home. 
But  he  made  no  great  attainments  in  the  art  while  in  college. 
As  yet  no  master  had  given  him  a  lesson.  He  was  feeling  his 
own  way  along,  with  dreams  of  future  distinction,  even  at  this 
early  period. 


CHOICE   OF  A   PROFESSION.  25 

August  9,  1809,  he  writes  to  his  parents  : 

"  I  employ  my  leisure  time  in  painting.  I  have  a  large  number 
of  persons  engaged  already  to  be  drawn  on  ivory,  no  less  than 
seven.  They  obtain  the  ivories  for  themselves.  I  have  taken  Pro- 
fessor Kingsley's  profile  for  him.  It  is  a  good  likeness,  and  he  is 
pleased  with  it.  I  think  I  shall  take  his  likeness  on  ivory,  and  pre- 
sent it  to  him  at  the  end  of  the  term." 

"June  25,  1810. 

"  Mr.  Nettleton  is  better,  and  is  willing  I  shall  take  his  likeness 
as  part  pay  (for  board).  I  shall  take  it  on  ivory.  My  price  is  five 
dollars  for  a  miniature  on  ivory,  and  I  have  engaged  three  or  four  at 
that  price.  My  price  for  profiles  is  one  dollar,  and  everybody  is 
ready  to  engage  me  at  that  price." 

His  college  course  was  drawing  near  its  close.  He  had  no 
profession  in  view,  but  to  be  an  artist,  a  painter,  was  his  ambi- 
tion. Had  not  his  father  been  a  man  of  large  views  and 
generous  feelings,  he  could  not  have  yielded  to  his  son's  desires 
to  turn  away  from  the  learned  professions,  for  which  he  had 
given  him  a  liberal  education.  But  the  bent  of  his  genius  was 
already  clearly  indicated.  July  22,  1810,  he  writes  to  his  par 
ents  as  to  his  future  : 

"  I  am  now  released  from  college,  and  am  attending  to  painting-. 
As  to  my  choice  of  a  profession,  I  still  think  that  I  was  made  for  a 
painter,  and  I  would  be  obliged  to  you  to  make  such  arrangements 
with  Mr.  Allston,  for  my  studying  with  him,  as  you  shall  think  ex- 
pedient. I  should  desire  to  study  with  him  during  the  winter,  and, 
as  he  expects  to  return  to  England  in  the  spring,  I  should  admire 
to  be  able  to  go  with  him,  but  of  this  we  will  talk  when  we 
meet  at  home." 

This  was  Avritten  in  the  Senior  recess,  before  commencement, 
when  he  was  to  be  graduated. 

His  mother  writes  to  him  and  gives  directions  as  to  the 
making  of  his  coat  in  which  to  appear  at  commencement  when 
he  graduates,  and  his  father  gives  his  consent  that  he  should  be 
one  of  the  managers  of  the  commencement  ball. 

The  first  group-that  he  ever  painted  was  executed  while  he  was 
a  student  in  college.  It  is  a  family  scene,  and  is  still  preserved, 
having  an  interest  far  beyond  that  which  attaches  to  the  first 


26  '       LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

effort  of  one  who  afterward  reached  the  heights  of  fame.  The 
painting  represents  Rev.  Dr.  Morse,  the  father,  standing  by  the 
side  of  a  globe,  on  which  he  is  discoursing  to  his  three  sons, 
while  the  mother  sits  by.  A  copy  of  this  picture  is  here  given. 
When  Dr.  Morse  was  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1810, 
he  was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  son  of  a  friend,  and  brought 
him  to  the  North  to  enter  Yale  College.  Having  been  admitted, 
he  was  confided  to  the  special  attention  of  Finley  Morse,  then  in 
his  senior  year.  The  recollections  of  this  Southern  student,  now 
the  venerable  Joseph  M.  Dulles,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  are  fresh 
and  vivid,  and  are  given  in  his  own  words,  from  a  letter  written 
October  16,  1872 : 

"  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him  at  New  Haven,  when  about 
to  graduate  with  the  class  of  1810,  and  had  such  association  as  a 
boy  preparing  for  college  might  have  with  a  senior  who  was  just 
finishing  his  course.  Having  come  to  New  Haven  under  the  care 
of  Rev.  Jedediah  Morse,  the  venerable  father  of  the  three  Morses, 
all  distinguished  men,  I  was  commended  to  the  protection  of  Fin- 
ley,  as  he  was  then  commonly  designated,  and  therefore  saw  him 
frequently  during  the  brief  period  we  were  together.  The  father 
I  regarded  as  the  gravest  man  1  ever  knew.  He  was  a  fine  exem- 
plar of  the  gentler  type  of  the  Puritan,  courteous  in  manner,  but 
stern  in  conduct  and  in  aspect.  He  was  a  man  of  conflict,  and  a 
leader  in  the  theological  contests  in  New  England  in  the  early  part 
of  this  century.  Finley,  on  the  contrary,  bore  the  expression  of 
gentleness  entirely.  In  person  rather  above  the  ordinary  height, 
well  formed,  graceful  in  demeanor,  with  a  complexion,  if  I  remem- 
ber right,  slightly  ruddy,  features  duly  proportioned,  and  often 
lightened  with  a  genial  and  expressive  smile.  He  was,  altogether, 
a  handsome  young  man,  with  manners  unusually  bland.  It  is  need- 
less to  add  that  with  intelligence,  high  culture,  and  general  infor- 
mation, and  with  a  strong  bent  to  the  fine  arts,  Mr.  Morse  was  in 
1810  an  attractive  young  man.  During  the  last  year  of  his  college- 
life  he  occupied  his  leisure  hours,  with  a  view  also  to  his  self-sup- 
port, in  taking  the  likenesses  of  his  fellow-students  on  ivory,  and  no 
doubt  with  success,  as  he  obtained  afterward  a  very  respectable  rank 
as  a  portrait-painter.  Many  pieces  of  his  skill  were  afterward  exe- 
cuted in  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  I  met  him  there,  and  in  his 
genial  manner  he  said  to  me  :  '  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you.  You  re- 
member that  miniature  ;  it  was  unfinished  when  I  left  New  Haven. 


SYMPATHETIC   INK.  27 

I  have  carried  it  with  me  ever  since,  and  over  Europe,  and  thought 
a  hundred  times  that  I  would  wash  it  out  and  put  the  ivory  to  some 
other  use.  Come  to  my  studio  and  I  will  be  glad  to  give  it  to  you.' 
This  memorial  of  our  former  intimacy  is  still  in  my  possession." 

His  college  course  being  terminated  at  commencement  in  the 
year  1810,  he  returned  to  his  father's  bouse  in  Cbarlestown, 
Massachusetts,  with  a  settled  purpose  to  pursue  the  art  of  paint- 
ing. His  mind  was  busy  with  something  besides  books.  "Writ- 
ing to  his  brothers  who  were  still  in  college,  be  uses  "  sympa- 
thetic "  ink,  invisible  until  exposed  to  beat,  and  in  their  reply 
they  tell  him  they  cannot  read  it ;  he  answers,  and  announces 
his  devotion  to  his  chosen  art : 

"Boston,  December  8,  1810. 

"  My  dear  Brothers  :  You  wanted  to  know  how  you  should 
read  what  I  had  written  with  the  sympathetic  ink.  It  was  written 
on  the  paper  which  covered  the  newspaper.  It  appears  to  me,  if 
you  hold  it  to  the  fire  so  as  to  warm  it  till  it  is  quite  hot,  the  writ- 
ing will  appear.  I  can  hardly  believe  that  it  should  lose  its  effect 
in  going  between  this  and  New  Haven  ;  what  was  written  was  not 
of  much  consequence,  and  now  can  be  but  entirely  useless  as  it  was 
new  then,  but  now  must  be  quite  stale.  There  is  nothing  new  here 
now ;  I  have  almost  completed  my  landscape  ;  it  is  '  proper  hand- 
some '  so  they  say,  and  they  want  to  make  me  believe  it  is  so,  too, 
but  I  sha'n't  yet  a  while. 

"  I  am  going  to  begin,  as  soon  as  I  have  finished  this,  a  piece, 
the  subject  of  which  will  be  '  Marius  on  the  Ruins  of  Carthage.' 
Mr.  Allston  is  very  kind  and  attentive  to  me,  and  tries  every  way 
to  be  serviceable  to  me. 

"  I  am  attending  a  course  of  anatomical  and  surgical  lectures 
in  Boston,  under  Dr.  Warren.  He  is  an  excellent  lecturer,  and 
knows  anatomy  as  well  as  any  man,  if  not  better,  in  the  United 
States.  The  lectures,  contrary  to  my  expectations,  are  extremely 
interesting.  One  would  suppose  at  first  they  would  be  rather  dis- 
agreeable and  disgusting  on  account  of  the  dissections,  but  it  is  not 
at  all  so.  They  have  just  begun.  They  are  delivered  every  day  at 
one  o'clock,  and  are  in  length  about  an  hour." 


CHAPTEE    III. 

1811-1815. 

WASHINGTON  ALLSTON — MORSE  GOES  TO  LONDON  UNDER  HIS  TUITION — THE 
VOYAGE — LONGINGS  FOE  A  TELEGEAPH — BENJAMIN  WEST — MOESE's  LET- 
TEES  TO  HIS  PARENTS — TO  A  FRIEND  AT  HOME — IMPRESSIONS  OF  WEST — 
LESLIE  THE  PAINTER — HE  AND  MORSE  BECOME  ROOM-MATES — SAMUEL 
TAYLOR  COLERIDGE — TRIUMPHS  OF  THE  YOUNG  ARTIST — MEETS  WITH 
WILLIAM  WILBEEFOROE,  HENRY  THORNTON,  ZAOHARY  MACAULAY,  LORD 
GLENELG,  AND  OTHERS — VISIT  AT  MR.  THORNTON'S — INTERCOURSE  WITH 
COLERIDGE  —  TRAVELS  TO  OXFORD,  AND  LNCIDENTS  —  FLRST  PORTRAIT 
ABROAD — LESLIE  AND  MORSE — LETTERS  TO  HIS  PARENTS — ZERAH  COL- 
BURN — DARTMOOR  PRISONERS — ATTEMPTS  TO  SERVE  THEM— DUNLAP's 
ACCOUNT  OF  MORSE — DYING  HERCULES — JUDGMENT  OF  JUPITER — GOLD 
MEDAL — MRS.  ALLSTON's  DEATH — SCENE  AT  MR.  WILBERFORCE's — RETURN 
HOME. 

-YTTASHINGTON  ALLSTON  returned  from  Europe  in 
VV  1809,  and  spent  two  years  in  Boston,  where  he  was 
married  to  the  sister  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Channing.  Just  from  col- 
lege, and  burning  with  ambition  to  be  a  painter,  young  Morse 
sought  the  acquaintance  of  Allston,  who  was  then  the  greatest 
artist  in  this  country.  Morse  saw  him  and  loved  him.  The 
affection  grew  into  reverence,  continued  through  life,  and  when 
the  great  master,  Allston,  died,  more  than  thirty  years  after  this 
first  meeting,  his  favorite  pupil,  Morse,  begged  the  brush,  still 
fresh  with  paint,  as  it  dropped  from  the  dying  artist's  hand,  and 
kept  it  as  a  sacred  memorial  of  his  teacher  and  friend.  He  de- 
posited it  in  the  New  York  Academy  of  Design,  which  he 
founded,  and  it  is  there  preserved  as  a  sacred  memorial  of  All- 
ston, and  of  the  veneration  of  Morse  for  his  first  master  in  art. 


WASHINGTON  ALLSTON.  29 

If  tlie  youth  would  be  a  painter,  his  father  was  disposed  to 
give  him  such  advantages  as  were  necessary  to  his  success. 
Allston  was  about  returning  to  Europe,  and  to  his  care  Mr. 
Morse  was  committed.  More  than  to  any,  or  all  other  teachers, 
Morse  was  indebted  to  Allston  for  his  rapid  triumphs  in  art. 

Washington  Allston  was  born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
November  5, 1779,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the 
year  1800,  having  already  developed  a  love  for  music,  poetry, 
and  painting.  With  tastes  the  most  delicate  and  pure,  ardent 
in  his  feelings,  delighting  in  the  heroic,  romantic,  and  ideal, 
he  was  one  of  the  most  noble  and  beautiful  characters  of  the 
age  which  he  adorned.  He  went  to  London  in  1801,  and  studied 
under  Benjamin  West,  with  whom  he  formed  an  intimate 
friendship.  Then  he  studied  in  Paris.  In  Italy  he  spent  four 
years.  Here  he  found  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  of  whom  he 
said,  in  one  of  his  letters,  "  To  no  other  man  do  I  owe  so  much 
intellectually  as  to  Mr.  Coleridge,  who  has  honored  me  with  his 
friendship  for  more  than  five-and-twenty  years."  In  England 
Mr.  Allston  was  also  the  friend  of  Wordsworth,  Southey,  Lamb, 
Reynolds,  and  other  brilliant  and  distinguished  men.  After  a 
brief  visit  of  two  years  in  his  own  country,  he  returned  to  Lon- 
don, and  divided  his  time  between  poetry  and  painting.  He  was 
a  deeply  religious  man.  A  Christian  by  conviction,  his  whole 
nature  was,  filled  with  adoration  of  Him  whom  not  having  seen 
he  loved,  an  ever-present  Being  in  whom  he  lived  and  moved. 
Having  passed,  seven  years  abroad  in  this  second  visit,  he  came 
home  to  America,  where  his  name  was  already  illustrious  as  the 
greatest  artist  the  country  had  produced.  His  works  commanded 
the  highest  prices  that  had  ever  been  paid  in  America  for  paint- 
ings. A  rare  impersonation  of  the  virtues  that  adorn  human- 
ity, with  fine  intellectual  powers,  and  a  spirit  attuned  to  the 
love  of  his  fellow-men,  such  was  the  man  to  whom  Finley 
Morse  was  confided  at  the  outset  of  his  career  in  the  art  of 
painting. 

Mr.  Morse  began  to  write  a  journal  on  the  voyage  from 
New  York  to  Liverpool.  He  wrote  daily  till  the  voyage  was 
ended,  then  ceased ;  resumed  it  again  on  the  return-voyage, 
four  years  afterward ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  notes 
during  one  of  his  journeys  in  Europe,  no  diary  remains.     We 


30  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

are  therefore  left  to  recollections  of  others,  letters  to  and  from 
him,  and  records  of  the  public  press,  for  the  material  of  his 
biography.  Happily  these  materials  are  so  abundant  as  to  en- 
able us  to  follow  him  through  every  step  of  his  life. 

Extracts  from  his  Journal. 

"  After  being  wind-bound  in  New  York  harbor  for  several  days, 
I  embarked  on  board  the  ship  Lydia,  Captain  Waite,  for  Liverpool, 
on  Saturday,  July  13,  1811 ;  went  only  as  far  as  the  quarantine 
ground  on  Staten  Island,  where  we  lay  over  Sunday.  We  have 
fourteen  very  agreeable  passengers,  collected  from  all  quarters  of 
the  globe  :  Mr.  Amberger,  a  Russian ;  Mr.  Neupaner,  a  Prussian  ; 
Mr.  Minshall,  the  famous  dramatist,  an  Englishman;  Mr.  Gray  and 
Mr.  Parmer,  Scotchmen ;  Captain  Visscher  and  lady,  Mr.  Allston 
and  lady,  Mrs.  Waite,  the  wife  of  the  captain,  and  a  woman-servant 
of  Captain  and  Mrs.  Visscher,  Mr.  Searl,  and  Mr.  Lord,  Americans." 

He  beguiled  the  hours  of  the  voyage  by  making  notes  upon 
the  passengers,  the  crew,  the  ship,  and  the  sea,  with  pencil- 
sketches,  for  he  was  young  and  buoyant,  and  every  thing  was 
fresh  and  new.  The  famous  dramatist  was  the  occasion  of 
infinite  amusement,  for  everybody  laughed  at  him,  while  he  im- 
agined that  his  wit  and  humor  were  entertaining  others.  The 
journal  says : 

"  Mr.  Minshall  is  the  author  of  several  plays,  as  he  "calls  them, 
though  no  one  can  make  head  or  tail  of  them ;  he  will  receive 
flattery  of  the  grossest  kind,  and  is  so  puffed  up  by  it  as  to  make 
himself  a  laughing-stock  to  the  whole  ship's  company.  He  has 
been  repeating  to  us  this  evening  an  epilogue  to  one  of  his  plays, 
with  such  out-of-the-way  gestures  as  to  make  us  almost  burst  our 
sides  with  laughing,  he  supposing  all  this  time  that  we  were  laugh- 
ing at  the  wit  of  the  composition,  and  joining  with  us  in  our  mirth 
with  his  whole  soul." 

Nothing  unusual  occurred  to  make  the  passage  memorable, 
and  in  twenty  days  from  port  the  land  beyond  was  in  sight.  In 
six  days  more  they  made  the  harbor  of  Liverpool,  where,  says 
the  journal : 

"  We  prepared  to  go  ashore  among  hundreds  of  people  who  had 
assembled  on  the  wharf.     Some  had  come  to  hear  the  news ;  some 


THREAT   OF  PRISON.  31 

to  receive  letters  from  friends  in  America ;  some  from  mere  curi- 
osity. But  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  crowd  had  hastened  to 
see  us  dashed  against  the  head  of  the  wharf  by  the  fury  of  the 
tide.  About  a  quarter-past  eleven  o'clock  I  placed  my  foot  upon 
terra  firma,  not  a  little  rejoiced  on  the  occasion,  although  in  a  land 
of  strangers.  My  fellow-passengers  with  me  walked  up  into  town 
to  find  lodgings.  We  established  ourselves  at  the  Liverpool  Arms 
Hotel,  the  same  at  which  Professor  Silliman  staid  when  in  this 
place  a  number  of  years  since. 

"  Friday,  August  9th.  I  went  to  the  mayor  to  get  leave  to  go 
to  London.  He  gave  me  ten  days  to  get  there,  and  told  me  if  he 
found  me  in  Liverpool  after  that  time  he  should  put  me  in  prison, 
at  which  I  could  not  help  smiling.  His  name  is  Drinkwater,  but, 
from  the  appearance  of  his  face,  I  should  judge  it  might  be  Drink- 
brandy." 

Thus  hurried  out  of  town  by  the  mayor,  with  a  degree  of 
severity  only  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  excitements  of  the  day, 
which  then  indicated  hostilities  between  the  United  States  and 
England,  Mr.  Morse  set  off  in  a  post-chaise  for  London  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Allston.  The  journey  of  two  hundred  miles  was  ex- 
tended through  a  week,  as  the  health  of  Mrs.  Allston  required 
slow  stages  and  frequent  rest. 

He  found  lodgings  in  London  at  No.  67  Great  Titchfield 
Street,  and  immediately  wrote  to  his  parents  announcing  his  ar- 
rival. In  this  first  letter  he  expresses  a  longing  that  seems 
prophetic  of  his  great  invention.  He  says,  after  mentioning  his 
safety : 

"  I  only  wish  you  had  this  letter  now  to  relieve  your  minds  from 
anxiety,  for  while  I  am  writing  I  can  imagine  mother  wishing  that 
she  could  hear  of  my  arrival,  and  thinking  of  thousands  of  acci- 
dents which  may  have  befallen  me.  I  wish  that  in  an  instant  1 
could  communicate  the  information :  but  three  thousand  miles  are 
not  passed  over  in  an  instant,  and  we  must  wait  four  long  weeks 
before  we  can  hear  from  each  other." 

On  the  outside  of  this  letter,  yellow  with  age,  is  written  in 
his  own  hand  with  pencil,  but  at  what  date  is  not  known,  prob- 
ably toward  the  end  of  his  life,  these  words :  "  Longing  foe  a 
Telegraph  even  in  this  letter." 


32  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

The  letter  continues : 

"  I  long  to  begin  to  paint.  Mr.  Allston  has  just  returned  from 
Mr.  West,  who  will  be  very  glad  to  see  me  to-morrow.  His  great 
picture  "  (Christ  Healing  the  Sick)  "  is  much  talked  of,  and  is  pro- 
nounced by  connoisseurs  the  best  ever  painted  in  England.  Mr. 
West  told  Mr.  Allston  that  its  exhibition  had  produced  to  the  Brit- 
ish Institution,  for  whose  benefit  it  was  exhibited,  upward  of  nine 
thousand  pounds,  although  it  was  open  only  a  few  weeks. 

"  Not  being  well  to-day,  I  sent  my  letter  of  introduction  to  Dr. 
Lettsom,  with  a  request  that  he  would  call  on  me,  which  he  did, 
and  prescribed  a  medicine  which  cured  me  in  an  hour  or  two.  Dr. 
Lettsom  is  a  very  singular  man.  He  looks  considerably  like  the 
print  you  have  of  him :  he  is  a  moderate  Quaker,  but  not  precise 
and  stiff  like  the  Quakers  of  Philadelphia.  He  is  very  pleasant 
and  sociable,  and  withal  very  blunt  in  his  address  ;  he  is  a  man  of 
excellent  information,  and  is  considered  among  the  greatest  literary 
characters  here.  There  is  one  peculiarity,  however,  which  he  has 
in  conversation,  that  of  using  the  verb  in  the  third  person  singular 
with  the  pronoun  in  the  first  person,  as,  instead  of  I  show,  he  says 
I  shows,  etc.,  upon  which  peculiarity  the  famous  Mr.  Sheridan  made 
the  following  lines  in  ridicule  of  him  : 

'  If  patients  call,  both  one  and  all, 
I  bleeds  'em,  and  I  sweats  'em  ; 
And  if  they  die,  why,  what  cares  I  ? 
I  Letts'om.' " 

On  the  following  day  Mr.  Allston  introduced  the  young 
student  to  the  great  master  Mr.  West. 

That  was  a  memorable  moment  in  the  history  of  Einley 
Morse.  The  fame  of  Benjamin  West  was  at  that  time  as  wide 
as  the  world  of  art;  and  his  history  was  familiar  to  every 
American  who  aspired  to  eminence  in  that  world.  Mr.  West 
was  an  American,  and  now  at  the  head  of  the  Royal  Academy 
of  England — his  time  and  genius  in  the  employ  of  the  king. 
Morse,  a  young  pilgrim  from  the  United  States,  slender,  fair- 
haired,  modest,  and  gentle,  with  his  foot  not  yet  on  the  first 
round  of  the  ladder  of  fame,  stood  before  his  illustrious  country- 
man, and  the  distance  between  them  appeared  all  but  infinite. 
Yet  the  career  of  West  was  the  guide  and  stimulus  to  the  youth- 
ful student. 

Benjamin   West  was   born  in    Springfield,   Pennsylvania, 


BENJAMIN   WEST.  33 

where  his  father  kept  a  country  store.  The  boy  was  only  seven 
years  old  when  he  made  with  a  pen  and  ink  the  likeness  of  his 
little  sister  in  a  cradle,  and  so  life-like  that  the  mother,  who 
caught  him  at  it,  exclaimed,  "  I  declare,  he  has  made  a  likeness 
of  our  Sally ! "  A  party  of  wild  Indians  taught  him  the  use  of 
their  colors,  and  he  made  hair-brushes  from  the  back  and  tail  of 
a  cat.  A  friend  sent  him  a  box  of  paints  and  brushes  when  he 
was  eight  years  old.  The  reputation  of  the  artist-boy  reached 
Philadelphia.  He  was  encouraged  to  study.  His  portrait  of  a 
beautiful  woman  in  Lancaster  made  him  famous  in  that  region, 
and  sitters  thronged  him.  The  provost  of  the  University  of 
the  State  invited  him  to  Philadelphia,  with  a  promise  of  patron- 
age. The  family  were  Quakers,  and  to  the  Society  of  Friends 
the  question  of  the  boy's  future  was  referred.  They  very  wisely 
decided  that  "  a  man-child  has  been  born,  to  whom  God  has 
given  some  remarkable  gifts,  and  we  shall  do  God's  will  by 
giving  him  our  sanction  to  use  them."  Yery  wise  these  good 
Quakers  were  in  their  decision.  They  said:  "Genius  is  given 
of  God  for  some  high  purpose.  What  that  purpose  is,  let  us 
not  inquire ;  it  will  be  manifested  in  his  own  good  time  and 
way.  He  hath  in  this  remote  wilderness  endowed  with  rich 
gifts  this  youth,  who  has  now  our  consent  to  cultivate  his  talents 
for  art."  Then  all  the  women  came  forward  and  kissed  the 
handsome  young  artist,  and  the  men  laid  their  hands  upon  his 
head.  Thus,  with  the  kisses  of  women  and  the  benedictions  of 
men,  the  young  Benjamin  was  consecrated  to  the  work  of  his 
life.  He  painted  in  Philadelphia  and  then  in  New  York,  and, 
when  his  portraits  and  other  pictures  had  brought  him  money 
enough  to  warrant  the  expense,  he  went  to  Italy  in  1760.  He 
was  then  only  twenty-two  years  old.  His  career  was  upward, 
steadily  and  rapidly.  He  visited  all  the  chief  cities  of  Italy, 
copied  the  greatest  works  of  the  old  masters,  then  went  to  Paris, 
and,  arriving  in  London  in  1763,  was  welcomed  by  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  who  encouraged  him  to  exhibit  his  pictures  there. 
They  commanded  recognition,  and  established  his  reputation  at 
once.  He  determined  to  remain  in  London.  Two  years  after 
his  arrival  the  king  sent  for  him,  and  gave  him  a  commission, 
took  him  into  his  favor,  afterward  gave  him  a  salary,  and  re- 
quired his  whole  time  to  be  devoted  to  his  service.  During  the 
3 


34  LfFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MOUSE. 

War  of  American  Independence,  West  remaining  true  to  his 
native  country,  enjoyed  the  continued  confidence  of  the  king, 
and  was  actually  engaged  upon  his  portrait  when  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  was  handed  to  him.  Mr.  Morse  received 
the  facts  from  the  lips  of  Mr.  West  himself,  and  communicated 
them  to  me  in  these  words  : 

"  I  called  upon  Mr.  West,  at  his  house  in  Newman  Street,  one 
morning,  and  in  conformity  with  the  order  given  to  his  servant 
Robert,  always  to  admit  Mr.  Leslie  and  myself,  even  if  he  was 
engaged  in  his  private  studies,  I  was  shown  into  his  studio.  As  I 
entered,  a  half-length  portrait  of  George  III.  stood  before  me  upon 
an  easel,  and  Mr.  West  was  sitting  with  his  back  toward  me,  copy- 
ing from  it  upon  canvas.  My  name  having  been  mentioned  to  him, 
he  did  not  turn,  but,  pointing  with  the  pencil  he  had  in  his  hand  to 
the  portrait  from  which  he  was  copying,  he  said : 

"  '  Do  you  see  that  picture,  Mr.  Morse  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  sir,'  I  said  ;  '  I  perceive  it  is  the  portrait  of  the  king.' 

" '  Well,'  said  Mr.  West,  '  the  king  was  sitting  to  me  for  that 
portrait  when  the  box  containing  the  American  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  handed  to  him.' 

" '  Indeed,'  I  answered  ;  '  and  what  appeared  to  be  the  emotions 
of  the  king  ?  what  did  he  say  ? ' 

" '  Well,  sir,'  said  Mr.  West,  '  he  made  a  reply  characteristic 
of  the  goodness  of  his  heart,'  or  words  to  that  effect.  '  Well,  if 
they  can  be  happier  under  the  government  they  have  chosen,  than 
under  mine,  I  shall  be  happy.' " 

As  the  king  became  superannuated,  the  work  on  which  West 
was  engaged  for  the  royal  chapel  was  suspended,  and  his  salary 
discontinued.  But  his  position  as  the  great  master  of  the  age 
was  secure.  And  as  President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  the 
painter  of  "  Christ  Healing  the  Sick,"  and  of  "  Christ  Rejected 
by  the  Jews,"  the  presence  of  the  venerable  man,  now  seventy- 
three  years  old,  excited,  in  the  mind  of  the  student  standing  be- 
fore him,  emotions  of  admiration  rising  into  reverential  awe. 

West  received  young  Morse  as  a  father  and  a  friend.  The 
introduction  by  Allston  would  have  been  sufficient,  and  he  had 
letters  to  Mr.  West,  which  secured  his  attention  and  awakened 
his  interest  at  once. 

In  a  very  few  days  Mr.  Morse  was  hard  at  work,  and  the 


INTKODUCTION   TO   WEST.  35 

impressions  made  upon  him  by  the  great  master,  at  whose  feet 
he  had  come  to  sit,  and  the  inspiration  which  had  already  taken 
possession  of  his  soul,  will  appear  in  a  letter  written  within  a 
fortnight : 

To  his  Parents. 

"London,  August  24,  1811. 

"  I  have  begun  my  studies,  the  first  part  of  which  is  drawing ; 
I  am  drawing  from  the  head  of  Demosthenes  at  present,  to  get  ac- 
customed to  handling  black  and  white  chalk ;  I  shall  then  commence 
a  drawing,  for  the  purpose  of  trying  to  enter  the  Royal  Academy. 
It  is  a  much  harder  task  to  enter  now  than  when  Mr.  Allston  was 
here  before,  as  they  now  require  a  pretty  accurate  knowledge  of 
anatomy  before  they  suffer  one  to  enter,  and  I  shall  find  the  advan- 
tage of  my  anatomical  lectures.  I  feel  rather  encouraged  from  this 
circumstance,  since  the  harder  it  is  to  gain  admittance  the  greater 
the  honor  it  will  be  should  I  enter.  I  have  likewise  begun  a  large 
landscape,  which  at  a  bold  push  I  intend  for  the  exhibition,  though 
I  run  the  risk  of  being  refused.  I  am  admitted  a  student  in  the 
British  Institution,  an  establishment  having  the  same  views  with 
the  Royal  Academy,  the  improvement  of  artists  ;  but  it  only  requir- 
ing the  introduction  of  some  one  of  the  directors,  Mr.  "West  was 
so  good  as  to  introduce  me  there. 

"  I  was  introduced  to  Mr.  West  by  Mr.  Allston,  and  likewise 
gave  him  your  letter.  He  was  very  glad  to  see  me,  and  said  he 
would  render  me  every  assistance  in  his  power.  At  the  British 
Institution  I  saw  his  famous  piece  of '  Christ  Healing  the  Sick.'  He 
said  to  me,  '  This  is  the  piece  I  intended  for  America,  but  the  British 
would  have  it  themselves ;  but  I  shall  give  America  the  better  one.' 
He  has  begun  a  copy,  which  I  likewise  saw ;  and  there  are  several 
alterations  for  the  better,  if  it  is  possible  to  be  better.  A  sight  of 
that  piece  is  worth  a  voyage  to  England  of  itself.  The  encomiums 
which  Mr.  "West  has  received  on  account  of  that  piece  has  given 
him  new  life,  and  some  say  he  is  at  least  ten  years  younger.  He 
is  now  likewise  about  another  piece,  which  will  probably  be  superior 
to  the  other ;  he  favored  me  with  a  sight  of  the  sketch,  which  he 
said  he  granted  to  me  because  I  was  an  American.  He  had  not 
shown  it  to  anybody  else.  Mr.  Allston  was  with  me,  and  told  me 
afterward  that,  however  superior  his  last  piece  was,  this  would  far 
exceed  it.  The  subject  is,  '  Christ  before  Pilate.'  It  will  contain 
about  fifty  or  sixty  figures  the  size  of  life. 


36  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

"Mr.  West  is  in  his  seventy-fourth  year  (I  think),  but  to  see 
him  you  would  suppose  him  only  about  five-and-forty.  He  is  very 
active  ;  a  flight  of  steps  at  the  British  Gallery  he  ran  up  as  nimbly 
as  I  could.  He  was  particular  in  his  inquiry  respecting  the  arts  in 
the  United  States,  and  appeared  very  zealous  that  they  should  ■ 
flourish  there.  He  expressed  great  attachment  to  his  native  coun- 
try, and  he  told  me,  as  a  proof  of  it,  he  presented  them  with  this 
large  picture.  I  walked  through  his  gallery  of  paintings  of  his  own 
productions.  There  were  upward  of  two  hundred,  consisting  princi- 
pally of  the  original  sketches  of  his  large  pieces.  He  has  painted 
in  all  upward  of  six  hundred  pictures,  which  is  more  than  any  artist 
ever  did,  with  the  exception  of  Rubens.  Mr.  West  is  so  industrious 
now  that  it  is  hard  to  get  access  to  him,  and  then  only  between  the 
hours  of  nine  and  ten  in  the  morning.  He  is  working  on  eight  or 
nine  different  pieces  at  present,  and  seems  to  be  more  enthusiastic 
than  he  ever  was  before. 

"  I  was  surprised,  on  entering  the  Gallery  of  Paintings  in  the"1 
British  Institution,  at  seeing  eight  or  ten  ladies,  as  well  as  gentle- 
men, with  their  easels  and  pallets,  and  oil-colors,  employed  in  co^j- 
ing  some  of  the  pictures.  You  can  see,  from  this  circumstance,  in 
what  estimation  the  art  is  held  here,  since  ladies  of  distinction, 
without  hesitation  or  reserve,  are  willing  to  draw  in  public. 

"  I  have  seen  but  little  of  London  as  yet,  being  more  desirous 
of  commencing  my  studies  at  present,  than  to  gratify  my  curiosity. 
I,  however,  in  going  to  and  from  dinner,  generally  make  a  little 
circuit  to  see  what  is  to  be  seen.  If  you  have  a  plan  of  London  I 
will  direct  you  where  to  find  me.  I  am  on  the  west  side  of  Great 
or  Upper  Titchfield  Street,  near  the  corner  of  that  street  and  Mary- 
le-bone  Street.  The  place  where  I  dine  is  in  Wardour  Street,  at 
the  corner  of  that  street  and  Knaves  Acre.  I  pass  down  Titchfield 
Street,  by  Oxford  Market  into  Oxford  Street,  and  go  a  short  dis- 
tance eastward,  and  Wardour  Street  is  on  the  south  side.  I  have 
not  felt  any  of  those  disagreeable  feelings  which  I  expected  to  ex- 
perience on  my  first  arrival  here ;  on  the  contrary,  I  have  been  in 
very  good  spirits,  and  felt  more  enthusiastic  and  determined  than 
ever  in  the  pursuit  of  my  profession.  I  rise  at  seven,  and  breakfast, 
and  by  half-past  seven  get  to  work ;  these  two  or  three  days  past 
I  have  sat  over  my  drawing  from  half-past  seven  until  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  which  is  my  dining-hour.  After  dinner  I  generally 
walk  a  little,  and  visit  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allston,  who  live  but  about 
three  minutes'  walk  from  me,  at  49  London  Street.     He  is  very 


ESTIMATE   OF   WEST.  37 

sociable  and  pleasant  with  me,  and  visits  me  every  day  to  talk  and 
smoke  his  cigar  with  me.  ...  I  am  very  anxious  at  present  to 
get  into  the  Royal  Academy ;  I  have  begun  a  drawing  for  the  pur- 
pose from  the  Gladiator  statue,  and  will  tell  you  the  issue  in  my 
next." 

After  lie  had  studied  a  year  with  Mr.  "West,  and  was  better 
able  to  judge  of  the  man  and  the  artist,  Mr.  Morse  writes  to  an 
intimate  personal  friend  in  bis  own  country : 

"  Mr.  West  has  been  so  long  at  the  head  of  his  profession,  and 
is  so  well  known  to  the  world,  that  I  could  relate  little  of  his  history 
that  would  be  new  to  you.  As  a  painter  he  has  as  few  faults  as  any 
artist  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  In  his  studies  he  has  been  in- 
defatigable, and  the  result  is  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  philosophy 
of  his  art.  There  is  not  a  line  or  a  touch  in  his  pictures  which  he 
cannot  account  for  on  philosophical  principles ;  they  are  not  the 
productions  of  accident,  but  of  study.  His  forte  is  in  composition, 
design,  and  elegant  grouping ;  his  faults  are  said  to  be  a  harsh  and 
hard  outline,  and  bad  coloring.  These  faults  he  has  in  a  great 
degree  amended  ;  his  outline  is  softer,  and  his  coloring,  in  some  pict- 
ures in  which  he  has  attempted  truth  of  color,  is  not  surpassed  by 
any  artist  now  living,  and  some  have  even  said  that  Titian  himself 
did  not  surpass  it.  He  has  just  completed  an  historical  landscape 
which,  for  clearness  of  coloring,  combined  with  grandeur  of  com- 
position, has  never  been  excelled.  In  his  private  character  he  is 
unimpeachable ;  a  man  of  tender  feelings ;  with  a  mind  so  noble 
that  it  soars  above  the  slanders  of  his  enemies,  and  he  expresses 
pity  rather  than  revenge  toward  those  who  through  wantonness  or 
malice  plan  to  undermine  him.  No  man,  perhaps,  ever  passed 
through  so  much  abuse,  and  I  am  confident  no  one  ever  bore  up 
against  its  insolence  with  more  nobleness  of  spirit.  With  a  steady 
perseverance  in  the  pursuit  of  ■  the  sublimest  profession,  he  has 
traveled  on,  heedless  of  his  enemies,  till  he  is  sure  of  immortality. 

"  Excuse  my  fervor  in  the  praise  of  this  extraordinary  man.  He 
is  not  such  a  one  as  can  be  met  with  in  every  age.  And  I  think 
there  can  be  no  stronger  proof  that  human  nature  is  the  same 
always,  than  that  men  of  genius  in  all  ages  have  been  compelled 
to  undergo  the  same  disappointments,  and  to  pass  through  the 
same  storms  of  calumny  and  abuse,  doomed  in  their  lifetime  to 
endure  the  ridicule  or  neglect  of  the  world,  and  to  wait  for  justice 
till  they  were  dead." 


38  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

The  artist-life  of  Mr.  Morse  in  London  was  brightened  by 
the  companionship  of  one  who  rose  to  great  eminence  in  his 
profession,  and  whose  memory  is  cherished  with  pride  in  onr 
country  as  well  as  in  England. 

Charles  R.  Leslie  was  born  in  London,  in  1794,  three  years 
after  the  birth  of  his  friend,  room-mate,  and  fellow-student, 
Morse.  His  parents  were  Americans,  residing  temporarily  in 
London  at  the  time  of  his  birth.  When  the  boy  was  six  years 
old  his  parents  returned  to  the  United  States  with  him,  and, 
giving  him  an  ordinary  school  education,  apprenticed  him  to  a 
bookseller  in  Philadelphia.  But  the  genius  of  painting  was  in 
him,  and  asserted  itself  early.  He  was  sent  to  London  to  be  a 
pupil  of  Benjamin  West,  and,  thus  being  brought  into  imme- 
diate acquaintance  with  Mr.  Morse,  the  two  young  men  became 
warm  personal  friends,  had  their  studios  together,  and  were  soon 
bound  by  an  affection  that  continued  unabated  till  they  were 
separated  by  death.  Leslie  was  the  soul  of  humor.  It  brims 
over  in  his  letters,  and  pictures,  and  conversation.  He  selected 
subjects  for  its  display  in  the  pages  of  Shakespeare,  Cervantes, 
Moliere,  and  others.  His  success  was  great,  and  he  was  soon 
elected  an  associate  and  member  of  the  Royal  Academy.  In 
the  year  1833  he  came  to  the  United  States  to  enter  upon 
the  professorship  of  Drawing  in  the  United  States  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point.  He  was  not  contented  there,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  few  months  returned  to  England.  In  1847  he 
became  Professor  of  Painting  in  the  Royal  Academy,  and  his 
lectures  in  that  chair  have  been  published  as  a  hand-book  for 
young  painters. 

His  associations  with  men  of  genius  were  intimate  and 
beautiful,  making  his  Autobiography  one  of  the  most  delight- 
ful volumes,  bringing  us  into  living  converse  with  Coleridge 
and  Charles  Lamb,  Rogers,  Washington  Irving,  and  scores  of 
men  whose  names  are  part  of  the  ideal  life  of  every  lover  of 
art  and  letters.  He  speaks  of  his  introduction  to  London  and 
Morse : 

"  For  a  few  days  I  was  at  the  London  Coffee-House,  on  Ludgate 
Hill,  with  Mr.  Inskip  and  other  Americans.  I  delivered  my  letters 
to  Mr.  West,  and  was  kindly  received  by  him.     I  visited  the  gal- 


LESLIE   AND   MORSE.  39 

leries  of  artists,  the  theatres,  and  the  other  principal  objects  of 
attraction  to  strangers,  and 

'  Such  sober  certainty  of  waking  bliss 
I  never  knew  till  now.' 

But  these  enjoyments  were  soon  interrupted  by  a  severe  illness, 
which  confined  me  to  my  room  in  the  hotel.  I  was  solitary,  and 
began  to  find  that  even  in  London  it  was  possible  to  be  unhappy. 
I  did  not,  however,  feel  this  in  its  full  force  until  I  was  settled  in 
lodgings,  consisting  of  two  desolate-looking  rooms  up  two  pair  of 
stairs  in  Warren  Street,  Fitzroy  Square.  My  new  acquaintances, 
Allston,  King,  and  Morse,  were  very  kind,  but  still  they  were  new 
acquaintances.  I  thought  of  the  happy  circle  round  my  mother's 
fireside,  and  there  were  moments  in  which,  but  for  my  obligations 
to  Mr.  Bradford  and  my  other  kind  patrons,  I  could  have  been  con- 
tent to  forfeit  all  the  advantages  I  expected  from  my  visit  to  Eng- 
land, and  return  immediately  to  America.  The  two  years  I  was  to 
remain  in  London  seemed,  in  prospect,  an  age. 

"  Mr.  Morse,  who  was  but  a  year  or  two  older  than  myself,  and 
who  had  been  in  London  but  six  months  when  I  arrived,  felt  very 
much  as  I  did,  and  we  agreed  to  take  apartments  together.  For  some 
time  we  painted  in  the  same  room,  he  at  one  window  and  I  at  the 
other.  We  drew  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  the  evening*,  and  worked 
at  home  in  the  day.  Our  mentors  were  Allston  and  King ;  nor 
could  we  have  been  better  provided :  Allston,  a  most  amiable  and 
polished  gentleman,  and  a  painter  of  the  purest  taste ;  and  King, 
warm-hearted,  sincere,  sensible,  prudent,  and  the  strictest  of  econo- 
mists. 

"  When  Allston  was  suffering  extreme  depression  of  spirits,  im- 
mediately after  the  loss  of  his  wife,  he  was  haunted  during  sleep- 
less nights  by  horrid  thoughts  ;  and  he  told  me  that  diabolical  im- 
precations forced  themselves  into  his  mind.  The  distress  of  this  to 
a  man  so  sincerely  religious  as  Allston,  may  be  imagined.  He 
wished  to  consult  Coleridge,  but  could  not  summon  resolution.  He 
desired,  therefore,  that  I  should  do  it ;  and  I  went  to  Highgate, 
where  Coleridge  was  at  that  time  living  with  Mr.  Gillman.  I  found 
him  walking  in  the  garden,  his  hat  in  his  hand  (as  it  generally  was 
in  the  open  air),  for  he  told  me  that,  having  been  one  of  the  Blue- 
coat  Boys,  among  whom  it  is  the  fashion  to  go  bareheaded,  he  had 
acquired  a  dislike  to  any  covering  of  the  head.  I  explained  the 
cause  of  my  visit,  and  he  said :  '  Allston  should  say  to  himself, 
"  Nothing  is  me  but  my  will.    These  thoughts,  therefore,  that  force 


40  LITE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

themselves  on  my  mind  are  no  part  of  me,  and  there  can  be  no 
guilt  in  them."  If  he  will  make  a  strong  effort  to  become  indiffer- 
ent to  their  recurrence,  they  will  either  cease,  or  cease  to  trouble 
him.'  He  said  much  more,  but  this  was  the  substance,  and  after  it 
was  repeated  to  Allston  I  did  not  hear  him  again  complain  of  the 
same  kind  of  disturbance." 

Morse  bad  made  decided  progress  in  bis  studies  before  Les- 
lie joined  him,  but  the  companionship  of  such  a  man  was  a  con- 
stant refreshment  and  stimulus.  Before  the  first  month  of  his 
residence  in  London  was  spent,  be  writes  to  bis  parents  : 

"London,  September  3,  1811. 
"I  have  finished  a  drawing  which  I  intended  to  offer  at  the 
Academy  for  admission.  Mr.  Allston  told  me  it  would  undoubtedly 
admit  me,  as  it  was  better  than  two-thirds  of  those  generally  of- 
fered, but  advised  me  to  draw  another,  and  remedy  some  defects  in 
handling  the  chalks  (to  which  I  am  not  at  all  accustomed),  and  he 
says  I  shall  enter  with  some  'eclat.  I  showed  it  to  Mr.  West ;  he 
told  me  it  was  an  extraordinary  production,  that  I  had  talents,  and 
only  wanted  knowledge  of  the  art  to  make  a  great  painter.  Since 
giving  him  your  last  letter  and  Dr.  Waterhouse's,  he  has  been  very 
friendly  and  liberal  to'  me,  and  says,  if  in  any  way  he  can  benefit 
me,  he  will  do  it  with  pleasure.  For  the  first,  to  economize,  he  told 
me  a  way  of  preparing  common  paper  to  paint  on,  instead  of  can- 
vas, which  will  be  a  great  saving  of  expense  to  me." 

The  scene  that  occurred  on  the  presentation  of  this  drawing 
Mr.  Morse  was  fond  of  describing  in  after-years,  and  it  furnishes 
an  invaluable  lesson. 

Anxious  to  appear  in  the  most  favorable  light  before  West, 
be  bad  occupied  himself  for  two  weeks  in  making  a  finished 
drawing  from  a  small  cast  of  the  Farnese  Hercules.  Mr.  West, 
after  strict  scrutiny  for  some  minutes,  and  giving  the  young  ar- 
tist many  commendations,  banded  it  again  to  him,  saying,  "  "Very 
well,  sir,  very  well ;  go  on  and  finish  it." 

"  It  is  finished,"  replied  Morse. 

"  Ob,  no,"  said  Mr.  West ;  "  look  here,  and  here,  and  here," 
pointing  to  many  unfinished  places  which  had  escaped  the  un- 
tutored eye  of  the  young  student.  No  sooner  were  they  pointed 
out,  however,  than  they  were  felt,  and  a  week  longer  was  de- 
voted to  a  more  careful  finishing  of  the  drawing,  until,  full  of 


WEST'S   GREAT   LESSON.  41 

confidence,  he  again  presented  it  to  the  critical  eyes  of  West. 
Still  more  encouraging  and  flattering  expressions  were  lavished 
upon  the  drawing,  but  on  returning  it  the  advice  was  again 
given,  "  Yeiy  well,  indeed,  sir ;  go  on  and  finish  it." 

"  Is  it  not  finished  % "  asked  Morse,  almost  discouraged. 

"  Not  yet,"  replied  "West ;  "  see,  you  have  not  marked  that 
muscle,  nor  the  articulations  of  the  finger-joints." 

Determined  not  to  be  answered  by  the  constant  "  Go  and  fin- 
ish it "  of  Mr.  "West,  Morse  again  diligently  spent  three  or  four 
days  retouching  and  renewing  his  drawing,  resolved,  if  possible, 
to  elicit  from  his  severe  critic  an  acknowledgment  that  it  was  at 
length  finished.  He  was  not,  however,  more  successful  than  be- 
fore ;  the  drawing  was  acknowledged  to  be  exceedingly  good, 
"  very  clever,  indeed ; "  but  all  its  praises  were  closed  by  the 
repetition  of  the  advice — 

"  "Well,  sir,  go  and  finish  it." 

"  I  cannot  finish  it,"  said  Morse,  almost  in  despair. 

"  "Well,"  answered  "West,  "  I  have  tried  you  long  enough. 
Now,  sir,  you  have  learned  more  by  this  drawing  than  you 
would  have  accomplished  in  double  the  time  by  a  dozen  half- 
finished  beginnings.  It  is  not  numerous  drawings,  but  the  char- 
acter of  one,  which  makes  a  thorough  draughtsman.  Finish  one 
picture,  sir,  and  you  are  a  painter." 

"When  Mr.  "West  was  painting  his  "  Christ  Rejected,"  Morse 
calling  on  him,  the  old  gentleman  began  a  critical  examination 
of  his  hands,  and  at  length  said,  "  Let  me  tie  you  with  this  cord, 
and  take  that  place  while  I  paint  in  the  hands  of  our  Saviour." 
Morse  of  course  complied  ;  West  finished  his  work,  and  releas- 
ing him  said,  "  You  may  say  now,  if  you  please,  you  had  a  hand 
in  this  picture." 

Allston  was  as  severe  a  teacher  and  critic  as  West.  In  one 
of  his  early  letters  to  his  parents,  Morse  writes : 

"  My  room-mate  is  Leslie,  the  young  man  who  is  so  much  talked 
of  in  Philadelphia;  we  have  lived  together  since  December,  and 
have  not  as  yet  had  a  falling  out.  I  find  his  thoughts  of  the  art  agree 
perfectly  with  my  own ;  he  is  enthusiastic,  and  so  am  I,  and  we  have 
not  time  to  think  scarcely  of  any  thing  else.  Every  thing  we  do 
has  a  reference  to  the  art,  and  all  our  plans  are  for  our  mutual  ad- 
vancement in  it.     We  enjoy  much  of  the  company  of  Mr.  Allston, 


42  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  a  few  other  gentlemen,  consisting  of  three  or  four  painters  and 
poets.  We  meet  by  turns  at  each  other's  rooms.  Mr.  Allston  is 
our  most  intimate  friend  and  companion.  I  can't  feel  too  grateful 
to  him  for  his  attentions  to  me ;  he  calls  every  day,  and  superintends 
all  we  are  doing.  When  I  am  at  a  stand  and  perplexed  in  some 
parts  of  the  picture,  he  puts  me  right,  and  encourages  me  to  pro- 
ceed, by  praising  those  parts  which  he  thinks  good  ;  but  he  is 
faithful,  and  always  tells  me  when  any  thing  is  bad.  It  is  mortify- 
ing, sometimes,  when  I  have  been  painting  all  day  very  hard,  and 
begin  to  be  pleased  with  what  I  have  done,  on  showing  it  to  Mr. 
Allston,  with  the  expectation  of  praise,  and  not  only  of  praise,  but 
a  score  of  '  excellents,  well-dones,  and  admirables '— 7I  say,  it  is  morti- 
fying to  hear  him  after  a  long  silence  say  :  '  Very  bad,  sir  y  that  is 
not  flesh,  it  is  mud,  sir  y  it  is  painted  with  brick-dust  and  clay?  I 
have  felt,  sometimes,  ready  to  dash  my  palette-knife  through  it,  and 
to  feel  at  the  moment  quite  angry  with  him ;  but  a  little  reflection 
restores  me.  I  see  that  Mr.  Allston  is  not  a  flatterer,  but  a  friend, 
and  that,  really  to  improve,  I  must  see  my  faults.  What  he  says 
after  this  always  puts  me  in  good-humor  again.  He  tells  me  to 
put  a  few  flesh-tints  here,  a  few  gray  ones  there,  and  to  clear  up 
such  and  such  a  part,  by  such  and  such  colors  y  and  not  only  that, 
but  takes  the  palette  and  brushes,  and  shows  me  how.  In  this 
wa}r  he  assists  me  ;  I  think  it  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  that  I 
am  under  his  eyes.  I  don't  know  how  many  errors  I  might  have 
fallen  into  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  attentions." 

Speedily  admitted  to  the  Royal  Academy,  and  pursuing  his 
art  with  enthusiasm,  Morse  begins  to  be  a  critic  in  the  first  years 
of  his  pupilage.     He  writes  to  his  parents : 

"  London,  January  30,  1812. 
"  I  called,  a  day  or  two  since,  on  Sir  William  Beechy,  an  artist 
of  great  eminence,  to  see  his  paintings.  They  are  beautiful  beyond 
any  thing  I  ever  imagined ;  his  principal  excellence  is  in  coloring, 
which  to  the  many  is  the  most  attractive  part  of  the  art.  Sir  Wil- 
liam is  considered  the  best  colorist  now  living.  You  may  be  apt  to 
ask  '  If  Sir  William  is  so  great,  and  even  the  best,  what  is  Mr.  West's 
great  excellence  ? '  Mr.  West  is  a  bad  colorist  in  general,  but  he  ex- 
cels in  the  grandeur  of  his  thought ;  Mr.  West  is  to  painting 
what  Milton  is  to  poetry,  and  Sir  William  Beechy  to  Mr.  West,  as 
Pope  to  Milton ;  so  that  by  comparing  with,  or  rather  illustrating, 
the  one  art  by  the  other,  I  can  give  you  a  better  idea  of  the  art  of 


PERCEVAL'S   ASSASSINATION.  43 

painting,  than  in  any  other  way ;  for,  as  some  poets  excel  in  the 
different  species  of  poetry,  and  stand  at  the  head  of  their  different 
kinds,  in  the  same  manner  do  painters  have  their  particular  branch 
of  their  art :  and  as  epic  poetry  excels  all  other  kind  of  poetry, 
because  it  addresses  itself  to  the  sublimer  feelings  of  our  nature^  so 
does  historical  painting  stand  preeminent  in  our  art,  because  it 
calls  forth  the  same  feelings.  For  poets'  and  painters'  minds  are 
the  same,  and  I  infer  that  painting  is  superior  to  poetry,  from 
this :  that  the  painter  possesses,  with  the  poet,  a  vigorous  imagi- 
nation, where  the  poet  stops ;  while  the  painter  exceeds  him  in  the 
mechanical  and  very  difficult  part  of  the  art,  that  of  handling  the 
pencil." 

The  years  1811-1815,  which  were  passed  by  Mr.  Morse  in 
London,  were  eventful  in  the  political  world,  including,  as 
they  did,  the  period  of  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  (1812-1814),  and  the  war  between  France  and 
the  allied  European  powers,  terminating  in  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo and  the  Treaty  of  Paris  in  1815.  Mr.  Morse  was  in  constant 
correspondence  with  his  friends  at  home,  and  intensely  interested 
in  the  great  events  of  the  age.  In  the  spring  of  1812,  within 
the  first  year  of  his  life  in  London,  he  writes  to  his  parents  of — 

The  Assassination  of  the  JPrime- Minister. 

"  London,  May  17,  1812. 
"  I  write  in  great  haste,  just  to  inform  you  of  a  dreadful  event 
which  happened  here  last  evening,  and  rumors  of  which  will  prob- 
ably reach  you  before  this  ;  it  is  no  less  than  the  assassination  of 
Mr.  Perceval,  the  Prime-Minister  of  Great  Britain.  As  he  was  en- 
tering the  Souse  of  Commons  last  evening,  a  little  past  five  o'clock, 
he  was  shot  directly  through  the  heart,  by  a  man  from  behind  the 
door ;  he  staggered  forward  and  fell,  and  expired  in  about  ten  min- 
utes. The  mention  of  this  shocking  affair  is  but  to  remove  any 
doubts  you  might  have  of  the  fact ;  I  heard  of  it  last  evening,  about 
three  hours  after  it  was  perpetrated,  but  could  not  believe  it,  until 
the  particulars  related  in  the  morning  papers  and  my  own  eyes  con- 
firmed it.  I  have  just  returned  from  the  House  of  Commons;  there 
was  an  immense  crowd  assembled,  and  very  riotous  :  in  the  hall  was 
written  in  large  letters,  ''Peace,  or  the  Head  of  the  Regent ! '  This 
country  is  in  a  very  alarming  state,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  great 
quantities  of  blood  will  be  spilled  before  it  is  restored  to  order  ;  even 


44  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

while  I  am  writing,  a  party  of  Life  Guards  are  patrolling  the  streets. 
London  must  soon  be  the  scene  of  dreadful  events.  Last  night  I  had 
an  opportunity  of  studying  the  public  mind ;  it  was  at  the  theatre;  the 
play  was '  Venice  preserved,  or  the  Plot  discovered?  If  you  will  take 
the  trouble  just  to  read  the  first  act,  you  will  see  what  relation  it 
has  to  the  present  state  of  affairs.  When  Pierre  says  to  Jaffier, 
'  Canst  thou  kill  a  senator  ? '  there  were  three  cheers,  and  so  through 
the  whole ;  whenever  anything  was  said  concerning  conspiracy, and 
in  favor  of  it,  the  audience  applauded ;  and  when  any  thing  was  said 
against  it  they  hissed.  "When  Pierre  asked  the  conspirators  if  Bru- 
tus teas  not  a  good  man,  the  audience  were  in  a  great  uproar,  ap- 
plauding so  as  to  prevent  for  some  minutes  the  progress  of  the  per- 
formance. This,  I  think,  shows  the  public  mind  to  be  in  great  agita- 
tion. You  must  not  feel  anxious  respecting  me ;  I  can  take  care  of 
myself,  for,  although  London  will  probably  be  the  scene  of  much 
bloodshed,  I  hope  I  shall  have  prudence  enough  to  keep  clear  from 
danger.  If  I  follow  my  pursuits  without  meddling  with  the  aifairs 
of  others,  I  shall  remain  unmolested  ;  so  don't  feel  anxious.  This  is 
written  in  haste.     The  papers  will  give  you  more  particulars.  .  .  . 

"  May  111th. — The  assassin,  Bellingham,  was  immediately  taken 
into  custody.  He  was  tried  on  Friday,  and  condemned  to  be  execut- 
ed to-morrow  morning  (Monday,  18th).  I  shall  go  to  the  place  to 
see  the  concourse  of  people.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  an  attempt 
were  made  to  rescue  him. 

"  Monday  Morning,  Y&th. — I  went  this  morning  to  the  execu- 
tion ;  a  very  violent  rain  prevented  so  great  a  crowd  as  was  expect- 
ed. A  few  minutes  before  eight  o'clock  Bellingham  ascended  the 
scaffold.  He  was  very  genteelly  dressed.  He  bowed  to  the  crowd, 
who  cried  out, '  God  bless  you ! '  repeatedly.  I  saw  him  draw  the  cap 
over  his  face  and  shake  hands  with  the  clergyman.  I  staid  no  lon- 
ger ;  but  immediately  turned  my  back  and  was  returning  home.  I 
had  taken  but  a  few  steps  before  the  clock  struck  eight,  and  on 
turning  back  I  saw  the  crowd  beginning  to  disperse.  I  have  felt 
the  effects  of  this  sight  all  day,  and  shall  probably  not  get  over  it 
for  weeks.     There  were  no  accidents." 

In  a  postscript  to  one  of  his  letters  of  the  same  date,  lie  says : 

"  Mr.  West  is  very  kind  to  me ;  I  visit  him  occasionally  of  a 
morning  to  hear  him  converse  on  the  art.  He  appears  quite  at- 
tached to  me,  as  he  is,  indeed,  to  all  young  American  artists ;  it 
seems  to  give  him  the  greatest  pleasure  to  think  that  one  day  the 


AMUSEMENTS  IN  LONDON.  45 

arts  will  flourish  in  America.     He  sajs  that  Philadelphia  will  be 
the  Athens  of  the  world." 

Iii  a  playful  letter  to  one  of  his  brothers,  Morse  describes — 
as  he  perhaps  would  not  to  his  parents — 

Sis  Amusements. 

"London,  June  15,  1812. 

"  I  have  only  a  few  moments  to  write  you,  as  to-day  the  gal- 
lery of  the  Marquis  of  Stafford  is  open  to  artists ;  and,  as  it  is 
but  one  day  in  the  week  for  two  months  in  the  year,  I  cannot  well 
miss  it. 

"  The  queen  held  a  drawing-room  a  short  time  since,  and  I  went 
to  St.  James's  Palace  to  see  those  who  attended.  It  was  a  singular 
sight  to  see  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  their  court  dresses  ;  the 
gentlemen  were  dressed  in  buckram-skirted  coats  without  capes, 
long  waistcoats,  cocked-hats,  bag-wigs,  swords,  and  large  buckles  in 
their  shoes  ;  the  ladies  in  monstrous  hoops,  so  that  in  getting  into 
their  carriages  they  were  obliged  to  go  edgewise.  Their  dresses 
were  very  rich.  Some  ladies,  I  suppose,  had  about  them,  to  adorn 
them,  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  pounds'  worth  of  diamonds.  I  had 
a  sight  of  the  prince  regent  as  he  passed  in  his  splendid  state  car- 
riage, drawn  by  six  horses  ;  he  is  very  corpulent ;  his  pictures  are 
good,  but  he  is  very  red  and  considerably  bloated.  I  likewise  saw 
the  Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales — she  is  handsome — the  Dukes  of 
Kent,  Cambridge,  Clarence,  and  Cumberland,  Admiral  Duckworth, 
and  many  others.  The  prince  held  a  levee  a  few  days  since,  at 
which  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer  was  presented. 

"  I  went  out  to  Epsom  races  with  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer  in  his 
carriage  a  short  time  ago,  rather  for  the  ride  than  to  see  the  run- 
ning. Epsom  is  about  nine  or  ten  miles  from  London.  I  saw  a 
great  many  splendid  equipages  and  a  great  deal  of  company ;  most 
of  the  neighboring  nobility  were  there ;  there  was  very  good  rac- 
ing. I  was  on  a  hill  in  the  centre  of  the  course,  so  that  I  could  see 
nearly  the  whole  course,  which  was  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length.   • 

"  I  occasionally  attend  the  theatres.  At  Covent  Garden  there  is 
the  best  acting  in  the  world.  Mr.  Kemble  is  the  first  tragic  actor 
now  in  England ;  Cook  was  a  rival,  and  excelled  him  in  some  char- 
acters. Mrs.  Siddons  is  the  best  tragic  actress  perhaps  that  ever 
lived.  She  is  now  advanced  in  life,  and  is  about  to  retire  from  the 
stage.  On  the  29th  of  this  month  she  makes  her  last  appear- 
ance.     I  must  say  T  admire  her  acting  very  much.      She  is  rather 


46  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

corpulent,  but  has  a  remarkably  fine  face  ;  the  Grecian  character  is 
portrayed  in  it.  She  excels  in  deep  tragedy.  In  Mrs.  Beverly,  in 
the  play  of  '  The  Gamesters,'  a  few  nights  ago,  she  so  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  house,  that  you  might  hear  your  watch  tick  in  your 
fob,  and  at  the  close  of  the  play,  when  she  utters  an  hysteric  laugh 
for  joy  that  her  husband  was  not  a  murderer,  there  were  three  dif- 
ferent ladies  in  the  boxes  who  actually  went  into  hysterics,  and  were 
obliged  to  be  carried  out  of  the  theatre.  Mrs.  Siddons  is  a  woman 
of  irreproachable  character,  and  moves  in  the  first  circles.  The 
stage  will  never  again  see  her  equal.  You  mustn't  think,  because  I 
praise  the  acting,  that  I  am  partial  to  theatres ;  I  think  in  a  certain 
degree  they  are  harmless,  but  too  much  attended  they  dissipate  the 
mind.     There  is  no  danger  of  my  loving  them  too  much. 

"  Last  night,  as  I  was  passing  through  Tottenham  Court  Road,  I 
saw  a  large  collection  of  people  of  the  lower  class  making  a  most  ter- 
rible noise  by  beating  on  something  of  the  sounding  genus.  Upon 
going  nearer  and  inquiring  the  cause,  I  found  that  a  butcher  had  just 
been  married,  and  that  it  is  always  the  custom  on  such  occasions  for 
his  brethren  by  trade  to  serenade  the  couple  with '  marrow-bones  and 
cleavers.'  Perhaps  you  have  heard  of  the  phrase  '  musical  as  mar- 
row-bones and  cleavers.'  This  is  the  origin  of  it.  If  you  wish  to 
experience  the  sound,  let  each  one  in  the  family  take  a  pair  of 
tongs  and  a  shovel,  and  then  standing  all  together  let  each  one  try 
to  outdo  the  other  in  noise,  and  this  will  give  you  some  idea  of  it. 
How  this  custom  originated  I  don't  know  ;  I  hope  it  is  not  symboli- 
cal of  the  harmony  which  is  to  exist  between  the  parties  married." 

In  another  letter  to  bis  parents,  in  the  beginning  of  his  sec- 
ond year,  he 

Dreams  of  Greatness. 

"London,  September  20,  1812. 

"  I  have  removed  from  82  Titchfield  Street  to  No.  8  Bucking- 
ham Place,  Fitzroy  Square.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  just  finished  a  model  in  clay  of  a  figure  ('  The  Dying 
Hercules'),  my  first  attempt  at  sculpture.  Mr.  Allston  is  extreme- 
ly pleased  with  it ;  he  says  it  is  better  than  all  the  things  I  have 
done  since  I  have  been  in  England,  put  together,  and  says  I  must 
send  a  cast  of  it  home  to  you,  and  that  it  will  convince  you  that  I 
shall  make  a  painter.  He  says  also  he  shall  write  to  his  friends  in 
Boston,  to  call  on  you  and  see  it  when  I  send  it. 

"  Mr.  West,  also,  was  extremely  delighted  with  it.     He  said  it 


LOVE  OF  ART  47 

was  not  merely  an  academical  figure,  but  displayed  thought.  He 
could  not  have  paid  me  a  higher  compliment.  Mr.  West  would  write 
you,  but  he  has  been  disabled  from  painting  or  writing,  for  a  long 
time,  with  the  gout  in  his  right  hand.  This  is  a  great  trial  to  him. 
I  am  anxious  to  send  you  something  to  show  you  that  I  have  not 
been  idle  since  I  have  been  here.  My  passion  for  my  art  is  so 
firmly  rooted  that  I  am  confident  no  human  power  could  destroy  it. 
The  more  I  study,  the  greater  I  think  is  its  claim  to  the  appellation 
of  divine  /  and  I  never  shall  be  able  sufficiently  to  show  my  grati- 
tude to  my  parents  for  enabling  me  to  pursue  that  profession,  with- 
out which  I  am  sure  I  should  be  miserable.  And  if  it  is  my  destiny 
to  become  great,  and  worthy  of  a  biographical  memoir^  my  biog- 
rapher will  never  be  able  to  charge  upon  my  parents  that  bigoted 
attachment  to  any  individual  profession  the  exercise  of  which 
spirit  by  parents  toward  their  children  has  been  the  ruin  of  some 
of  the  greatest  geniuses ;  and  the  biography  of  men  of  genius  has 
too  often  contained  that  reflection  on  their  parents.  If  ever  the 
contrary  spirit  was  evident,  it  has  certainly  been  shown  by  my  par- 
ents toward  me.  Indeed,  they  have  been  almost  too  indulgent. 
They  have  watched  every  change  of  my  capricious  inclinations,  and 
seem  to  have  made  it  an  object  to  study  them  with  the  greatest 
fondness  ;  but  I  think  they  will  say  that,  when  my  desire  for  change 
did  cease,  it  always  settled  on  painting.  I  hope  that  one  day  my 
success  in  my  profession  will  reward  you  in  some  measure  for  the 
trouble  and  inconvenience  I  have  so  long  put  you  to. 

"  I  am  now  going  to  begin  a  picture  of  the  death  of  Hercules, 
this  figure  to  be  as  large  as  life.  I  shall  send  it  to  }rou  as  soon  as 
practicable,  and  also  one  of  the  same  to  the  Philadelphia  Exhibi- 
tion, if  possible,  in  season  for  the  next  in  May." 

Mr.  Morse  bad  brought  with  him  from  bis  distinguished 
father  and  his  father's  eminent  friends,  letters  of  introduction 
to  some  of  the  best  men  in  England.  Among  them  were  Wil- 
liam Wilberf  orce  and  Henry  Thornton,  both  of  them  illustrious 
philanthropists,  and  at  that  time  members  of  Parliament ;  Zach- 
ary  Macaulay,  editor  of  the  Christian  Observer^  and  father  of 
the  historian ;  the  two  Grants,  one  of  whom  was  afterward  Lord 
Glenelg ;  and  many  others.  The  young  artist  was  warmly  re- 
ceived by  these  distinguished  and  excellent  men.  He  was,  how- 
ever, so  absorbed  in  his  studies,  and  so  firmly  resolved  to  permit 
nothing  to  interfere  with  his  progress,  that  he  declined  to  de- 


48  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

liver  these  letters  for  several  months.  His  father  reproves  him 
for  his  neglect,  and  he  justifies  himself  by  showing  that  social 
duties  would  occupy  more  time  than  he  could  spare  from  his 
work,  and  that  mingling  in  society  was  inconsistent  with  devo- 
tion to  study.  But  in  the  course  of  the  year  he  ventured  upon 
making  himself  known  ;  and  his  letters  frequently  mention  the 
delightful  intercourse  with  public  men  which  these  letters  se- 
cured. 

To  his  Barents. 

"London,  December  22,  1812. 
"  Last  Thursday  week  I  received  a  very  polite  invitation  from 
Henry  Thornton,  Esq,  to  dine  with  him,  which  I  accepted.     Hear- 
ing that  your  son  was  in  the  country,  he  found  me  out,  and  has 
shown  me  every  attention  ;  he  is  a  very  pleasant,  sensible  man ;  but 
his  character  is  too  well  known  to  you  to  need  any  eulogium  from 
me.     At  his  table  was  a  son  of  Mr.  Stephen,  who  was  the  author  of 
the  odious  Orders  in  Council.     Mr.  Thornton  asked  me  at  table,  if  I 
thought  that  '  if  the  Orders  in  Council  had  been  repealed  a  month 
or  two  sooner,  it  would  have  prevented  the  war.'     I  told  him  I 
thought  it  would,  at  which  he  was  much  pleased,  and,  turning  to 
Mr.  Stephen,  he  said :  '  Do  you  hear  that,  Mr.  Stephen  ?     I  always 
told  you  so.'     Last  Wednesday  I  dined  at  Mr.  Wilberforce's  ;  I  was 
extremely  pleased  with  him  ;  at  his  house  I  met  Mr.  Thornton  and 
Mr.  Grant,  members  of  Parliament.     In  the  course  of  conversation, 
they  introduced  America.     Mr.  Wilberforce  regretted  the  war  ex- 
tremely ;  he  said  it  was  like  two  of  the  same  family  quarreling ; 
that  he  thought  it  a  judgment  on  this  country  for  their  wickedness, 
and  that  they  had  been  justly  punished  for  their  arrogance  and  inso- 
lence at  sea,  as  well  as  the  Americans  for  their  vaunting  on  land. 
As  Mr.  Thornton  was  going,  he  invited  me  to  spend  a  day  or  two 
at  his  seat  at  Clapham,  a  few  miles  out  of  town.     I  accordingly 
went,  and  was  very  civilly  treated ;  the  reserve  which  I  mentioned 
in  a  former  letter  was  evident,  however,  here,  and  I  felt  a  degree  of 
embarrassment   arising   from   it  which   I   never  felt   in  America. 
The  second  day  I  was  a  little  more  at  my  ease.     At  dinner  were 
two  sons  of  the  Mr.  Grant  I  mentioned  above;  they  are,  perhaps,  the 
most  promising  young  men  in  the  country,  and  you  may  possibly 
one  day  hear  of  them  as  at  the  head  of  this  nation.     After  dinner  I 
got  into  conversation  with  them  and  Mr.  Thornton.     When  Amer- 
ica again  became  the  topic  of  conversation,  they  asked  me  a  great 


ORDERS  IN   COUNCIL.  49 

many  questions,  which  I  answered  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  They 
at  length  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  that  the  ruling  party  in 
America  were  very  much  under  French  influence.  I  replied  no ;  that 
I  believed,  on  the  contrary,  that  nine-tenths  of  the  American  people 
were  prepossessed  strongly  in  favor  of  this  country ;  as  a  proof,  I 
urged  the  universal  prevalence  of  English  fashions  in  preference  to 
French  ;  English  manners  and  customs  ;  the  universal  rejoicings  on 
the  success  of  the  English  over  the  French ;  the  marked  attention 
shown  to  English  travelers  and  visitors ;  the  neglect  with  which  they 
treated  their  own  literary  productions,  on  account  of  the  strong  pre- 
judice in  favor  of  English  works ;  that  every  thing,  in  short,  was  en- 
hanced in  its  value  by  having  attached  to  it  the  name  English. 
They  were  very  much  pleased  with  what  I  told  them,  and  acknowl- 
edged that  America,  and  American  visitors  generally,  had  been  treat- 
ed with  too  much  contempt  and  neglect.  In  the  course  of  the  day 
I  asked  Mr.  Thornton  what  were  the  objects  that  the  English  Gov- 
ernment had  in  view  when  they  laid  the  Orders  in  Council.  He 
told  me,  in  direct  terms '  The  universal  monopoly  of  commerce  ; '  that 
they  had  long  desired  an  excuse  for  such  measures  as  the  Orders  in 
Council,  and  that  the  French  decrees  were  exactly  what  they  wished, 
and  the  opportunity  was  seized  with  avidity  the  moment  it  was 
offered ;  they  knew  that  the  Orders  in  Council  bore  hard  upon  the 
Americans,  but  they  considered  that  as  merely  incidental.  To  this 
I  replied,  if  such  was  the  case  as  he  represented  it,  what  blame  could 
be  attached  to  the  American  Government  for  declaring  war?  He 
said  that  it  was  urged  that  America  ought  to  have  considered  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  and  that  Great  Britain  was  fighting  for 
the  liberties  of  the  world ;  that  America  was  in  a  great  degree  inter- 
ested in  the  decision  of  the  contest,  and  that  she  ought  to  be  con- 
tent to  suffer  a  little.  I  told  him  that  England  had  no  right  what- 
soever to  infringe  on  the  neutrality  of  America,  or  to  expect,  because 
she  (England)  supposed  herself  to  have  justice  on  her  side  in  the 
contest  with  France,  that  of  course  the  Americans  should  think  the 
same.  The  moment  America  declared  this  opinion,  her  neutrality 
ceased.  'Besides,'  said  I, '  how  can  they  have  the  face  to  make  such 
a  declaration,  when  you  just  now  said  that  their  object  was  uni- 
versal monopoly,  and  they  longed  for  an  excuse  to  adopt  measures 
for  that  end  ?  '  I  told  him  that  '  it  showed  that  all  the  noise  about 
England's  fighting  for  the  liberties  of  mankind  proved  to  be  but  a 
thirst,  a  selfish  desire  for  universal  monopoly.''  This,  he  said, 
seemed  to  be  the  case ;  he  could  not  deny  it.     He  was  going  on  to 

4 


50  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

observe  something  respecting  the  French  decrees,  when  we  were 
interrupted,  and  I  have  not  been  able  again  to  resume  the  conver- 
sation, as  I  returned  to  town  with  him  shortly  after  in  his  carriage, 
where,  as  there  were  strangers,  I  could  not  introduce  it  again.  I 
shall  take  the  opportunity  some  time  to  pursue  the  subject  with 
him.  The  prince's  declaration,  vindicating  the  English  Govern- 
ment from  blame  in  the  war  with  America,  has  been  published 
some  time.  It  is  a  flimsy  thing,  and  by  the  friends  of  the  adminis- 
tration thought  to  be  but  a  weak  defence." 

Among  the  autographs  which  Mr.  Morse  preserved  to  the 
end  of  his  life  is  the  following  note  from  Mr.  Wilberforce,  to 
whom  he  had  neglected  to  deliver  his  letters  of  introduction, 
notwithstanding  his  father's  urgency  that  he  should  make  the 
acquaintance  of  that  remarkable  man  : 

"Kensington  Gore,  January  4,  1813. 

"  Sir  :  I  cannot  help  entertaining  some  apprehension  of  my  not 
having  received  some  letter  or  some  card,  which  you  may  have  done 
me  the  favor  of  leaving  at  my  house.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may, 
I  gladly  avail  myself  of  the  sanction  of  a  letter  from  your  father, 
for  introducing  myself  to  you ;  and  as  many  calls  are  mere  matters 
of  form,  instead  of  knocking  at  your  door,  I  take  the  liberty  of  beg- 
ging the  favor  of  your  company  at  dinner  on  Wednesday  next,  at  a 
quarter  before  five  o'clock,  at  Kensington  Gore  (one  mile  from 
Hyde  Park  corner),  and  of  thereby  securing  the  pleasure  of  an  ac- 
quaintance with  you.  The  high  respect  which  I  have  long  enter- 
tained for  your  father,  in  addition  to  the  many  obliging  marks  of 
attention  which  I  have  received  from  him,  render  me  desirous  of 
becoming  personally  known  to  you,  and  enable  me  with  truth  to 
assure  you  I  am,  with  good-will,  sir, 

"  Your  faithful  servant, 

"W.  Wilberforce. 

"  Morse,  Esq." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  an  acquaintance  which  proved  to 
be  of  great  value  to  the  young  artist ;  the  recollections  of  it  and 
of  the  men  with  whom  it  brought  him  into  contact  being  among 
the  pleasantest  of  his  life. 

Professor  Morse  was  very  fond  of  repeating  to  his  friends 
his  pleasant  recollections  of  intercourse  with  Benjamin  West, 
Allston,  Coleridge,  Rogers,  and  other  celebrated  men  of  the 


WEST'S  PATRIOTISM.  51 

day.    Some  of  these  reminiscences  were  preserved  by  Mr.  James 
Wynne: 

West  averred  that  the  Revolutionary  war  was  carried  on  and 
troops  sent  in  direct  opposition  to  the  judgment  and  wishes  of  the 
king,  who  only  yielded  to  the  strong  representations  of  his  minis- 
try, that  he  had  no  right  to  dismember  so  large  and  important  a 
part  of  the  British  Empire.  As  an  evidence  of  this,  he  cited  the 
case  of  Lord  Mansfield,  who,  on  the  occasion  of  a  question  as  to  the 
propriety  of  sending  more  troops  to  America,  in  the  House  of 
Peers,  remarked  that  "  it  was  now  time  for  the  government  to  throw 
oif  the  mask."  The  king,  who  could  be  aroused  on  certain  occa- 
sions, became  exceedingly  angry  with  Lord  Mansfield  for  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  had  procured  his  sanction  to  send  troops,  and  di- 
rected him  never  to  see  his  face  again — an  order  which  was  never 
relaxed. 

It  may  be  that  West's  partiality  for  the  king  induced  him  to 
overlook  his  own  part  in  the  American  war,  and  disposed  him  to 
place  on  the  shoulders  of  others  the  blame  which  should  in  part,  at 
least,  have  been  borne  by  him.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  friendship 
subsisting  between  them  continued  unabated,  although  occasions 
were  not  wanting  in  which  those  who  were  jealous  of  the  influence 
of  an  American  over  the  mind  of  their  king  strove  to  alienate  their 
friendship.  West  was  fully  aware  of  this,  and,  while  he  seldom  paid 
attention  to  these  attempts,  could  not  fail  occasionally  to  be  annoy- 
ed at  them.  As  an  illustration  of  this  feeling  he  narrated  to  Morse 
the  following: 

"  '  While,'  remarked  West,  '  the  king  was  on  a  visit  to  me,  news 
was  brought  of  an  important  victory  of  his  troops  over  the  rebels. 
Not  finding  him  at  the  palace,  the  messenger  immediately  traced 
him  to  my  studio,  and  communicated  the  intelligence.  After  this 
was  accomplished,  turning  to  me,  the  messenger  said  : 

" '  And  are  you  not  gratified  at  the  success  of  his  majesty's 
troops  ? ' 

" '  No,'  I  replied  ;  '  I  can  never  rejoice  in  the  misfortunes  of  my 
countrymen.' 

"  '  Right,'  replied  the  king,  rising  and  placing  his  hand  approv- 
ingly on  my  shoulder.  '  If  you  did,  you  would  not  long  be  a  fit  sub- 
ject for  any  government.' " 

Among  the  members  of  the  Royal  Academy  with  whom  Morse 
was  in  the  habit  of  frequent  association,  was  Fuseli,  whose  erratic 


52  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

genius  is  perpetuated  in  the  remarkable  productions  of  his  pencil, 
which  at  that  time  had  great  currency.  Fuseli,  who  was  a  pro- 
found thinker  and  an  agreeable  companion,  was  on  one  occasion  de- 
bating the  question  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  with  a  disbe- 
liever. 

"  I  do  not  know  that  your  soul  is  immortal,"  said  Fuseli  to  his 
companion — "  perhaps  it  is  not ;  but  I  know  that  mine  is." 

"  Why  so  ?  "  demanded  his  companion,  greatly  astonished  at 
the  comparison. 

"  Because,"  said  Fuseli,  "  I  can  conceive  more  in  one,  minute 
than  I  can  execute  in  a  lifetime." 

No  stronger  illustration  than  this  can  be  given  of  the  soul's  im- 
mortality. 

Another  of  these  was  Northcote,  who  did  not  affect  to  conceal 
his  jealousy  of  other  artists.  On  one  occasion  Coleridge  attempted 
to  take  him  to  task  for  this  unfortunate  trait  in  his  character. 
"  Nonsense  ! "  replied  Northcote.  "  You  possess,  all  men  of  genius 
possess,  the  same  quality.  As  a  test,  are  you  willing  to  admit  that 
South ey  is  as  great  a  poet  as  yourself?" 

"  To  be  sure  I  am,"  replied  Coleridge. 

"  Will  you  confess,"  continued  Northcote,  "  that  if  you  saw 
Southey  standing  under  that  beam  " — pointing  to  the  one  above  his 
head — "  you  would  not  secretly  wish  it  to  fall  on  and  crush  him  ?  " 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Northcote's  envy  was  inveterate  and 
incurable. 

Coleridge,  who  was  a  visitor  at  the  rooms  of  Leslie  and  Morse, 
frequently  made  his  appearance  under  the  influence  of  those  fits  of 
despondency  to  which  he  was  subject.  On  these  occasions,  by  a 
preconcerted  plan,  they  often  drew  him  from  this  state  of  despon- 
dency to  one  of  brilliant  imagination.  "  I  was  just  wishing  to  see 
you,"  said  Morse,  on  one  of  these  occasions,  when  he  entered  with 
a  hesitating  step,  and  replied  to  their  frank  salutations  with  a 
gloomy  aspect  and  deep-drawn  sighs.  "  Leslie  and  myself  have 
had  a  dispute  about  certain  lines  of  beauty ;  which  is  right  ? " 
And  then  each  argued  with  the  other  for  a  few  moments,  until  Cole- 
ridge became  interested,  and,  rousing  from  his  fit  of  despondency, 
spoke  with  an  eloquence  and  depth  of  metaphysical  reasoning  on 
the  subject  far  beyond  the  comprehension  of  his  auditors.  Their 
point,  however,  was  gained,  and  Coleridge  was  again  the  eloquent, 
the  profound,  the  gifted  being  which  his  remarkable  productions 
show  him  to  be. 


COLERIDGE  AND  ALLSTON.        .  53 

"  On  one  occasion,"  says  Morse,  "  I  heard  him  improvise,  for 
half  an  hour,  in  blank  verse,  what  he  stated  to  be  a  strange  dream, 
which  was  full  of  those  wonderful  creations  that  glitter  like  dia- 
monds in  his  poetical  productions." 

"  All  of  which,"  remarked  I,  "  is  undoubtedly  lost  to  the  world." 
"  Not  all,"  replied  Mr.  Morse,  "  for  I  recognize  in  the  '  Ancient 
Mariner  '  some  of  the  thoughts  of  that  evening  ;  but  doubtless  the 
greater  part,  which  would  have  made  the  reputation  of  any  other 
man,  perished  with  the  moment  of  inspiration,  never  again  to  be 
recalled." 

When  his  tragedy  of  "  Remorse,"  which  had  a  run  of  twenty-one 
nights,  was  first  brought  out,  Washington  Allston,  Charles  King, 
Leslie,  Lamb,  Morse,  and  Coleridge,  went  together  to  witness  its 
performance.  They  occupied  a  box  near  the  stage,  and  each  of  the 
party  was  as  much  interested  in  its  success  as  Coleridge  himself. 

The  effect  of  the  frequent  applauses  upon  Coleridge  was  very 
manifest;  but  when,  at  the  end  of  the  piece,  he  was  called  for  by 
the  audience,  the  intensity  of  his  emotions  was  such  as  none  but 
one  gifted  with  the  fine  sensibilities  of  a  poet  could  experience. 
Fortunately,  the  audience  was  satisfied  with  a  mere  presentation  of 
himself.  His  emotions  would  have  precluded  the  idea  of  his  speak- 
ing on  such  an  occasion. 

Allston,  soon  after  this,  became  so  much  out  of  health  that  he 
thought  a  change  of  air,  and  a  short  residence  in  the  country, 
might  relieve  him.  He  accordingly  set  out  on  this  journey,  accom- 
panied by  Leslie  and  Morse.  When  he  reached  Salt  Hill,  near  Ox- 
ford, he  became  so  ill  as  to  be  unable  to  proceed,  and  requested 
Morse  to  return  to  town  for  his  medical  attendant,  Dr.  Tuthill,  and 
Coleridge,  to  whom  he  was  ardently  attached.  Morse  accordingly 
returned,  and,  procuring  a  post-chaise,  immediately  set  out  for  Salt 
Hill,  a  distance  of  twenty-two  miles,  accompanied  by  Coleridge  and 
Dr.  Tuthill.  They  arrived  late  in  the  evening,  and  were  busied 
with  Allston  until  midnight,  when  he  became  easier,  and  Morse  and 
Coleridge  left  him  for  the  night.  Upon  repairing  to  the  sitting- 
room  of  the  hotel,  Morse  opened  Knickerbocker's  "  History  of  New 
York,"  which  he  had  thrown  into  the  carriage  before  leaving  town. 
Coleridge  asked  him  what  work  he  had. 

"  Oh,"  replied  he,  "  it  is  only  an  American  book  ! " 

"  Let  me  see  it,"  said  Coleridge.  He  accordingly  handed  it  to 
him,  and  he  was  soon  buried  in  its  pages.  Mr.  Morse,  overcome  by 
the  fatigues  of  the  day,  soon  after  retired  to  his  chamber  and  fell 


54  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

asleep.  On  awakening  the  next  morning,  he  repaired  to  the  sit- 
ting-room, when  what  his  astonishment  to  find  it  still  closed,  with 
the  lights  burning,  and  Coleridge  busy  with  the  book  he  had  lent 
him  the  previous  night ! 

"  Why,  Coleridge,"  said  he,  approaching  him,  "  have  you  been 
reading  the  whole  night  ?  " 

"  Why,"  remarked  Coleridge,  abstractedly,  "  it  is  not  late." 

He  replied  by  throwing  open  the  blinds  and  permitting  the 
broad  daylight,  for  it  was  now  ten  o'clock,  to  stream  in  upon  them. 

"  Indeed,"  said  Coleridge,  "  I  had  no  conception  of  this ;  but 
the  work  has  pleased  me  exceedingly.  It  is  admirably  written ; 
pray,  who  is  its  author  ?  " 

He  was  informed  that  it  was  the  production  of  Washington  Ir- 
ving. It  is  needless  to  say  that,  during  the  long  residence  of 
Irving  in  London,  they  became  warm  friends. 

Among  the  literary  acquaintances  formed  by  Morse  in  London 
at  this  period  was  Rogers,  the  poet,  whose  breakfasts  attained 
so  wide  a  celebrity.  At  one  of  these,  at  which  Leslie  and  Morse 
were  the  only  guests,  Rogers  waggishly  remarked  to  Morse  that 
his  friend  Leslie  was  a  very  clever  artist,  but  that  it  was  a  great 
pity  that  he  did  not  throw  more  grace  and  beauty  into  his  female 
figures. 

Now,  if  Leslie  prided  himself  upon  any  thing,  it  was  precisely 
upon  the  grace  and  symmetry  of  his  female  figures,  in  which  he 
particularly  excelled,  and  so  Morse  informed  him. 

"You  think  so,"  said  Rogers,  quietly  indulging  in  a  pleasant 
laugh  at  his  own  waggery,  and  changed  the  conversation,  without 
explanation,  to  another  subject. 

It  is  well  known  that  Rogers's  house  was  literally  made  up  of 
choice  gems,  and  among  these  was  a  sketch  of  the  "Miracle  of  the 
Slain  "  by  Tintoretto,  which  Rogers  informed  Morse  was  executed 
by  that  great  artist  preparatory  to  the  execution  of  the  painting  it- 
self. 

Morse  asked  Rogers  where  the  original  now  was,  as  he  had  an 
order  to  paint  a  copy  of  it,  and  supposed,  as  it  had  been  captured 
by  Napoleon  I.,  it  was  in  Paris.  Rogers  informed  him  that  it  had 
been  returned  to  Venice,  where  Morse  afterward  found  it  in  the 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  immediately  opposite  Titian's  "Assump- 
tion of  the  Virgin."  The  copy  he  then  made,  and  which  upon  the 
death  of  its  owner  fell  again  into  his  hands,  was  among  his  own 
pictures  as  long  as   he  lived.      Fuseli,  who  at   the  time  of  Mr. 


DR.   ABERNETHT.  55 

Morse's  residence  in  London  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame,  consid- 
ered the  original  the  finest  picture  in  the  world. 

At  this  period  Abernethy  was  in  the  full  tide  of  his  popularity 
as  a  surgeon,  and  Allston,  who  had  for  some  little  time  had  a  grum- 
bling pain  in  his  thigh,  proposed  to  Morse  to  accompany  him  to  the 
house  of  the  distinguished  surgeon  to  consult  him  on  the  cause  of 
the  ailment.  As  Allston  had  his  hand  on  the  bell-pull,  the  door  was 
opened  and  a  visitor  passed  out,  immediately  followed  by  a  coarse- 
looking  person  with  a  large,  shaggy  head  of  hair,  whom  Allston  at 
once  took  for  a  domestic.  He  accordingly  inquired  if  Mr.  Aber- 
nethy was  in. 

"  What  do  you  want  of  Mr.  Abernethy  ?  "  demanded  this  un- 
couth-looking person,  with  the  harshest  possible  Scotch  accent. 

"I  wished  to  see  him,"  gently  replied  Allston,  somewhat 
shocked  by  the  coarseness  of  his  reception ;  "  Is  he  at  home  ?  " 

"  Come  in,  come  in,  mon,"  said  the  same  uncouth  personage. 

"  But  he  may  be  engaged,"  responded  Allston ;  "  perhaps  I  had 
better  call  another  time." 

"  Come  in,  mon,  I  say,"  replied  the  person  addressed,  and  partly 
by  persuasion  and  partly  by  force,  Allston,  followed  by  Morse,  was 
induced  to  enter  the  hall,  which  they  had  no  sooner  done  than  the 
person  who  admitted  them  closed  the  street-door,  and,  placing  his 
back  against  it,  said,  "  Now  tell  me  what  is  your  business  with  Mr. 
Abernethy.     I  am  Mr.  Abernethy." 

"  I  have  come  to  consult  you,"  replied  Allston,  "  about  an  affec- 
tion—" 

"  What  the  de'il  hae  I  to  do  with  your  affections  ?  "  bluntly  in- 
terposed Abernethy. 

"  Perhaps,  Mr.  Abernethy,"  said  Allston,  by  this  time  so  com- 
pletely overcome  by  the  apparent  rudeness  of  the  eminent  surgeon 
as  to  regret  calling  on  him  at  all,  "  you  are  engaged  at  present,  and 
I  had  better  call  again." 

"  De'il  the  bit,  de'il  the  bit,  mon,"  said  Abernethy.  "  Come  in, 
come  in,"  and  he  preceded  them  to  his  office,  and  examined  his 
case,  which  proved  to  be  a  slight  one,  with  such  gentleness  as  al- 
most to  lead  them  to  doubt  whether  Abernethy  within  his  consult- 
ing-room, and  Abernethy  whom  they  had  encountered  in  the  pas- 
sage, was  really  the  same  personage. 

The  first  portrait  Mr.  Morse  painted  in  London  was  that  of 
his  friend  Leslie,  and  Leslie  at  the  same  time  made  a  portrait  of 


56  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Morse.  His  mother  received  a  letter  in  the  spring  of  1812, 
from  a  lady  in  Philadelphia,  in  which  these  portraits  are  alluded 
to: 

"  I  have  this  moment  received  a  letter  from  Miss  Vaughan  in 
London,  dated  February  20th,  and  knowing  the  passage  below  would 
be  interesting  to  you,  I  transcribe  it  with  pleasure,  and  add  my 
very  sincere  wish  that  all  your  hopes  may  be  realized  : 

"  '  Dr.  Morse's  son  is  considered  a  young  man  of  very  promising 
talents  by  Mr.  Allston  and  Mr.  West,  and  by  those  who  have  seen 
his  paintings.  We  have  seen  him,  and  think  his  modesty  and  ap- 
parent amiableness  promise  as  much  happiness  to  his  friends  as  his 
talents  may  procure  distinction  for  himself.  He  is  peculiarly  fortu- 
nate, not  only  in  having  Mr.  Allston  for  his  adviser  and  friend,  but 
in  his  companion  in  painting,  Mr.  Leslie,  a  young  man  from  Phila- 
delphia, highly  recommended,  and  whose  extreme  diffidence  adds 
to  the  most  promising  talents,  the  patient  industry,  and  desire  of 
improvement,  which  are  necessary  to  bring  them  to  perfection. 
They  have  been  drawing  each  other's  pictures.  Mr.  Leslie  is  in  the 
Spanish  costume,  and  Mr.  Morse  in  a  Highland  dress.  They  are  in 
a  very  unfinished  state,  but  striking  likenesses.'  This  Highland 
lad,  I  hope,  my  dear  friend,  you  will  see,  and  in  due  time  be  again 
blessed  with  the  original." 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  to  his  Parents. 

"  London,  March  24,  1813. 
"  With  regard  to  my  expenses,  I  got  through  the  first  year  with 
two  hundred  pounds,  and  hope  the  same  sum  will  carry  me  through 
the  second.  If  you  knew  the  manner  in  which  we  live,  you  would 
wonder  how  it  was  possible  I  could  have  made  so  great  a  change 
in  my  habits.  I  am  obliged  to  screw  and  pinch  myself  in  a  thousand 
things  in  which  I  used  to  indulge  myself  at  home.  I  am  treated 
with  no  dainties,  no  fruit,  no  nice  dinners  (except  once  in  an  age, 
when  invited  to  a  party  at  an  American  table),  no  fine  tea-parties, 
as  at  home.  All  is  changed ;  I  breakfast  on  simple  bread-and-butter 
and  two  cups  of  coffee ;  I  dine  on  either  beef,  mutton,  or  pork  (veal 
being  out  of  the  question,  as  it  is  one  shilling  and  sixpence  per 
pound),  baked  with  potatoes,  warm  perhaps  twice  a  week,  all  the 
rest  of  the  week  cold.  My  drink  is  water,  porter  being  too  expen- 
sive. At  tea,  bread-and-butter,  with  two  cups  of  tea.  This  is  my 
daily  round.  I  have  had  no  new  clothes  for  nearly  a  year ;  my  best 
are   threadbare,  and  my  shoes  out  at  the   toes,  my   stockings   all 


THE  USE   OF  MONEY. 


57 


want  to  see  my  mother,  and  my  hat  is  growing  hoary  with  age. 
This  is  my  picture  in  London,  do  you  think  you  would  know  it  ? 
'  But,'  you  will  say,  '  what  do  you  do  with  the  money  if  you  live  thus 
sparingly  ? '  Why,  I  will  tell  you  the  whole.  When  I  first  came  to 
London,  I  was  told,  if  I  meant  to  support  the  character  of  a  gentle- 
man, I  must  take  especial  care  of  my  personal  appearance ;  so  I 
thought  it  a  matter  of  course  that  I  must  spare  no  expense  in  order 
to  appear  well.  So,  this  being  first  in  my  mind,  I  (supposing 
very  wisely  that  London  folks  had  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  see 
how  I  was  dressed)  laid  out  a  considerable  part  of  my  money  on 
myself;  meanwhile,  picture-galleries  and  collections,  with  many 
other  places  which  I  ought  constantly  to  have  visited,  and  which 
cost  some  money,  were  neglected ;  and  why  ?  because  I  could  not 
afford  it !  Well,  in  process  of  time,  I  found  no  very  particular 
advantage  to  be  gained  by  supporting  the  character  of  a  gentleman, 
for  these  reasons :  in  the  first  place,  nobody  saw  me  y  in  the  second 
place,  if  they  had  seen  me,  they  would  not  have  hnown  me/  and, 
thirdly,  if  they  had  known  me,  they  would  not  have  cared  a  farthing 
about  me.  So  I  thought  within  myself  what  I  came  to  England  for, 
and  I  found  that  it  was  not  to  please  English  folks,  but  to  study 
painting ;  and,  as  I  found  I  must  sacrifice  painting  to  dress  and 
visiting,  or  dress  and  visiting  to  painting,  I  determined  on  the  latter, 
and  ever  since  have  lived  accordingly,  and  now  the  tables  are  turned : 
I  visit  galleries  and  collections,  purchase  prints,  etc.,  and,  when  I 
am  asked  why  I  don't  pay  more  attention  to  my  dress,  I  reply  that 
I  cannot  afford  it.  Provision  of  every  kind  is  excessively  high  here, 
and  is  increasingly  so.  A  pair  of  fowls,  such  as  we  could  get  in 
America  for  about  three  shillings  per  pair,  are  eighteen  shillings 
sterling ;  a  turkey,  from  ten  shillings  sixpence  to  a  guinea ;  beef 
is  thirteen  pence  per  pound  ;  pork,  fourteen  pence  ;  mutton,  one  shil- 
ling ;  and  veal,  as  I  said  before,  one  shilling  and  sixpence ;  bread  is 
one  shilling  and  eightpence  the  quartern  loaf,  half  of  one  of  which 
we  eat  in  a  day.  Every  thing  seems  to  be  in  proportion  :  shoes  are 
from  fifteen  shillings  to  a  guinea  per  pair,  boots  three  pounds,  and 
so  on.  By  this  you  can  form  a  slight  estimate  how  much  it  costs  to 
live  in  this  country.  It  is  known  by  the  experience  of  two  or  three 
Americans,  whom  I  know,  that  a  pound  goes  no  farther  in  England 
than  a  dollar  in  America.  My  greatest  expense,  next  to  living,  is 
for  canvas,  frames,  colors,  etc.,  and  visiting  galleries.  The  frame 
of  my  large  picture  which  I  have  just  finished  cost  nearly  twenty 
pounds,  besides   the   canvas   and  colors,  which  cost  nearly  eight 


58  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

pounds  more,  and  the  frame  was  the  cheapest  I  could  possibly  get. 
Mr.  Allston's  frame  cost  him  sixty  guineas.  Frames  are  very  expen- 
sive things,  and  on  that  account  I  shall  not  attempt  another  large 
picture  foV  some  time,  although  Mr.  West  advises  me  to  paint  large 
as  much  as  possible.  The  picture  which  I  have  finished  is  '  The 
Death  of  Hercules ; '  the  size  is  eight  feet  by  six  feet  and  six  inches. 
This  picture  I  showed  to  Mr.  West  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  he  was 
extremely  pleased  with  it,  and  paid  me  many  very  high  compliments ; 
but,  as  praise  comes  better  from  another  than  from  one's  self,  I  shall 
send  you  a  complimentary  note  which  Mr.  West  has  promised  to 
send  me  on  the  occasion.  I  sent  the  picture  to  the  Exhibition  at , 
Somerset  Souse,  which  opens  on  the  3d  of  May,  and  have  the  sat- 
isfaction, not  only  of  having  it  received,  but  of  having  the  praises 
of  the  council  who  decide  on  the  admission  of  pictures.  Six  hun- 
dred pictures  were  refused  admission  this  year,  so  you  may  suppose 
that  a  picture  (of  the  size,  too,  of  which  mine  was)  must  possess 
some  merit  to  be  received  in  preference  to  six  hundred !  A  small 
picture  may  be  received,  even  if  it  is  not  very  good,  because  it  will 
serve  to  fill  up  some  little  space  which  would  otherwise  be  empty, 
but  a  large  picture,  from  its  excluding  many  small  ones,  must  pos- 
sess a  great  deal  in  its  favor  in  order  to  be  received. 

"  If  you  recollect,  I  told  you  I  had  completed  a  model  of  a  single 
figure  of  the  same  subject ;  this  I  sent  to  the  Society  of  Arts  at  the 
Adelphi,  to  stand  for  the  prize  (which  is  offered  every  year  for  the 
best  performance  in  painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture),  and  is 
a  gold  medal ;  yesterday  I  received  the  note  accompanying  this, 
by  which  you  will  see  that  it  is  adjudged  to  me  in  sculpture  this 
year ;  it  will  be  delivered  to  me  in  public  on  the  13th  of  May  or 
June,  I  don't  know  which,  but  I  shall  give  you  a  particular  account 
of  the  whole  process  as  soon  as  I  have  received  it.  By  knowing 
these  facts,  you  will  perceive  that  I  have  not  been  idle  since  my 
residence  here.  I  wish  I  could  send  you  some  specimen  of  my 
painting,  but  captains  and  passengers  absolutely  refuse  carrying 
any  thing  larger  than  a  small  package  of  letters ;  and  indeed,  if 
there  were  opportunities,  I  could  at  present  send  nothing  very  in- 
teresting to  you,  my  works  consisting  merely  of  drawings  of 
heads,  hands,  and  feet,  and  now  and  then  a  portrait  for  improve- 
ment. I  shall  soon  commence  some  of  papa's  friends ;  Dr.  Lettsom 
I  shall  ask  first,  Mr.  Wilberforce  I  shall  also  ask,  but  do  not  know 
whether  he  will  have  time  to  sit  to  me.  Sir  Joshua  Banks  is  now 
very  ill  indeed,  and  I  doubt  whether  he  will  recover,  and,  even  if  he 


EULOGY   OF  ALLSTON.  59 

does,  there  is  so  much  ceremony  necessary,  and  it  is  considered  so 
great  a  favor  for  a  man  of  his  rank  to  sit  to  an  obscure  artist,  that  I 
doubt  very  much  whether  I  should  be  able  to  obtain  his  consent ; 
he  might  consent,  however,  if  I  mentioned  that  it  was  my  father's 
request ;  and,  if  he  recovers,  I  shall  at  least  ask  him. 

"  I  cannot  close  this  letter  without  telling  you  how  much  I  am 
indebted  to  that  excellent  man  Mr.  Allston  ;  he  is  extremely  partial 
to  me,  and  has  often  told  me  that  he  is  proud  of  calling  me  his 
pupil ;  he  visits  me  every  evening,  and  our  conversation  is  gener- 
ally upon  the  inexhaustible  topic  of  our  divine  art,  and  upon  home, 
which  is  next  in  our  thoughts.     I  know  not  in  what  terms  to  speak 
of  Mr  Allston.     I  can  truly  say  I  do  not  know  the  slightest  imper- 
fection in  him ;  he  is  amiable,  affectionate,  learned,  possessed  of  the 
greatest  powers  of  mind  and  genius,  modest,  unassuming,  and, 
above  all,  a  religious  man.     You  may  perhaps  suppose  that  my  par- 
tiality for  him  blinds  me  to  his  faults,  but  no  man  could  conceal, 
on  so  long  an  acquaintance,  every  little  foible  from  one  constantly 
in  his  company ;   and,  during  the  whole  of  my  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Allston,  I  never  heard  him  speak  a  peevish  word,  or  utter  a 
single  inconsiderate  sentence  ;  he  is  a  man  in  praise  of  whom  I  can- 
not speak  sufficiently,  and  my  love  for  him  I  can  only  compare  to 
that  love  which  ought  to  subsist  between  brothers.     He  is  a  man 
for  whose  genius  I  have  the  highest  veneration,  for  whose  princi- 
ples I  have  the  greatest  respect,  and  for  whose  amiable  qualities  I 
have  an  increasing  love.     I  could  write  a  quire  of  paper  in  his 
praise,  but  all  I  could  say  of  him  would  give  you  but  a  very  imper- 
fect- idea  of  him.     To  learn  all  his  excellences,  you  must  be  ac- 
quainted with  him.     Do  not  think  this  mere  fulsome  compliment ; 
what  I  write  I  write  sincerely ;  you  know  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of 
writing  what  I  don't  think.     You  must  recollect,  when  you  tell 
friends  that  I  am  studying  in  England,  that  I  am  a  pupil  of  Mr. 
Allston,  and  not  Mr.  West ;  they  will  not  long  ask  who  Mr.  All- 
ston is  ;  he  will  very  soon  astonish  the  world.    He  claims  me  as  his 
pupil,  and  told  me  a  day  or  two  since,  in  a  jocose  manner,  that  he 
should  have  a  battle  with  Mr.  West  unless  he  gave  up  all  preten- 
sion to  me.     It  is  said,  by  the  greatest  connoisseurs  in  England, 
who  have  seen  some  of  Mr.  Allston's  works,  that  he  is  destined  to 
revive  the  art  of  painting  in  all  its  splendor,  and  that  no  age  ever 
boasted  of  so  great  a  genius.     It  might  be  deemed  invidious  (and 
therefore  I  should  not  wish  it  mentioned  as  coming  -from  me),  were 
I  to  make  public  another  opinion  of  the  first  men  in  this  country : 


60  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

it  is,  that  Mr.  Allston  will  almost  as  far  surpass  Mr.  West  as  Mr. 
West  has  other  artists,  and  this  is  saying  a  great  deal,  considering 
the  very  high  standing  which  Mr.  West  holds  at  present." 

Samuel  F.  JB.  Morse  to  his  Parents. 

"Londox,  May  2,  1814. 
"  You  will  probably,  before  this  reaches  you,  hear  of  the  splen- 
did entree  of  Louis  XVIII.  into  London.  I  was  a  spectator  of  this 
scene.  On  the  morning  of  the  day,  about  ten  o'clock,  I  went  into 
Piccadilly,  through  which  the  procession  was  to  pass  ;  I  did  not  find 
any  great  concourse  of  people  at  that  hour,  except  before  the  Poult- 
ney  Hotel,  where  the  sister  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  resides,  on  a 
visit  to  this  country,  the  Grand-duchess  of  Oldenburg.  I  thought 
it  probable  that,  as  the  procession  would  pass  this  place,  there 
would  be  some  uncommon  occurrence  taking  place  before  it,  so 
I  took  my  situation  directly  opposite,  determined  at  any  rate  to  se- 
cure a  good  view  of  what  happened.  I  waited  four  or  five  hours, 
during  which  time  the  people  began  to  collect  from  all  quarters ; 
the  carriages  began  to  thicken,  the  windows  and  fronts  of  the 
houses  began  to  be  decorated  with  the  white  flag,  white  ribbons,  and 
laurel.  Temporary  seats  were  fitted  up  on  all  sides,  which  began  to 
be  filled,  and  all  seemed  to  be  in  preparation.  About  this  time  the 
king's  splendid  band  of  music  made  its  appearance,  consisting,  I 
suppose,  of  more  than  fifty  musicians,  and  to  my  great  gratification 
placed  themselves  directly  before  the  hotel ;  they  began  to  play,  and 
soon  after  the  grand-duchess,  attended  by  several  Russian  noble- 
men, made  her  appearance  on  the  balcony,  followed  by  the  Queen 
of  England,  the  Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales,  the  Princess  Mary, 
Princess  Elizabeth,  and  all  the  female  part  of  the  royal  family. 
From  this  fortunate  circumstance,  you  will  see  that  I  had  an  excel- 
lent opportunity  of  observing  their  persons  and  countenances.  The 
Duchess  of  Oldenburg  is  a  common-sized  woman,  of  about  four  or 
five-and-twenty ;  she  has  rather  a  pleasant  countenance,  blue  eyes, 
pale  complexion,  regular  features,  her  cheek-bones  high  but  not  dis- 
agreeably so.  She  resembles  very  much  her  brother  the  emperor, 
judging  from  his  portrait.  She  has  with  her  her  little  nephew,  Prince 
Alexander,  a  boy  of  about  three  or  four  years  old.  He  was  a  lively 
little  fellow,  playing  about,  and  was  the  principal  object  of  the  at- 
tention of  the  royal  family.  The  queen,  if  I  was  truly  directed 
to  her,  is  an  old  woman  of  very  sallow  complexion,  and  nothing 
agreeable  either  in  her  countenance  or  deportment ;  and,  if  she  was 


THE   KING   OF  FRANCE.  61 

not  called  a  queen,  she  might  as  well  be  any  ugly  old  woman.  The 
Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales  I  thought  pretty ;  she  has  small  features, 
regular,  pale  complexion,  great  amiability  of  expression,  and  con- 
descension of  manners ;  the  Princess  Elizabeth  is  extremely  corpulent, 
and  from  what  I  could  see  of  her  face  was  agreeable,  though  nothing 
remarkable.  One  of  the  others,  I  think  it  was  the  Princess  Mary, 
appeared  to  have  considerable  vivacity  in  her  manners ;  she  was 
without  any  covering  to  her  head ;  her  hair  was  sandy,  which  she 
wore  cropped  ;  her  complexion  was  probably  fair  originally,  but  was 
rather  red  now ;  her  features  were  agreeable. 

"  It  now  began  to  grow  late,  the  people  were  beginning  to  be 
tired,  wanting  their  dinners,  and  the  crowd  to  thicken,  when  a  uni- 
versal commotion,  and  murmur  through  the  crowd  and  from  the 
house-tops,  indicated  that  the  procession  was  at  hand.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  thunder  of  artillery,  and  the  huzzas  of  the  people  tow- 
ard the  head  of  the  street,  where  the  houses  seemed  to  be  alive  with 
the  twirling  of  hats  and  shaking  of  handkerchiefs.  This  seemed  to 
mark  the  progress  of  the  king ;  for,  as  he  came  opposite  each  house, 
these  actions  became  most  violent,  with  cries  of  '  Vivent  les  Bour- 
bons ! '  '  Vive  le  roi  ! '  *  Vive  Louis  ! '  etc.  I  now  grew  several 
inches  taller ;  I  stretched  my  neck,  and  opened  my  eyes.  One  car- 
riage appeared,  drawn  by  six  horses,  decorated  with  ribbons,  and 
containing  some  of  the  French  noblesse ;  another,  of  the  same  de- 
scription, with  some  of  the  French  royal  family.  At  length  came  a 
carriage  drawn  by  eight  beautiful  Arabian  cream-colored  horses; 
in  this  were  seated  Louis  XVIII.,  King  of  France,  the  Prince  Regent 
of  England,  the  Duchess  d'Angouleme,  daughter  of  Louis  XVI., 
and  the  Prince  of  Conde.  They  passed  rather  quickly,  so  that  I  had 
but  a  glance  at  them,  though  a  distinct  one.  The  prince  regent 
I  had  often  seen  before ;  the  King  of  France  I  had  a  better  sight  of 
afterward,  as  I  will  presently  relate.  The  Duchess  d'Angouleme 
had  a  fine  expression  of  countenance,  owing  probably  to  the  occa- 
sion, but  a  melancholy  cast  was  also  visible  through  it ;  she  was 
pale.  The  Prince  of  Conde  I  have  no  recollection  of.  After  this 
part  of  the  procession  had  passed,  the  crowd  became  exceedingly 
oppressive,  rushing  down  the  street  to  keep  pace  with  the  king's 
carriage.  As  the  king  passed  the  royal  family,  he  bowed,  which 
they  returned  by  kissing  their  hands  to  him  and  shaking  their 
handkerchiefs  with  great  enthusiasm.  After  they  had  gone  by, 
the  royal  family  left  the  balcony,  where  they  had  been  between 
two  and   three  hours.     My  only  object  now  was  to  get  clear  of  the 


63  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

crowd.  I  waited  nearly  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  and  at  length, 
by  main  strength,  worked  myself  edgewise  across  the  street,  where 
I  pushed  down  through  stables  and  houses,  and  by-lanes,  to  get 
thoroughly  clear,  not  caring  where  I  went,  as  I  knew  I  could  easily 
find  my  way  when  I  got  into  a  street.  This  I  at  last  gained,  and, 
to  my  no  small  astonishment,  found  myself  by  mere  chance  directly 
opposite  the  hotel  where  Louis  and  his  suite  were.  The  prince 
regent  had  just  left  the  place  ;  and  with  his  carriage  went  a  great 
part  of  the  mob,  which  left  the  space  before  the  house  comparatively 
clear.  It  soon  filled  again.  I  took  advantage,  however,  and 
got  directly  before  the  windows  of  the  hotel,  as  I  expected  the 
king  would  show  himself,  for  the  people  were  calling  for  him  very 
clamorously.  I  was  not  disappointed ;  for,  in  less  than  half  a  min- 
ute, he  came  to  the  window,  which  was  open,  before  which  I  was. 
I  was  so  near  him  I  could  have  touched  him ;  he  staid  nearly  ten 
minutes,  during  which  time  I  observed  him  carefully.  He  is  very 
corpulent — a  round  face,  dark  eyes,  prominent  features ;  the  char- 
acter of  countenance  much  like  portraits  of  the  other  Louises  ; 
a  pleasant  face,  but,  above  all,  such  an  expression  of  the  moment 
as  I  shall  never  forget,  and  in  vain  attempt  to  describe.  His  eyes 
were  suffused  with  tears,  his  mouth  slightly  open,  with  an  unaffected 
smile  full  of  gratitude,  and  seemed  to  say  to  every  one,  '  Bless  you ! ' 
His  hands  were  a  little  extended  sometimes,  as  if  in  adoration  to 
heaven,  at  others  as  if  blessing  the  people.  I  entered  into  his 
feelings.  I  saw  a  monarch,  who  for  five-and-twenty  years  had  been 
an  exile  from  his  country,  deprived  of  his  throne ;  and,  until  within 
a  few  months,  not  the  shadow  of  a  hope  remaining  of  ever  returning 
to  it  again.  I  saw  him  raised  as  if  by  magic  from  a  private  station 
in  an  instant  to  his  throne,  to  reign  over  a  nation  which  has  made 
itself  the  most  conspicuous  of  any  nation  on  the  globe.  I  tried 
to  think  as  he  did,  and,  in  the  heat  of  my  enthusiasm,  I  joined  with 
heart  and  soul  in  the  cries  of  '  Vive  le  roi  ! '  '  Vive  Louis  ! '  which 
rent  the  air  from  the  mouths  of  thousands.  As  soon  as  he  left 
the  window,  I  returned  home  much  fatigued,  but  well  satisfied 
that  my  labor  had  not  been  for  naught. 

"  Mr.  Wilberforce  is  an  excellent  man ;  his  whole  soul  is  bent 
on  doino-  good  to  his  fellow-men.  Not  a  moment  of  his  time  is  lost. 
He  is  always  planning  some  benevolent  scheme  or  other ;  and  not 
only  planning  but  executing.  He  is  made  up  altogether  of  affection- 
ate feeling.  What  I  saw  of  him  in  private  gave  me  the  most  ex- 
alted opinion  of  him  as  a  Christian.     Oh,  that  such  men  as  Mr.  Wil- 


THE   WAR  SPIRIT.  63 

berforce  were  more  common  in  this  world.  So  much  human  blood 
would  not  then  be  shed  to  gratify  the  malice  and  revenge  of  a  few 
wicked,  interested  men. 

"  I  hope  Cousin  Samuel  Breese  will  distinguish  himself  under  so 
gallant  a  commander  as  Captain  Perry.  I  shall  look  with  anxiety 
for  the  sailing  of  the  Guerriere ;  there  will  be  plenty  of  opportu- 
nities for  him,  for  peace  with  us  is  deprecated  by  the  people  here, 
and  it  only  remains  for  us  to  fight  it  out  gallantly,  as  we  are  able  to 
do,  or  submit  slavishly  to  any  terms  which  they  please  to  offer  us ; 
a  number  of  humane  schemes  are  under  contemplation,  such  as  burn- 
ing New  London,  for  the  sake  of  the  frigates  there,  arming  the 
blacks  in  the  Southern  States,  burning  all  of  our  principal  cities, 
and  such  like  plans ;  which,  from  the  supineness  of  the  New-Eng- 
land people,  may  be  easily  carried  into  effect.  But  no,  the  humane, 
generous  English  cannot  do  such  base  things — I  hope  not ;  let  the 
event  show  it.  It  is,  perhaps,  well  I  am  here,  for,  with  my  present 
opinions,  if  I  were  at  home,  I  should  most  certainly  be  in  the  army 
or  navy  :  my  mite  is  small,  but  when  my  country's  honor  demands 
it,  it  might  help  to  sustain  it.  There  can  now  be  no  French  party. 
I  wish  to  know  very  much  what  effect  this  series  of  good  news 
will  have  at  home.  I  congratulate  you  as  well  as  all  other  good 
people  on  the  providential  events  which  have  lately  happened  ;  they 
must  produce  great  changes  with  us ;  I  hope  it  will  be  for  the  best. 

"  I  am  in  excellent  health,  and  am  painting  away ;  I  am  making 
studies  for  the  large  picture  I  contemplate  for  next  year.  It  will 
be  as  large,  I  think,  as  Mr.  Allston's  famous  one,  which  was  ten  feet 
by  fourteen." 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  to  a  Friend. 

"London,  May  30,  1813. 
"  You  ask  in  your  letter  what  books  I  read,  and  what  I  am 
painting.  The  little  time  that  I  can  spare  from  painting,  I  employ 
in  reading  and  studying  the  old  poets — Spenser,  Chaucer,  Dante, 
Tasso,  etc.,  etc. ;  these  are  necessary  to  a  painter.  As  to  painting,  I 
have  just  finished  a  large  picture,  eight  feet  by  six  and  a  half,  the 
'  Death  of  Hercules,'  which  is  now  in  the  Royal  Academy  exhibi- 
tion at  Somerset  House.  I  have  been  flattered  by  the  newspapers, 
which  seldom  praise  young  artists,  and  they  do  me  the  honor  to 
say  that  my  picture,  with  the  pictures  of  another  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Monroe,  form  a  distinguished  trait  in  this  year's  exhibition ; 
and,  in  enumerating  about  fifty  of  the  preeminent  works  of  the  ex- 


64  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

hibition,  they  have  placed  mine  in  the  list.  There  were  exhibited 
this  year  nearly  one  thousand  pictures ;  and  about  two  thousand 
were  offered,  but  the  rest  were  rejected.  This  praise  I  consider 
much  exaggerated.  Mr.  West,  however,  who  saw  it  as  soon  as  I 
had  finished  it,  paid  me  many  compliments,  and  told  me  that,  were 
I  to  live  to  his  age,  I  should  never  make  a  better  composition — this 
I  consider  but  a  compliment,  and  as  meant  only  to  encourage  me ; 
as  such  I  receive  it.  A  few  days  since  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving 
the  prize  gold  medal  offered  for  the  best  piece  of  sculpture  at  the 
Adelphi  Society  of  Arts  this  year,  which  was  presented  me  by  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk.  I  mention  these  circumstances  merely  to  show 
that  I  am  getting  along  as  well  as  can  be  expected,  and,  if  any 
credit  attaches  to  me,  I  willingly  resign  it  to  my  country,  and  feel 
happy  that  I  can  contribute  a  mite  to  her  honor." 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  to  Ms  Parents. 

"London,  June  13,  1813. 
"  I  send  by  this  opportunity  (Mr.  Elisha  Goddard)  the  little 
cast  of  the  '  Hercules '  which  obtained  the  prize  this  year  at  the  Adel- 
phi, and  also  the  gold  medal  which  was  the  premium  presented  to 
me  before  a  large  assembly  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  the  coun- 
try, by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  also  paid  me  a  handsome  compli- 
ment at  the  same  time.  There  were  present  Lord  Percy,  the  Mar- 
gravine of  Anspach,  the  Turkish,  Sardinian,  and  Russian  ambassa- 
dors, who  were  pointed  out  to  me,  and  many  noblemen  whom  I  do 
not  now  recollect.  My  large  picture  also  has  not  only  been  received 
at  the  Royal  Academy,  but  has  one  of  the  finest  places  in  the 
rooms.  It  has  been  spoken  of  in  the  papers."  They  not  only  praise 
me,  but  place  my  picture  among  the  most  attractive  in  the  exhi- 
bition. This  I  know  will  give  you  pleasure,  and  I  write  it  with 
great  pleasure.  I  also  send  a  catalogue  of  "the  exhibition,  with  one 
of  the  papers  which  criticises  my  picture,  that  you  may  see  for  your- 
selves." 

The  early  triumphs  of  men  are  more  highly  valued  than  suc- 
cesses in  after-life.  Among  the  papers  that  Mr.  Morse  preserved 
to  the  day  of  his  death  is  a  copy  of  the  British  Press,  May  4, 
1813,  in  which  his  picture  "  The  Dying  Hercules  "  is  placed 
among  the  nine  best  paintings  in  a  gallery  of  nearly  one  thou- 
sand, and  among  them  the  works  of  Turner,  Northcote,  Law- 
rence, and  Wilkie. 


TWENTY  PRINCES   IN   LONDON.  65 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  to  his  Parents. 

"  London,  June  15,  1814. 
"  I  expected  at  this  time  to  have  been  in  Bristol,  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Allston,  who  are  now  there,  but  the  great  fetes  in  honor  of  the 
peace,  and  the  visit  of  the  allied  sovereigns,  have  kept  me  in  Lon- 
don till  all  is  over.     There  are  now  in  London  upward  of  twenty- 
foreign  princes,  also  the  great  Emperor  Alexander,  and  the  King  of 
Prussia.     A  week  ago  yesterday  they  arrived  in  town,  and,  contrary 
to  expectation,  came  in  a  very  private  manner.     I  went  to  see  their 
entree,  but  was  disappointed,  with  the  rest  of  the  people,  for  the  Em- 
peror Alexander,  disliking  all  show  and  parade,  came  ■  in  a  private 
carriage,  and  took  an  indirect  route  here.     The  next  and  following 
day  I  spent  in  endeavoring  to  get  a  sight  of  them.     I  have  been 
very  fortunate,  having  seen  the  Emperor  Alexander  no  less  than 
fourteen  times,  so  that  I  am  quite  familiar  with  his  face ;  the  King 
of  Prussia  I  have  seen  once ;  Marshal  Blucher  five  or  six  times ; 
Count  Platoff  three  or  four  times  ;    besides  Generals  de  Yorck, 
Bulow,  etc. — all  whose  names  must  be  perfectly  familiar  to  you, 
and  the  distinguished  parts  they  have  all  acted  in  the  great  scenes 
just  past.    The  Emperor  Alexander  I  am  quite  in  love  with  ;  he  has 
every  mark  of  a  great  mind.     His  countenance  is  an  uncommonly 
fine  one ;  he  has  a  fair  complexion,  hair  rather  light,  and  a  stout, 
well-made  figure ;  he  has  a  very  cheerful,  benevolent  expression, 
and  his  conduct  has  everywhere  evinced  that  his  face  is  the  index 
of  his  mind.     When  I  first  saw  him  he  was  dressed  in  a  green  uni- 
form, with  two  epaulets  and  stars  of  different  orders  ;  he  was  con- 
versing at  the  window  of  his  hotel  with  his  sister,  the  Duchess  of 
Oldenburg ;  I  saw  him  again  soon  after,  in  the  superb  coach  of  the 
prince  regent,  with  the  duchess  his  sister,  going  to   the  court  of 
the  queen.     In  a  few  hours  after  I  saw  him  again,  on  the  balcony  of 
the  Poultney  Hotel ;  he  came  forward  and  bowed  to  the  people.    He 
was  then  dressed  in  a  red  uniform,  with  a  broad  blue  sash  over  the 
right  shoulder ;  he  appeared  to  great  advantage.    He  staid  about 
five  minutes.    I  saw  him  again  five  or  six  times  through  the  day, 
but  got  only  indifferent  views  of  him.    The  following  day,  however, 
I  was  determined  to  get  a  better  and  nearer  view  of  him  than  be- 
fore.   I  went  down  to  his  hotel  about  ten  o'clock,  the  time  when  I 
supposed  he  would  leave  it ;  I  saw  one  of  the  prince's  carriages 
drawn  up,  which  opened  at  the  top,  and  was  thrown  back  before 
and  behind.     In  a  few  minutes  the  emperor  with  his  sister  made 
their  appearance  and  got  into  it.    As  the  carriage  started,  I  pressed 
5 


66  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

forward  and  got  hold  of  the  ring  of  the  coach-door  and  kept  pace 
with  it  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  I  was  so  near  that  I  could 
have  touched  him ;  he  was  in  a  plain  dress,  a  brown  coat,  and  alto- 
gether like  any  other  gentleman.  His  sister,  the  duchess,  also  was 
dressed  in  a  very  plain,  unattractive  manner,  and,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  the  crowd  which  followed,  they  would  have  been  taken  for  any 
lady  and  gentleman  taking  an  airing.  In  this  unostentatious  man- 
ner does  he  conduct  himself,  despising  all  pomp,  and  seems  rather 
more  intent  upon  inspecting  the  charitable,  useful,  and  ornamental 
establishments  of  the  country,  with  a  view,  probably,  of  benefiting 
his  own  dominions  by  his  observations,  than  of  displaying  his  rank 
by  the  splendor  of  dress  and  equipage.  His  condescension  also  is 
no  less  remarkable ;  an  instance  or  two  will  exemplify  it :  On  the 
morning  after  his  arrival,  he  was  up  at  six  o'clock,  and  while  the 
lazy  inhabitants  of  this  great  city  were  fast  asleep  in  their  beds,  he 
was  walking  with  his  sister  the  duchess  in  Kensington  Gardens  ; 
as  he  came  across  Hyde  Park,  he  observed  a  corporal  drilling  some 
recruits,  upon  which  he  went  tip  to  him  and  entered  into  familiar 
conversation  with  him,  asking  him  a  variety  of  questions,  and,  when 
he  had  seen  the  end  of  the  exercise,  shook  him  heartily  by  the  hand 
and  left  him.  As  he  was  riding  on  horseback,  he  shook  hands  with 
all  who  came  round  him. 

"  A  few  days  ago,  as  he  was  coming  out  of  the  gate  of  the  London 
Docks,  on  foot,  after  having  inspected  them,  a  great  crowd  was 
waiting  to  see  him,  among  whom  was  an  old  woman  of  about 
seventy  years  of  age,  who  seemed  very  anxious  to  get  near  him, 
but,  the  crowd  pressing  very  much,  she  exclaimed  '  Oh,  if  I  could 
but  touch  his  clothes ! '  The  emperor  overheard  her,  and,  turn- 
ing round,  advanced  to  her,  and,  pulling  off  his  glove,  gave  her  his 
hand,  and,  at  the  same  time  dropping  a  guinea  into  it,  said  to 
her,  '  Perhaps  this  will  do  as  well.'  The  old  woman  was  quite 
'  overcome,  and  cried  '  God  bless  your  majesty  ! '  till  he  was  out  of 
sight. 

"  An  old  woman  in  her  ninetieth  year  sent  a  couple  of  pair  of 
warm  woolen  stockings  to  the  emperor,  and  with  them  a  letter  stat- 
ing that  she  had  knit  them  with  her  own  hands  expressly  for  him, 
and,  as  she  could  not  afford  to  send  him  silk,  she  thought  that  wool- 
en would  be  much  more  acceptable,  and  would  also  be  more  useful 
in  his  climate.  The  emperor  was  very  much  pleased,  and  determined 
on  giving  her  his  miniature  set  in  gold  and  diamonds,  but,  upon 
learning  that  her  situation  in  life  was  such  that  money  would  be 


THE   EMPEROR  ALEXANDER.  67 

more  acceptable,  lie  wrote  her  an  answer,  and,  thanking  her  heartily 
for  her  present,  inclosed  her  one  hundred  pounds. 

"  These  anecdotes  speak  more  than  volumes  in  praise  of  the 
Emperor  Alexander.  He  is  truly  a  great  man.  He  is  a  great  con- 
queror, for  he  has  subdued  the  greatest  country  in  the  world,  and 
overthrown  the  most  alarming  despotism  that  ever  threatened  man- 
kind. He  is  great  also  because  he  is  good ;  his  whole  time  seems 
spent  in  distributing  good  to  all  around  him;  and  wherever  he 
goes  he  makes  every  heart  rejoice.  He  is  very  active,  and  is  all  his 
time  on  the  alert  in  viewing  every  thing  that  is  worth  seeing.  The 
emperor  is  also  extremely  partial  to  the  United  States ;  every  thing 
American  pleases  him,  and  he  seems  uncommonly  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  our  country.  I  was  introduced  to-day  to  Mr.  Harris,  our 
chargk  d'affaires  to  the  court  of  Russia.  He  is  a  very  intelligent, 
fine  man,  and  is  a  great  favorite  with  Alexander.  From  a  conver- 
sation with  him,  I  have  a  scheme  in  view  which,  when  I  have  ma- 
tured, I  will  submit  to  you  for  your  approbation. 

"  The  King  of  Prussia  I  have  seen  but  once,  and  then  had  but 
an  imperfect  view  of  him.  He  came  to  the  window  with  the  prince 
regent,  and  bowed  to  the  people  (at  St.  James's  Palace).  He  is 
tall  and  thin,  has  an  agreeable  countenance,  but  rather  dejected  in 
consequence  of  the  late  loss  of  his  queen,  to  whom  he  was  very 
much  attached. 

"  General  Blucher,  now  Prince  Blucher,  I  have  seen  five  or  six 
times.  I  saw  him  on  his  entrance  into  London,  all  covered  with 
dust,  and  in  a  very  ordinary  kind  of  vehicle.  On  the  day  after,  I 
saw  him  several  times  in  his  carriage,  drawn  about  wherever  he 
wished  by  the  mob.  He  is  John's  greatest  favorite,  and  they 
have  almost  pulled  the  brave  general  and  his  companion,  Count 
Platoff,  to  pieces,  out  of  pure  affection.  Platoff  had  his  coat  act- 
ually torn  off  him,  and  divided  into  a  thousand  pieces  as  relics,  by 
the  goad  people — their  kindness  knows  no  bounds  ;  and  I  think,  in 
all  the  battles  which  they  have  fought,  they  never  have  run  so 
much  risk  of  losing  their  limbs  as  in  encountering  their  friends  in 
England.  Blucher  is  a  veteran-looking  soldier ;  a  very  fine  head, 
monstrous  mustaches.  His  head  is  bald,  like  papa's ;  his  hair  gray, 
and  he  wears  powder.  Understanding  that  he  was  to  be  at  Covent 
Garden  Theatre,  I  went,  as  the  best  place  to  see  him  ;  and  I  was 
not  disappointed.  He  was  in  the  prince's  box,  and  I  had  a  good 
view  of  him  during  the  whole  entertainment,  being  directly  before 
him  for  .three  or  four  hours.     A  few  nights  since  I  also  went  to  the 


68  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

theatre  to  see  JPlatoff,  the  hetman  {chief) ,  of  the  Cossacks.  He 
has  also  a  very  fine  countenance,  a  high  and  broad  forehead,  dark 
complexion,  and  dark  hair.  He  is  tall  and  well  made,  as  I  think 
the  Cossacks  are  generally ;  he  was  very  much  applauded  by  a 
very  crowded  house,  the  most  part  collected  to  see  him." 

A  very  noted  youth  fell  into  the  hands  of  Morse  while  in 
London,  and  is  thus  mentioned  in  a  letter  from  a  friend  of  his : 

"  Morse  and  I  intend  going  to  Hampton  Court  as  soon  as  we 
have  sent  our  pictures  to  the  exhibition,  and,  Allston  having  prom- 
ised to  accompany  us,  we  shall  have  a  very  pleasant  little  jaunt. 

"  Zerah  Colburn,  the  little  calculator,  has  called  on  us  two  or 
three  times,  as  Morse  is  painting  his  portrait.  He  is  a  fine,  lively 
little  fellow,  and  the  most  inquisitive  child  I  ever  saw.  He  has  ex- 
cited much  astonishment  here,  and,  as  they  are  very  unwilling  just 
at  this  time  to  allow  any  cleverness  to  the  Americans,  it  was  said  in 
some  of  the  papers  that  he  was  a  Russian.  There  was  some  great 
arithmetical  question,  I  do  not  exactly  know  what,  which  he  solved 
almost  as  soon  as  it  was  put  to  him,  though  it  for  several  years 
baffled  the  skill  of  some  of  the  first  professors.  His  father  expects 
soon  to  return  to  America,  and  says  he  has  collected  money  suffi- 
cient to  educate  his  son  there,  and  that  he  now  has  power  to  prove 
to  the  world  how  much  he  has  been  injured  by  the  accusations  of 
avarice  and  selfishness  that  have  appeared  against  him  in  the  pub- 
lic prints." 

The  war  between  England  and  the  United  States  (1S12-'14) 
naturally  imposed  delicate  and  oftentimes  responsible  duties  up- 
on American  residents  in  London.  Their  kind  offices  were  con- 
stantly sought  by  parties  whose  misfortunes  had  brought  them 
into  trouble,  or  by  those  who  did  not  wish  to  run  the  risk  of 
being  detained  in  a  hostile  country.  Of  such  applications  as  are 
answered  in  this  letter,  Mr.  Morse  had  many  : 

"London,  March  15,  1814. 
"  My  dear  Friend  :  Your  letter  with  Dr.  Hayward's  came  to 
hand,  some  time  ago,  at  Bristol.  The  moment  I  came  to  London  I 
presented  your  letter  to  Mr.  Cooper,  and  he  very  politely  gave  me 
a  note  to  the  Alien  Office,  which  I  presented.  I  have  called  since 
about  a  dozen  times  to  inquire  the  result  of  Mr.  Cooper's  applica- 
tion, and  to-day  received  for  answer  that  '  England  would  not  he- 
come   the   medium,  of  communication    between  France  and  the 


APPEAL   TO   MR.   THORNTON.  69  ' 

United  States.''     Please  inform  Dr.  pushing  that,  by  the  request  of 
Mr.  Thornton,  I  made  application  to  Mr.  Cooper  for  him  at  the  same 
time,  and  Mr.  Cooper's  application  was  for  both  of  you." 
"  Believe  me  sincerely  yours, 

"S.  F.  B.  Morse." 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  to  Henry  Thornton. 

"Bristol,  December  30,  1813. 

"  Respected  Sie  :  I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  in 
behalf  of  an  American  prisoner  of  war  now  in  the  Stapleton 
depot,  and  I  address  you,  sir,  under  the  conviction  that  a  petition 
in  the  cause  of  humanity  will  not  be  considered  by  you  as  obtrusive. 
The  prisoner  I  allude  to  is  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Burritt, 
a  native  of  New  Haven,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut ;  his  connec- 
tions are  of  the  highest  respectability  in  that  city,  which  is  noto- 
rious for  its  adherence  to  Federal  principles.  His  friends  and  rela- 
tions are  among  my  father's  friends,  and  although  I  was  not,  until 
now,  personally  acquainted  with  him,  yet  his  face  is  familiar  to  me, 
and  many  of  his  relatives  were  my  particular  friends  while  I  was 
receiving  my  education  at  Yale  College,  in  New  Haven.     From 

that  college  he  graduated  in  the  year .    A  classmate  of  his  was 

the  Rev.  Mr.  Stuart,  who  is  one  of  the  professors  of  the  Andover 
Theological  Institution,  and  of  whom  I  think  my  father  has  spoken 
in  some  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Wilberforce.  Mr.  Burritt,  after  he  left 
college,  applied  himself  to  study,  so  much  so  as  to  injure  his  health, 
and,  by  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  he  took  to  the  sea  as  the  only 
remedy  left  for  him.  This  had  the  desired  effect,  and  he  was  re- 
stored to  health  in  a  considerable  degree.  Upon  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  with  this  country,  all  the  American  coasting-trade  being 
destroyed,  he  took  a  situation  as  second-mate  in  the  schooner  Re- 
venge, bound  to  France,  and  was  captured  on  the  10th  of  May, 
1813.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  a  prisoner,  and  from  the  in- 
closed certificates  you  will  ascertain  what  has  been  his  conduct 
since.  He  is  a  man  of  excellent  religious  principles,  and  (I  firmly  be- 
lieve) of  the  strictest  integrity.  So  well  assured  am  I  of  this,  that, 
in  case  it  should  be  required,  I  will  hold  myself  bound  to  answer  for 
him  in  my  own  person.  His  health  is  suffering  by  his  confinement, 
and  the  unprincipled  society  which  he  is  obliged  to  endure  is  pecul- 
iarly disagreeable  to  a  man  of  his  education.  My  object  in  stating 
these  particulars  to  you,  sir,  is  (if  possible  and  consistent  with  the 
laws  of  the  country),  to  obtain  for  him,  through  your  influence,  his 


70  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

liberty  on  his  parole  of  honor.  -.  By  so  doing  you  will  probably  be 
the  means  of  preserving  the  life  of  a  good  man,  and  will  lay  his 
friends,  my  father  and  myself,  under  the  greatest  obligations. 

"  Trusting  to  your  goodness  to  pardon  this  intrusion  upon  your 
time,  I  am,  sir,  with  the  highest  consideration,  your  most  obedient, 
humble  servant, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

Henry  Thornton,  Esq.,  to  Samuel  F.  JB.  Horse. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  You  will  perceive  by  the  inclosed  that  there  is, 
unhappily,  no  prospect  of  our  effecting  our  wishes  in  respect  to 
your  poor  friend  at  Bristol.  I  shall  be  glad  to  know  whether  you 
have  had  any  success  in  obtaining  a  passport  for  Dr.  Cushing. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours,  etc., 

"  H.  Thoriston. 

"Batakin,  February  11,  1814." 

Lord  Melville  to  Mr.  Thornton. 

"Admiralty,  February  1,  1814. 

"  Sir  :  Mr.  Hay  having  communicated  to  me  a  letter  which  he 
received  from  you  on  the  subject  of  Benjamin  Burritt,  an  American 
prisoner  of  war  in.  the  depot  at  Stapleton,  I  regret  much  that,  after 
consulting  on  this  case  with  Sir  Rupert  George,  and  ascertaining 
the  usual  course  of  proceeding  in  similar  instances,  I  cannot  dis- 
cover any  circumstances  that  would  justify  a  departure  from  the 
rules  observed  toward  other  prisoners  of  the  same  description. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  his  case  is  a  hard  one ;  but  I  am 
afraid  that  it  is  inseparable  from  a  state  of  war.  It  is  not  only  not 
a  solitary  instance  among  the  French  and  American  prisoners,  but, 
unless  we  were  prepared  to  adopt  the  system  of  releasing  all  others 
of  the  same  description,  we  should  find  that  the  number  who  might 
justly  complain  of  undue  partiality  to  this  man  would  be  very  con- 
siderable. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  hum- 
ble servant, 

"Melville." 

8.  E   Tyler  to  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

"  Stapleton  Depot,  February  24,  1814. 
"  Mr.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse— 

"  Dear  Sir  :  Having  some  knowledge  of  your  family  and 
friends  in  Boston  and  Charlestown,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 


DARTMOOR  PRISON.  yj 

address  this  communication  to  you,  hoping  that  my  unhappy 
situation  will  be  a  sufficient  apology  for  the  liberty  I  have  taken. 
I  was  captured  in  April,  1813,  bound  from  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  to  Bordeaux,  and  have  been  confined  as  a  prisoner  of 
war  ever  since.  During  my  confinement  I  have  written  several 
times  to  my  friends  in  Boston  (of  which  place  I  am  a  native),  but 
as  yet  have  been  without  advices  from  them,  which  I  can  attribute 
to  nothing  but  the  obstacles  in  the  communication  between  the 
two  nations.  I  was  entirely  ignorant  of  your  having  been  at  the 
prison  until  to-day,  when  I  received  the  information  from  Mr. 
Burritt,  and  I  regret  exceedingly  that  it  was  not  in  my  power  to 
have  had  an  interview  with  you.  I  am  a  son  of  Mr.  William  Tyler, 
who,  before  his  decease,  carried  on  the  rope-making  business  in 
West  Boston,  near  the  almshouse.  I  also  have  a  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  John  Andrews,  who  carries  on  the  sail-making  business  at  the 
head  of  India  Wharf,  who  is  my  guardian,  and  agent  for  me,  as  it 
respects  my  father's  estate. 

"  For  reasons  above  stated  I  have  been  induced  to  make  an  ap- 
plication to  you  for  pecuniary  assistance,  which,  if  you  should  be 
disposed  to  grant,  I  will  give  you  an  order  on  my  brother  for  the 
amount,  or  will  request  him  to  repay  it  immediately  to  your  corre- 
spondent either  in  Boston  or  Charlestown.  LefVne  assure  you,  sir, 
that  I  would  not  make  this  application  to  you  unless  strongly 
prompted  by  most  poignant  suffering.  Should  you  comply  with 
my  request,  you  will  have  the  satisfaction  of  relieving  an  unfortu- 
nate fellow-creature,  and  you  will  confer  lasting  obligations  on  me. 

"  If  you  would  be  good  enough  to  inform  me  if  there  is  any 
prospect  of  peace,  or  the  probability  of  the  exchange  of  prisoners 
being  resumed,  you  will  greatly  oblige  me.  In  the  hope  of  shortly 
hearing  from  you, 

"  I  remain  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"Samuel  E.  Tyler." 

Mr.  Morse  bad  some  warm  friends  and  fellow-countrymen 
residing  at  Bristol,  and  they  encouraged  him  to  believe  that  he 
would  find  several  willing  to  sit  to  him  for  their  portraits  if  he 
would  visit  that  city.  He  did  so,  and  found  friends  with  whom 
his  time  was  pleasantly  spent,  but  very  little  in  the  line  of  his 
profession  to  reward  him  for  leaving  his  studies  and  seeking 
employment.  A  letter  from  Washington  Allston,  in  London, 
gives  us  insight  into  the  life  of  artists  : 


72  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Allston  to  Morse. 

"  London,  January  2,  1814. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  In  the  first  place,  I  wish  you  and  all  of  Mr. 
Visscher's  family  a  happy  New- Year.  Last  week  I  wrote  you  a  let- 
ter that  must  have  been  vastly  entertaining — as  how  f  because  it 
was  altogether  about  my  own  affairs.  Now,  for  the  sake  of  sym- 
metry, I  send  you  another  of  the  same  kind. 

"  Since  my  return  I  have  had  the  courage  to  examine  the  state 
of  my  finances  at  my  banker's,  and  found  the  balance  in  my  favor 
to  have  been  reduced  to  so  small  a  sum  as  makes  me  think  'tis 
time  to  look  about  me ;  and  to  endeavor,  as  soon  as  possible,  after 
the  proper  ways  and  means  for  increasing  it.  On  considering  the 
subject,  I  was  naturally  led  to  the  landscape  in  Bristol,  when  it 
occurred  to  me  that  perhaps  the  price  I  had  fixed  for  it  (viz.,  six 
hundred  guineas)  might  be  too  high  for  that  market ;  and  that  I 
should  stand  a  better  chance  of  selling  it  by  reducing  it  to  five 
hundred.  I  would  thank  you  to  consult  with  Mr.  Visscher  on  this 
point ;  for  I  depend  so  much  on  his  judgment,  that  I  should  not 
hesitate  a  moment  to  put  it  at  five  hundred  guineas,  provided  he 
should  think  that  a  more  salable  price.  Will  you  write  me  im- 
mediately and  let  me  know  his  opinion  ? 

"  I  gave  the  finishing  touch  to  my  picture  yesterday,  and  shall 
send  it  to  the  gallery  to-morrow.  Leslie's  picture  will  do  him  great 
honor ;  he  has  improved  it  very  much  since  his  return.  As  to  my 
'  own  beautiful  self  Mrs.  A.  says  I  am  a  picture  of  health.  At 
any  rate  I  find  my  health  every  day  improving,  and  promise  myself 
the  pleasure  of  sending  Mr.  King  a  very  favorable  bulletin.  Pray 
be  particular  in  letting  us  know  how  his  two  patients  in  Mr.  Vis- 
scher's family  bear  this  cold  fog.  We  have  had  it  so  thick  and  brown 
here,  that  it  might  well  have  passed  for  Shakespeare's  i  blanket  of 
the  dark '  that  Macbeth  speaks  of.  Mrs.  A.  unites  with  me  in  best 
regards  to  our  friends  in  Portland  Square,  and  yourself. 

"  Sincerely  yours, 

"W.  Allston." 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  while  Allston  was  at  Bris- 
tol with  Morse,  Leslie  wrote  : 

Leslie  to  Morse. 

"  London,  November  29,  1814. 

"  Most  Potent,  Grave,  and  Reverend  Doctor  :  I  take  up 
my  pencil  to  make  ten  thousand  apologies  to  you  for  addressing 


LETTER  FROM   LESLIE.  73 

you  in  humble  black-lead.  Deeply  impressed  as  I  am  with  the  full 
conviction  that  you  deserve  the  very  best  Japan  ink,  the  only  ex- 
cuse I  can  make  to  you  is  the  following  :  it  is  perhaps  needless  to 
remind  you  that  the  tools  to  which  ink  is  applied  to  paper,  in  order 
to  produce  writing,  are  made  from  goose-quills,  which  quills  I  am 
goose  enough  not  to  keep  a  supply  of;  and,  not  having  so  much 
money  at  present  in  my  breeches-pocket  as  will  purchase  one,  I  am 
forced  to  betake  to  my  pencil,  an  instrument  which,  without  paying 
myself  any  compliment,  I  am  sure  I  can  wield  better  than  a  pen. 
I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  so  industrious,  and  that  Mr.  A.  is 
succeeding  so  well  with  portraits.  I  hope  he  will  bring  all  he  has 
painted  to  London.  I  am  looking  out  for  you  every  day.  I  think 
we  form  a  kind  of  family  here,  and  I  feel,  in  an  absence  from  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  A.  and  yourself,  as  I  used  to  do  when  away  from  my 
mother  and  sisters.  By-the-by,  I  have  not  had  any  letters  from 
home  for  more  than  a  month.  It  seems  the  Americans  are  all 
united,  and  we  shall  now  have  war  in  earnest.  I  am  glad  of  it 
for  many  reasons.  I  think  it  will  not  only  get  us  a  more  speedy 
and  permanent  peace,  but  may  tend  to  crush  the  demon  of  party- 
spirit  and  strengthen  our  government. 

"  I  am  done  painting  the  gallery,  and  have  finished  my  drawings 
for  the  prize  :  thank  you  for  your  good  wishes. 

"I  thought  Mr.  Allston  knew  how  proud  I  am  of  being  consid- 
ered his  student.  Tell  him,  if  he  thinks  it  worth  while  to  mention 
me  at  all  in  his  letter  to  Delaplaine,  I  shall  consider  it  a  great  honor 
to  be  called  so. 

"  Yours  most  truly, 

"C.  B.  L." 

Leslie  to  Morse. 

"  Mr.  Allston  and  I  have  sent  our  pictures  to  the  gallery.  He 
has  made  good  interest  to  get  his  large  one  placed  at  the  end  of 
one  of  the  rooms.  As  to  mine,  it  is  of  small  consequence  where 
they  put  it.  Mr.  Allston,  after  finishing  his  '  Diana,'  showed  it  to 
Mr.  West,  who  was  (to  speak  even  moderately)  in  raptures  with  it. 
He  immediately  called  his  son  Raphael,  '  There,'  says  the  old  gen- 
tleman, '  there,  why  there  is  nobody  who  does  any  thing  like  this.* 
Raphael  exclaimed,  '  It  looks  like  a  bit  of  Titian.'  '  Oh  yes,'  an- 
swered his  father,  '  that's  Titian's  flesh,  that's  Titian's  flesh.'  After 
this  shower  of  compliments,  Mr.  Allston  said,  '  I  am  very  highly 
gratified,  sir,  to  find  it  meets  your  approbation."     '  Sir,'  said  Mr. 


74  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

West,  '  I  cannot  find  words  to  express  what  I  think  of  it.'  He  then 
proceeded  to  point  out  the  beauties  of  the  parts,  and  praised  the 
composition,  drawing,  etc.,  as  he  had  done  the  color.  He  seemed 
particularly  pleased  with  the  landscape.  He  told  Mr.  Allston  to 
follow  this  up,  adding,  '  Sir,  you  will  find  thousands  of  people  who 
will  give  you  two  hundred  guineas  for  a  picture  of  this  size,  who 
have  not  room  in  their  houses  for  larger  ones.'  He  said  he  could 
have  sold  all  the  small  sketches  in  his  gallery  many  times  over,  but 
he  chose  to  keep  them  himself.  Several  he  has  sold,  and  painted 
duplicates  of  them.  Mr.  Allston  mentioned  his  subject  of  '  Venus 
and  Adonis,'  and  Mr.  West  advised  him  by  all  means  to  paint  it, 
but  not  to  have  the  figures  the  size  of  life.  Mr.  Allston  is  going  to 
begin  the  old  gentleman's  portrait  very  soon.  He  promises  himself 
much  pleasure  in  the  execution  of  it." 

"  Mr.  Morse  has  related  to  me,"  says  Dunlap,  "  some  particulars 
of  a  ramble  he  took  in  company  with  Earle,  when  they  both  were 
students  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1813.  With  their  sketch-books 
and  drawing  apparatus,  they  visited  the  sea-shore  and  the  towns 
adjacent,  making  pedestrian  excursions  into  the  country  in  search 
of  scenery,  and  sometimes  meeting  an  adventure.  On  one  occasion, 
their  aim  after  a  day's  ramble  was  to  reach  Deal,  and  there  put  up 
for  the  night ;  but  they  found,  when  about  five  miles  from  the  town, 
that  they  had  to  cross  a  dreary  moor,  and  the  sun  was  about  to 
withdraw  his  light  from  them.  As  they  mounted  a  stile  they  were 
met  by  a  farmer,  who  accosted  them  with  : 

" '  Gentlemen,  are  you  going  to  cross  the  moor  so  late  ?  ' 

"  '  Yes*     We  can't  lose  our  way,  can  we  ?  ' 

"  '  No  ;  but  you  may  lose  your  lives.' 

"  <  How  so  ?  ' 

"  '  Why  there  be  always  a  power  of  shipping  at  Deal,  and  the 
sailors  be  sad  chaps ;  they  come  ashore  and  rob  and  murder  on  the 
moor,  without  your  leave  or  by  your  leave.' 

"  '  Has  any  thing  of  the  kind  taken  place  lately  ?  ' 

"  '  Why,  yes,  a  young  woman  was  murdered  not  long  ago  by  two 
sailors.  You  will  see  the  spot  on  your  way,  if  you  will  go :  there 
is  a  pile  of  stones  where  she  was  killed.  The  fellows  were  taken, 
and  I  saw  them  hanged.' 

"  '  So  there  is  no  danger  from  them,  then.' 

"  '  About  a  mile  farther  on  you  will  see  bushes  on  your  left 
hand — there  a  man  was  murdered  not  long  ago;  but  the  worst 


MEETING  A   GHOST.  75 

place  is  farther  on.  You  will  come  to  a  narrow  lane  with  a  hedge  on 
each  side ;  it  will  be  dark  before  you  get  there,  and  in  that  lane 
you  will  come  to  a  stile,  and  just  beyond  you  will  see  a  white  stone 
set  up,  and  on  it  is  written  all  the  circumstances  of  the  murder  of 
a  young  woman,  a  neighbor  of  mine,  who  was  coming  home  from 
town  all  dressed  in  white,  with  a  bundle  in  her  hand,  tied  in  a 
dark-red  handkerchief.  But,  gentlemen,  you  had  better  turn  back 
and  stop  the  night  at  my  house,  and  you  shall  be  heartily  wel- 
come.' 

"  They  thanked  him,  but  saying  they  were  two,  and  a  match  for 
two,  they  full  of  confidence  pursued  their  route.  It  soon  became 
twilight.  They  found  the  heap  of  stones,  and  a  slight  shudder  oc- 
curred when  looking  on  the  dreary  scene,  and  the  mark  by  which 
murder  was  designated.  They  passed  on  rather  tired,  and  striving 
to  keep  up  each  other's  courage  until  they  came  to  the  bushes. 
Here  was  another  spot  where  foul  murder  had  been  committed. 
They  quickened  their  pace  as  they  found  darkness  increase ;  and 
now  they  came  to  the  lane  with  the  high  hedge-row  on  each  side, 
which  rendered  their  way  almost  a  path  of  utter  darkness.  They 
became  silent,  and  with  no  pleasant  feelings  expected  to  see  the 
stile,  and,  if  not  too  dark,  the  stone  erected  to  commemorate  the 
murder  of  the  young  girl  in  white  with  the  dark-red  handkerchief. 

"  '  What's  that  ?  '  said  Earle,  stopping. 

"  '  I  see  nothing,'  said  Morse — '  yes — now,  that  I  stoop  down,  I 
see  the  stile.' 

"  '  Don't  you  see  something  white  beyond  the  stile  ?  ' 

"  '  That,  I  suppose,  is  the  white  stone.' 

"  '  Stones  do  not  move,'  said  Earle. 

"  Morse  stooped  again,  so  as  to  bring  the  stile  against  the  sky 
as  a  background,  and  whispered :  '  I  see  some  one  on  the  stile — 
hush  ! ' 

"  A  figure  now  approached,  and,  as  they  stood  aside  to  give- am- 
ple room  for  it  to  pass,  they  perceived  a  tall  female  dressed  in  white, 
with  a  dark-red  bundle  in  her  hand.  On  came  the  figure,  and  the 
lads  gazed  with  a  full  recollection  of  the  farmer's  story  of  murder, 
and  some  feelings  allied  to  awe.  On  she  came,  and  without  no- 
ticing them  passed  to  go  over  the  moor. 

"  '  It  will  not  do  to  let  it  go  without  speaking  to  it,'  thought 
Morse,  and  he  called  out,  '  Young  woman  !  are  you  not  afraid  to 
pass  over  the  moor  so  late  ?  ' 

Oh  no,  sir,'  said  the  ghost,  '  I  live  hard  by,  and  when  I've 


a  i 


76  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

done  work  I  am  used  to  crossing  the  moor  in  the  eve — good-night,' 
and  on  she  tripped. 

"  The  young  painters  laughed  at  each  other,  and  pursued  their 
way  without  further  thought  of  ghosts  or  murderers.  They  saw, 
indeed,  the  murder-marking  monument,  but  it  was  too  dark  to  read 
the  tale,  and  they  soon  found  themselves  in  comfortable  quarters, 
after  their  long  day's  ramble,  and  forgot  their  fears  and  their 
fatigues  together. 

"  Eighteen  years  or  more  after,  Mr.  Morse  inquired  of  Leslie  for 
their  old  companion,  Earle,  and  learned  that  he  had  been  rambling 
far  beyond  Deal.  '  He  had  visited  every  part  of  the  Mediterranean,' 
said  Leslie,  'roamed  in  Africa,  rambled  in  the  United  States, 
sketched  in  South  America,  attempted  to  go  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  in  a  worn-out  Margate  hoy,  and  was  shipwrecked  on  Tristan 
d'Acunha,  where  he  passed  six  months  with  some  old  tars,  who 
hutted  there.  At  length  a  vessel  touched  the  desolate  place  and 
released  him.  He  then  visited  Van  Diemen's  Land,  New  South 
Wales,  and  New  Zealand,  where  he  drew  from  the  naked  figure, 
and  saw  the  finest  forms  in  the  world  addicted  to  cannibalism. 

"  Returning  to  Sydney,  he,  by  way  of  variety,  proceeded  to  the 
Caroline  Islands,  stopped  at  the  Ladrones,  looked  in  upon  Manila, 
and  finally  settled  himself  at  Madras,  and  made  money  as  a  portrait- 
painter.  Not  content,  he  went  to  Pondicherry,  and  there  embarked 
for  France,  but  stopped  at  the  Mauritius,  and,  after  some  few  more 
calls  at  various  places,  found  his  way  home.  Here  his  sister  had 
married  a  Mr.  Murray,  a  relative  of  the  Duke  of  Athol,  and,  being  left 
a  widow,  he  found  a  home  as  charge  d'affaires  for  his  grace,  who, 
you  know,  is  a  harmless  madman,  thinks  himself  overwhelmed  with 
business,  and  shuts  himself  up  with  books  and  papers,  which  he 
cannot  understand,  and  then  calls  for  his  coach,  and,  riding  out  on 
some  important  errand,  which  forgotten,  he  returns  again. 

"  Earle  wrote  and  published  his  travels,  and  attracted  some  at- 
tention.     One  day  he  came  to  me  with  delight  painted  on  his  face. 

" '  I  am  anchored  for  life ;  I  have  an  offer  of  two  hundred  pounds 
a  year,  and  every  thing  found  me,  only  to  reside  under  the  roof  of 
the  Duke  of  Athol,  and  ride  out  with  him  when  he  takes  it  in  his 
head  to  call  his  coach.     I  am  settled  at  last ! ' 

"I  congratulated  him. 

" '  You  can  write  and  draw  at  your  leisure,  and  give  us  all  your 
adventures  ? ' 

" '  Yes,  nothing  could  be  happier.' 


ALLSTON'S   "DEAD   MAN."  77 

*» 

"  A  few  weeks  after  Earle  came  again. 

" '  Congratulate  me,  Leslie ! ' 

"  '  What  has  happened  ? ' 

" '  I  have  been  offered  a  berth  on  a  ship  bound  to  the  south 
pole  !     I  have  accepted  it ;  it  is  just  what  I  wish.' 

"  And  he  is  now  in  his  element  again ;  for  rove  he  must  as  long 
as  he  lives." 

Mr.  Dunlap  gives  other  incidents  in  the  life  of  Morse,  while 
in  London : 

"  The  first  portraits  painted  in  London  both  by  Morse  and  Les- 
lie were  portraits  of  each  other,  in  fancy  costume.  Morse  was 
painted  by  Leslie  in  a  Scotch  costume,  with  black-plumed  bonnet, 
and  tartan  plaid  ;  and  Leslie  by  Morse  in  a  Spanish  cavalier's  dress, 
a  Vandyck-ruff,  black  cloak,  and  slashed  sleeves.  Both  these  por- 
traits are  at  the  house  of  their  ancient  hostess,  who  retains  memen- 
tos of  the  like  character — some  product  of  the  pencil  of  each  of 
her  American  inmates. 

"  It  was  about  the  year  1812  that  Allston  commenced  his  cele- 
brated picture  of  the  '  Dead  Man  restored  to  Life  by  touching  the 
Bones  of  Elisha]  which  is  now  in  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of 
Arts.  In  the  study  of  this  picture  he  made  a  model  in  clay  of  the 
head  of  the  dead  man,  to  assist  him  in  painting  the  expression. 
This  was  the  practice  of  the  most  eminent  old  masters.  Morse  had 
begun  a  large  picture  to  come  out  before  the  British  public  at  the 
Royal  Academy  exhibition.  The  subject  was  the  '  Dying  Hercules,' 
and,  in  order  to  paint  it  with  the  more  effect,  he  followed  the  example 
of  Allston,  and  determined  to  model  the  figure  in  clay.  It  was  his 
first  attempt  at  modeling.  His  original  intention  was  simply  to 
complete  such  parts  of  the  figure  as  were  useful  in  the  single  view 
necessary  for  the  purpose  of  painting ;  but,  having  done  this,  he 
was  encouraged,  by  the  approbation  of  Allston  and  other  artists,  to 
finish  the  entire  figure. 

"  After  completing  it,  he  had  it  cast  in  plaster  of  Paris,  and 
carried  it  to  show  to  West.  West  seemed  more  than  pleased  with 
it.  After  surveying  it  all  round  critically,  with  many  exclamations 
of  surprise,  he  sent  his  servant  to  call  his  son  Raphael.  As  soon 
as  Raphael  made  his  appearance,  he  pointed  to  the  figure,  and 
said: 

" '  Look  there,  sir ;  I  have  always  told  you  any  painter  can 
make  a  sculptor.' 


78  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

"  From  this  model,  Morse  painted  his  picture  of  the  '  Dying  Her- 
cules,' of  colossal  size,  and  sent  it,  in  May,  1813,  to  the  Royal 
Academy  exhibition  at  Somerset  House. 

"  The  picture  was  well  received.  A  critic  of  one  of  the  jour- 
nals of  that  day,  in  speaking  of  the  Royal  Academy,  thus  notices 
Morse :  '  Of  the  academicians,  two  or  three  have  distinguished 
themselves  in  a  preeminent  degree;  besides,  few  have  added  much 
to  their  fame,  perhaps  they  have  hardly  sustained  it.  But  the 
great  feature  in  this  exhibition  is,  that  it  presents  several  works  of 
very  high  merit  by  artists  with  whose  performances,  and  even  with 
whose  names,  we  were  hitherto  unacquainted.  At  the  head  of  this 
class  are  Messrs.  Monro  and  Morse.  The  prize  of  History  may  be 
contended  for  by  Mr.  Northcote  and  Mr.  Stothard.  We  should  award 
it  to  the  former.  After  these  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Milton,  Turner, 
Lane,  Monro,  and  Morse,  follow  in  the  same  class.' — {London 
Globe,  May  14,  1813.) 

"  In  commemorating  the  '  preeminent  works  of  this  exhibition,' 
out  of  nearly  tw6  thousand  pictures,  this  critic  places  the  '  Dying 
Hercules  '  among  the  first  twelve.  This  success  of  his  first  picture 
was  highly  encouraging  to  Morse,  but  it  was  not  confined  to  the 
picture.  Upon  showing  the  plaster  model  to  an  artist  of  eminence, 
he  was  advised  by  him  to  send  it  to  the  Society  of  Arts  to  take  its 
chance  for  the  prize  in  sculpture,  offered  by  that  society,  for  an 
original  cast  of  a  single  figure.  Finding  that  the  figure  he  had 
modeled  came  within  the  rules  of  the  society,  he  sent  it  to  their 
rooms,  and  was  not  a  little  astonished  a  few  days  after  at  receiving 
a  notice  to  appear  on  the  13th  of  May,  in  the  great  room  of  the 
Adelphi,  to  receive  in  public  the  gold  medal,  which  had  been 
adjudged  to  his  model  of  the  c  Hercules.'  On  that  day  there  were 
assembled  the  principal  nobility  of  Britain,  the  foreign  ambassa- 
dors, and  distinguished  strangers ;  among  them  but  two  Americans. 
The  Duke  of  Norfolk  presided,  and  from  his  hands  Morse  received 
the  gold  medal,  with  many  complimentary  remarks.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  at  this  period  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
were  at  war.  We  see  in  this  another  instance  of  the  impartiality 
with  which  the  English  treated  our  artists.  Allston  and  Leslie 
were  treated  in  the  same  manner  during  this  period  of  national  hos- 
tility. Allston  says  England  made  no  distinction  between  Ameri- 
cans and  her  own  artists ;  yet  Trumbull  attributed  his  failure,  at 
this  time,  to  the  enmity  of  the  English.  We  are  glad  to  bear  tes- 
timony to  the  good  feeling  of  the  enlightened  public  of  Great 


"THE   JUDGMENT   OF  JUPITER."  79 

Britain,  which  placed  them  above  a  mean  jealousy  or  a  barbaric 
warfare  upon  the  arts. 

"  Encouraged  by  this  flattering  reception  of  his  first  works  in 
painting  and  in  sculpture,  the  young  artist  redoubled  his  energies 
in  his  studies,  and  determined  to  contend  for  the  highest  premium 
in  historical  composition,  offered  by  the  Royal  Academy  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1814.  The  subject  was  '  The  Judgment  of 
Jupiter  in  the  Case  of  Apollo,  Marpessa,  and  Idas.'  The  premium 
offered  was  a  gold  medal  and  fifty  guineas.  The  decision  was 
to  take  place  in  December  of  1815.  The  composition,  containing 
four  figures,  required  much  study;  but  by  the  exercise  of  great 
diligence  the  picture  was  completed  by  the  middle  of  July.  Our 
young  painter  had  now  been  in  England  four  years,  one  year  longer 
than  the  time  allowed  him  by  his  parents,  and  he  had  to  return 
immediately  home ;  but  he  had  finished  his  picture  under  the  con- 
viction, strengthened  by  the  opinion  of  West,  that  it  would  be 
allowed  to  remain  and  compete  with  those  of  the  other  candidates. 
To  his  regret,  the  petition  to  the  council  of  the  Royal  Academy  for 
this  favor,  handed  in  to  them  by  West,  and  advocated  strongly  by 
him  and  Fuseli,  was  not  granted.  He  was  told  that  it  was  neces- 
sary, according  to  the  rules  of  the  Academy,  that  the  artist  should 
be  present  to  receive  the  premium ;  it  could  not  be  received  by 
proxy.  Fuseli  expressed  himself  in  very  indignant  terms  at  the 
narrowness  of  this  decision. 

"  Thus  disappointed,  the  artist  had  but  one  mode  of  consolation. 
He  invited  West  to  see  his  picture  before  he  packed  it  up,  at  the 
same  time  requesting  Mr.  West  to  inform  him,  through  Mr.  Leslie, 
after  the  premiums  should  be  adjudged  in  December,  what  chance 
he  would  have  had  if  he  had  remained.  Mr.  West,  after  sitting 
before  the  picture  for  a  long  time,  promised  to  comply  with  the  re- 
quest; but  added,  'You  had  better  remain,  sir.'" 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  plaster  easts  that  were  made 
of  the  "Dying  Hercules  "  is  interesting.  One  of  them  found  its 
way  into  the  basement  of  the  Capitol  of  the  United  States,  and 
was  there  discovered  by  Mr.  Morse  under  very  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances, which  will  be  stated  hereafter.  This  cast  he  gave  to 
a  friend,  Rev.  E.  G.  Smith,  who  wrote  to  Mr.  Morse  in  1860, 
asking  a  brief  statement  of  the  circumstances  of  its  execution 
and  its  successful  competition  for  the  gold  medal. 

To  this  note  Mr.  Morse  replied : 


80  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  You  ask  if  the  cast  of  the  '  Hercules  '  is  the  original  cast  or  a 
copy.  A  mould  was  made  from  the  original  clay  model,  from 
which  were  cast  some ,  five  or  six.  I  brought  the  mould  with  me 
from  England,  but,  through  ignorance  of  its  character,  a  man,  in 
cleaning  house,  supposed  the  parts  to  be  broken  plaster,  and  threw 
them  into  the  street  during  my  absence  at  the  South,  so  that  the 
original  mould  is  destroyed.  A  copy,  or  rather  one  of  the  casts 
from  the  original  mould,  was  in  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts,  but  was  destroyed  in  the  fire  which  consumed  the  Academy 
building.  A  mutilated  fragment  of  another  is,  or  was,  in  the  Na- 
tional Academy  collection  in  New  York.  Yours  is  the  only  perfect 
(so  far  as  it  is  perfect)  cast  I  know,  the  others  having  passed  out 
of  my  knowledge.  A  fresh  mould  was  made  from  the  cast  in  Phila- 
delphia many  years  ago  by  some  moulders  there,  from  which  some 
casts  (how  many  I  don't  know)  were  made,  and  sold  by  them  as 
antique!  So  old  Paff,  an  eccentric  picture-dealer  of  olden  time 
once  told  me.  But  you  want  to  know  something  of  its  early  his- 
tory ;  this  I  give  you  in  brief : 

"In  the  year  1812  I  had  so  far  advanced  in  my  studies  as  to 
attempt  a  large  picture  of  a  single  figure.  The  subject  I  chose  was 
'The  Death  of  Hercules.'  My  friend  and  master  at  this  time  was 
"Washington  Allston,  who  was  then  painting  his  picture  of  the 
'  Dead  Man  restored  to  Life  by  touching  the  Bones  of  Elisha.'  He 
had  modeled  in  clay  the  head  of  the  '  dead  man,'  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  him  in  the  painting,  explaining  to  me  that  this  was  often  the 
practice  of  the  most  celebrated  old  masters.  From  this  example  I 
determined  to  model  the  figure  of  the  '  Hercules '  to  aid  me  in  my 
painting  of  the  '  Dying  Hercules.'  It  was  my  first  attempt  at  mod- 
eling, and  as  the  model,  so  far  as  it  was  to  be  of  use  in  my  picture, 
required  only  correctness  and  finish  in  one  view  of  it,  to  wit,  the 
view  chosen  for  the  painting,  I  at  first  only  completed  it  in  that 
view.  At  this  point  Mr.  Allston  expressed  himself  so  pleased  with 
it,  that  he  advised  me  to  finish  it  in  every  view  y  in  other  words,  to 
make  a  complete  statue,  alleging,  among  other  reasons,  that  I  should 
thus  become  familiar  with  the  human  figure  more  readily  than  in 
any  other  way.  Hence,  I  completed  the  whole  figure,  and,  on  show- 
ing it  to  Mr.  West,  was  much  flattered  by  his  praise  of  it.  '  I  was 
advised  by  friends  that  a  premium  of  a  gold  medal  was  offered  for 
just  such  an  original  model,  and  was  recommended  to  send  it  to 
the  Adelphi  Society  of  Arts  to  compete  for  this  prize.  I  accord- 
ingly sent  it  to  the  rooms  of  the  society,  and,  to  my  surprise,  a 


DEATH   OF   MRS.   ALLSTON.  81 

few  days  after,  received  the  summons  to  appear  on '  a  certain  day 
at  the  rooms  of  the  society  in  full  meeting,  to  receive  the  gold 
medal  from  the  president,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  This  was  during 
the  war  of  1812  ;  and  I  have  often  spoken  of  it  as  a  pleasing  inci- 
cident,  that,  while  a  fierce  strife  was  going  on  without  between  the 
two  nations  as  nations,  yet,  in  the  Department  of  Fine  Arts  at 
least,  there  was  a  neutral  peaceful  ground  on  which  artists  and  their 
encouragers  could  stand  and  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  each  other." 

Death  of  Mrs.  Allston. 

On  the  2d  day  of  February,  1815,  Mrs.  Allston  died  sud- 
denly in  London.  The  blow  was  so  fearful  and  unexpected, 
that  for  a  time  it  threatened  to  be  fatal  to  the  reason,  if  not  to 
the  life,  of  the  surviving  husband.  The  next  morning  Mr. 
Morse  writes  to  bis  father : 

"  I  write  in  great  haste  and  much  agitation.  Mrs.  Allston,  the 
Wife  of  our  beloved  friend,  died  last  evening,  and  the  event  over- 
whelmed us  all  in  the  utmost  sorrow.  As  for  Mr.  Allston,  for  sev- 
eral hours  after  the  death  of  his  wife  he  was  almost  bereft  of  his 
reason.  Mr.  Leslie  and  I  are  applying  our  whole  attention  to  him, 
and  we  have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  see  him  more  composed." 

Mr.  Morse  wrote  also  to  Mr.  Channing,  and,  sending  the 
letter  to  Dr.  Morse,  requested  him  to  communicate  the  distress- 
ing intelligence  to  Mr.  Allston's  friends.  Mr.  Leslie,  in  his  au- 
tobiography, describes  the  scene  of  Mrs.  Allston's  death,  and  its 
terrible  effect  upon  the  mind  of  the  sensitive  and  devoted  artist 
and  poet. 

The  sympathy  of  Mr.  Allston's  friends,  and  their  great  grief 
with  him  in  his  sorrow,  may  be  learned  from  this  letter  to  Mr. 
Morse  from  a  gentleman  in  England  to  whom  the  intelligence 
was  sent : 

Mr.  J.  J.  Morgan  to  Mr.  Morse. 

"Calne,  Wiltshire,  February,  1815. 
"My  dear  Sir:  I  received  your  letter  only  yesterday;  the 
news  it  conveyed  has  literally  stupefied  us  with  affliction.  It  was 
not  possible  for  me  to  write  yesterday,  so  completely  was  I  terror- 
stricken.  It  is  with  difficulty,  and  doubtless  with  incoherence,  that  I 
now  write.  Mrs.  Morgan  and  Miss  Brent  most  bitterly  lament  that 
you  did  not  send  for  one  or  both  of  them.  To  have  seen  their 
6 


82  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

friend,  their  more  than  sister,  though  but  for  her  last  departing 
hour,  would  have  been  some  consolation.  Their  distress  is  very- 
great.  The  only  thought  which  now  promises  the  least  comfort  is, 
that  so  innocent,  so  excellent  a  woman  is  removed  from  this  world 
of  trial  and  trouble  to  that  of  perfect  happiness,  and  to  a  union 
with  her  Creator. 

"  But  what  is  now  to  be  done  with  Allston  ?  Comfort  it  were 
a  mockery  to  attempt  offering.  Religion,  and  the  impression  of 
time,  are  his  only  hope.  But,  pray,  write  to  us,  and  say  whether 
we  (any  of  us)  can  now  be  of  any  service.  Mrs.  M.,  or  Charlotte, 
or  I,  will  come  to  town  instantly,  to  be  of  the  slightest  service. 
For  Heaven's  sake,  write  us!  Tell  us  every  thing  concerning 
Allston;  tell  us  every  thing  concerning  our  excellent  friend  de- 
parted— the  pain,  during  her  illness ;  the  burial,  where ;  what  com- 
fort, what  female  friend  or  companion,  had  she  ?  I  fear  and  tremble 
while  anticipating  the  particulars ;  yet  we  must  know  them. 

"  Gracious  God !  unsearchable  indeed  are  Thy  ways  !  The  insen- 
sible, the  brutish,  the  wicked,  are  powerful;  and  everywhere,  in 
every  thing,  successful — while  Allston,  who  is  every  thing  that  is 
amiable,  kind,  and  good,  has  been  bruised,  blow  after  blow ;  and 
now,  indeed,  his  cup  is  full ! 

"  I  am  too  unwell,  too  little  recovered  from  the  effect  of  your 
letter  to  write  much.  Coleridge  intends  writing  to-day.  I  hope  he 
will.  Allston  may  derive  some  little  relief  from  knowing  how 
much  his  friends  partake  of  his  grief. 

"  Once  more  I  entreat  you  to  let  us  know  if  any  of  us  can  be 
of  the  slightest  service.  Perhaps  our  excellent  Allston  would  be 
somewhat  relieved  by  an  excursion  down  here.  With  us  he  shall 
meet  with  every  attention  possible.  I  will  come  up  and  fetch  him, 
upon  your  slightest  hint  of  its  usefulness.  At  any  rate,  I  beg  you 
to  write  soon,  and  say  every  thing  for  us  all  to  Allston,  every 
thing  kind  you  can  think  of.     You  cannot  say  more  than  we  feel." 

In  the  month  following,  Mr.  Morse  wrote  to  his  parents  a 
very  full  account  of  his  temporary  residence  at  Bristol,  his 
struggles  to  support  himself,  and  the  disappointments  to  which 
he  was  subjected.     In  his  letter  dated  March  10,  1815,  he  says  : 

"My  jaunt  to  Bristol,  in  quest  of  money,  completely  failed. 
When  I  was  first  there  I  expected,  from  the  little  connection  I  got 
into,  I  should  be  able  to  support  myself.  I  was  obliged  to  come  to 
town  on  account  of  the  exhibitions,  and  staid  longer  than  I  ex- 


FAILURE  IN  BRISTOL.  83 

pected,  intending  to  return  to  Bristol.  During  this  time  I  received 
two  pressing  letters  from  Mr.  Visscher  (which  I  will  show  you), 
inviting  me  to  come  down,  saying  that  I  should  have  plenty  of 
business.  I  accordingly  hurried  off.  A  gentleman,  for  whom  I 
had  before  painted  two  portraits,  had  promised,  if  I  would  let  him 
have  them  for  ten  guineas  apiece,  twelve  being  my  price,  he  would 
procure  me  five  sitters.  This  I  acceded  to.  I  received  twenty 
guineas,  and  have  heard  nothing  from  the  man  since,  though  I  par- 
ticularly requested  Mr.  Visscher  to  inquire,  and  remind  him  of  his 
promise.  Yet  he  never  did  any  thing  more  on  the  subject.  I  was 
there  three  months,  gaining  nothing  in  my  art,  and  without  a 
single  commission.  Mr.  Breed,  of  Liverpool,  then  came  to  Bristol. 
He  took  two  landscapes,  which  I  had  heen.  amusing  myself  with 
(for  I  can  say  nothing  more  of  them),  at  ten  guineas  each.  I 
painted  two  more  landscapes,  which  are  unsold.  Mr.  Visscher,  a 
man  worth  about  a  hundred  thousand  pounds,  and  whose  annual 
expenses,  with  a  large  family  of  seven  children,  are  not  one  thou- 
sand, had  a  little  frame,  for  which  he  repeatedly  desired  me  to 
paint  a  picture.  I  told  him  I  would,  as  soon  as  I  bad  finished  one 
of  my  landscapes.  I  began  it  immediately,  without  his  knowing  it, 
and  determined  to  surprise  him  with  it.  I  also  had  two  frames 
which  fitted  Mr.  Breed's  pictures,  and  which  I  was  going  to  give  to 
Mr.  Breed,  with  his  pictures.  But  Mr.  Visscher  was  particularly 
pleased  with  the  frames,  as  they  were  a  pair,  and  told  me  not  to 
send  them  to  Mr.  Breed,  as  he  should  like  to  have  them  himself, 
and  wished  I  would  paint  him  pictures  to  fit  them  (the  two 
other  landscapes  before  mentioned).  I  accordingly  was  employed 
three  months  longer  in  painting  these  three  pictures.  I  finished 
them ;  he  was  very  much  pleased  with  them ;  all  his  family  were 
very  much  pleased  with  them ;  all  who  saw  them  were  pleased 
with  them.  But  he  declined  taking  them,  without  even  asking  my 
price,  and  said  that  he  had  more  pictures  than  he  knew  what  to  do 
with.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allston  heard  him  say  twenty  times  he  wished 

I  would  paint  him  a  picture  for  the  frame.     Mr.  A n,  who  knew 

what  I  was  about,  told  him,  no  doubt,  I  would  do  it  for  him,  and,  in 
a  week  after,  I  had  completed  it.  I  had  told  Mr.  Visscher,  also,  that 
I  was  considerably  in  debt,  and  that,  when  he  had  paid  me  for  these 
pictures,  I  should  be  something  in  pocket,  and,  by  his  not  objecting 
to  what  I  said,  I  took  it  for  granted  (and  from  his  requesting  me  to 
paint  the  pictures)  that  the  thing  was  certain.  But  thus  it  was, 
without  giving  any  reason  in  the  world,  except  that  he  had  pictures 


84  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

enough,  he  declined  taking  them,  making  me  spend  three  months 
longer  in  Bristol  than  I  otherwise  should  have  done,  standing  still 
in  my  art,  if  not  actually  going  back,  and  run  in  debt  for  some 
necessary  expenses  of  clothing  in  Bristol,  and  my  passage  from  and 
back  to  London.  During  all  this  time  not  a  single  commission  for 
a  portrait,  many  of  which  were  promised  me,  nor  a  single  call  from 
any  one  to  look  at  my  pictures.  Thus  ended  my  jaunt  in  quest  of 
money.  Do  not  think  that  this  disappointment  is  in  consequence 
of  any  misconduct  of  mine.  Mr.  Allston,  who  was  with  me,  expe- 
rienced the  same  treatment,  and  had  it  not  been  for  his  uncle,  the 
American  consul,  he  might  have  starved,  for  the  Bristol  people ; 
his  uncle,  was  the  only  one  who  purchased  any  of  his  pictures. 
Since  I  have  been  in  London,  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  regain 
what  I  lost  in  Bristol,  and  I  hope  I  have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  say, 
I  have  not  gone  back  in  my  art.  In  order  to  retrench  my  expenses, 
I  have  taken  a  painting-room  out  of  the  house,  at  about  half  of  the 
expense  of  my  former  room;  though  inconvenient  in  many  respects, 
yet  my  circumstances  require  it,  and  I  willingly  put  up  with  it.  As 
for  economy ',  do  not  be  at  any  more  pains  in  introducing  that  per- 
sonage to  me.  We  have  long  been  friends  and  necessary  compan- 
ions. If  you  could  look  in  on  me  and  see  me  through  a  day,  I 
think  you  would  not  tell  me  in  every  letter  to  economize  more.  It 
is  impossible ;  I  cannot  economize  more.  I  live  on  as  plain  food, 
and  as  little,  as  is  for  my  health ;  less  and  plainer  would  make  me 
ill,  for  I  have  given  it  a  fair  experiment.  As  for  clothes,  I  have 
been  decent,  and  that  is  all.  If  I  visited  a  great  deal,  this  would 
be  a  heavy  expense ;  but,  the  less  I  go  out,  the  less  need  I  care  for 
clothes,  except  for  cleanliness.  My  only  heavy  expenses  are  colors, 
canvas,  frames,  etc.,  and  these  are  heavy." 

On  the  back  of  the  last  page  of  the  letter  be  adds,  as  a 
postscript :  "  The  seal  of  my  letter  is  worth,  noticing.  It  is  a 
celebrated  antique  gem,  set  in  Michael  Angelo's  ring,  which  he 
always  used  as  a  seal.  I  have  the  seal — an  impression  from  the 
original." 

In  a  note  to  Mrs.  Morse,  his  friend  Leslie  says :  "  I  am  very 
glad  to  see  that  Mr.  Coleridge  is  writing  again,  and,  of  course, 
talking  also.     I  hope  he  is  near  Mr.  Allston." 

Mr.  Morse  speaks  of  Mr.  Allston  in  one  of  his  letters,  after 
mentioning  an  attack  of  illness :  "  I  never  felt  so  low-spirited  as 
when  he  was  ill.     I  often  thought,  if  he  should  be  taken  away  at 


MR.   ALLSTON'S  ADVICE.  85 

tliis  time,  what  an  irreparable  loss  it  would  be,  not  only  to  me, 
but  to  America,  and  to  the  world.  Ob !  he  is  an  angel  on  earth. 
I  cannot  love  him  too  much.  Excuse  my  warmth  ;  I  never  can 
speak  of  Mr.  Allston  but  in  raptures." 

And  Mr.  Allston,  writing  to  Mr.  Morse,  at  Bristol,  makes 
the  following  suggestions : 

"  I  write  to  thank  you  for  the  very  agreeable  intelligence  con- 
tained in  your  letter  to  Leslie  [the  expected  sale  of  one  of  Mr.  A.'s 
paintings] ;  but,  in  a  particular  manner  to  request,  or  rather  to 
advise,  you  not  to  take  a  share  in  the  intended  raffle.  For  this  I 
can  offer  two  reasons :  1.  That  the  price  of  a  share  is  too  much  for 
you  to  risk  upon  an  uncertainty ;  2.  That  I  much  fear,  should  you 
win,  the  world  may  suspect,  on  account  of  our  connection,  that  I 
was  in  some  way  interested  in  it.  I  think,  upon  the  whole,  you 
had  better  not  take  one,  but  wait  until  you  can  paint  a  landscape 
equal  to  it  yourself;  which  I  make  no  doubt  you  will  ere  long  be 
able  to  do,  if  you  are  industrious.  I  shall  follow  your  advice  in 
not  being  too  sanguine  respecting  its  success.  But  hope  is  pleas- 
ant, and  I  shall  therefore  indulge  it  until  I  hear  from  you  again.  I 
am  quite  satisfied  that  it  should  go  at  five  hundred  guineas,  and,  as 
soon  as  it  is  sold,  I  shall,  according  to  my  promise,  bespeak  an  ele- 
gant frame  for  it.  I  have  at  last  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that 
my  large  picture  is  in  the  British  Gallery,  and,  moreover,  hung  in 
the  place  where  Mr.  West's  was." 

Mr.  Morse,  during  the  latter  part  of  his  residence  in  Lon- 
don, denied  himself  in  great  measure  the  pleasures  of  society, 
which  were  pressed  upon  him.  In  the  second  year  of  his  life 
there,  he  had  received  the  following  note  from  Zachary  Macau- 
lay,  which  is  copied  here  as  an  illustration  of  the  mode  of  get- 
ting about  in  London  sixty  years  ago  : 

"Mr.  Macaulay  presents  his  compliments  to  Mr.  Morse,  and 
begs  to  express  his  regret  at  not  having  yet  been  so  fortunate  as  to 
meet  him.  Mr.  Macaulay  will  be  particularly  happy,  if  it  should 
suit  Mr.  Morse  to  dine  with  him  at  his  house  at  Clapham,  on  Sat- 
urday next  at  five  o'clock.  Mr.  M.'s  house  is  five  doors  beyond  the 
Plough,  at  the  entrance  of  Clapham  Common.  A  coach  goes  daily 
to  Clapham  from  the  Ship  at  Charing  Cross,  at  a  quarter-past  three, 
and  several  leave  Grace-Church  Street,  in  the  City,  every  day  at 


86  LIFE   OP  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

four.     The  distance  from  London  Bridge  to  Mr.  Macaulay' s  house 
is  about  four  miles." 

"26  Birchir  Lane,  June  23,  1812." 

But  Mr?  Morse  assures  his  parents  that  visiting  costs  too 
much  time.     He  writes  to  them : 

"  James  Russell,  Esq.,  has  been  extremely  attentive  to  me.  He 
has  a  very  fine  family,  consisting  of  four  daughters,  and,  I  think, 
a  son,  who  is  absent  in  the  East  Indies.  The  daughters  are  very 
beautiful,  accomplished,  and  amiable,  especially  the  youngest, 
Lucy.  I  came  very  near  being  at  my  old  game  of  falling  in  love  ; 
but  I  find  that  love  and  painting  are  quarrelsome  companions,  and 
that  the  house  of  my  heart  was  too  small  for  both  of  them  ;  so  I 
have  turned  Mrs.  Love  out-of-doors.  'Time  enough,'  thought  I 
(with  true  old-bachelor  complacency),  'time  enough  for  you  these 
ten  years  to  come.'  Mr.  Russell's  portrait  I  have  painted  as  a  pres- 
ent to  Miss  Russell,  and  will  send  it  to  her  as  soon  as  I  can  get  an 
opportunity.  It  is  an  excellent  likeness  of  him.  I  should  be  very 
happy  to  send  also  the  portraits  of  the  rest  of  the  family  to  her, 
but,  as  I  am  obliged  to  support  myself  now,  every  thing  must  be 
turned  to  account. 

"  You  wish  me  to  keep  up  my  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Burder, 
Messrs.  Macaulay,  Taylor,  and  others.  Mr.  Burder  has  never  shown 
me  the  slightest  attention.  I  never  have  seen  him,  to  speak  to  him, 
but  once ;  and  then,  when  I  delivered  my  letter  of  introduction  to 
him,  he  said  he  hoped  he  should  have  the  pleasure  of  my  com- 
pany to  dine  soon,  and  he  would  let  me  know  when  it  would  be 
convenient.  I  'have  not  heard  from  him  from  that  time  to  this. 
There  is  no  blame  attached  to  him.  He  is  a  man  full  of  business, 
like  papa,  and  I  suppose  it  has  slipped  his  memory,  and  it  is  perhaps 
better  for  both  of  us,  for  I  should  only  hinder  him,  and  he  me.  It 
is  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  keep  up  an  acquaintance  in  England, 
and. I  therefore  do  not  attempt  it.  My  studies  absorb  all  my  time, 
and  I  wish  no  other  employment  ox  pastime.  'Tis  not  in  London, 
as  in  Boston,  or  one  of  our  cities,  where  you  have  your  friends  in  a 
little  circle  round  you.  But  a  visit  in  London  is  a  serious  under- 
taking, probably  a  walk  of  two  or  three  miles,  if  not  five  or  six. 
Mr.  Taylor  lives  two  miles  from  me,  Mr.  Burder  six,  Mr.  Macaulay 
seven,  Mr.  Thornton  seven,  Mr.  Wilberforce  five,  Dr.  Lettsom  three ; 
Mr.  Allston  two  streets,  Mr.  West  two  streets.  So  you  see  by  this 
who  are  most  likely  to  be  my  intimates,  and  what  time  I  must 


INVITATION  FROM  MR.   WTLBERFORCE.  87 

spend  just  to  step  in  and  make  a  call ;  and,  what  makes  the  matter 
worse,  I  seem  to  live  in  the  centre  of  a  great  circle,  as  it  respects 
them." 

Mr.  Wilberforce  speaks,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Dr.  Morse,  of 
his  deep  interest  in  his  son,  and  his  desire  that  he  would  be 
more  at  home  in  his  house.  And,  among  the  autographs  which 
the  son  preserved  to  the  end  of  his  life,  was  a  pleasant  note  from 
Mr.  "Wilberforce,  dated 

"  Kensington  Gkote,  June  1,  1815. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  Till  I  heard,  three  or  four  days  ago,  from  Mr. 
Sanders  the  Black  School-master,  that  you  were  in  London,  I  had 
conceived,  from  the  contents  of  a  letter  I  received  some  little  time 
ago  from  your  father,  that  you  were  on  the  Continent,  and  not  like- 
ly to  be  in  England  again  till  the  middle  or  end  of  July.  It  is  long 
since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  and  I  need  not  assure  you 
that  you  are  always  an  acceptable  visitor  ;  but  I  did  not  return  to 
the  neighborhood  of  London  till  Parliament  reassembled,  and  dur- 
ing its  sittings  I  am  always  so  much  occupied  and  engaged  that  I 
am  forced  to  give  up  almost  all  social  intercourse.  The  consequence 
is,  that  toward  the  end  of  the  session,  as  just  now,  I  have  a  large 
arrear  of  social  debts  to  pay  to  my  friends,  and  the  few  days  I 
have  at  command  are  preengaged.  But  at  breakfast,  at  about  ten 
or  half-past  ten,  I  should  be  happy  to  see  you  any  day,  and  let  me 
beg  you  to  come  some  fine  morning,  and  say  you  are  come  to 
breakfast.  I  have  a  parcel  of  newspapers  and  pamphlets  to  send 
you.  In  haste,  but  with  real  regard,  and  taking,  for  your  good 
father's  sake,  a  real  interest  in  your  welfare,  I  remain*  my  dear  sir, 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"  W.  Wilberforce. 
"S.  F.  B.  Morse,  Mq." 

This  friendly  note  is  dated  June  1,  1815.  On  the  18th  day 
of  the  same  month  the  battle  of  Waterloo  was  fought,  and  on 
the  6th  day  of  the  month  following  the  allied  armies  entered 
Paris.  There  was  no  electric  Telegraph  at  that  time  to  carry 
news  across  channels,  continents,  and  oceans  ;  but  the  future  in- 
ventor of  such  an  agent  relates  an  interesting  incident  of  the  re- 
ception of  these  tidings  in  London.     Mr.  Morse  says  : 

"  It  was  at  one  of  my  visits,  in  the  year  1815,  that  an  incident 
occurred  which  well  illustrates  the  character  of  the  great  philan- 


88  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

thropist.  As  I  passed  through  Hyde  Park  on  my  way  to  Kensing- 
ton Grove,  I  observed  that  great  crowds  had  gathered,  and  rumors 
were  rife  that  the  allied  armies  had  entered  Paris,  that  Napoleon 
was  a  prisoner,  and  that  the  war  was  virtually  at  an  end ;  and  it 
was  momentarily  expected  that  the  park  guns  would  announce  the 
good  news  to  the  people.  On  entering  the  drawing-room  at  Mr. 
Wilberforce's,  I  found  the  company,  consisting  of  Mr.  Thornton, 
Mr.  Macaulay,  Mr.  Grant  the  father,  and  his  two  sons  Robert  and 
Charles,  and  Robert  Owen,  of  Lanark,  in  quite  excited  conversation 
respecting  the  rumors  that  prevailed.  Mr.  Wilberforce  expatiated 
largely  on  the  prospects  of  a  universal  peace  in  consequence  of  the 
probable  overthrow  of  Napoleon,  whom  naturally  he  considered  the 
great  disturber  of  the  nations.  At  every  period,  however,  he  ex- 
claimed, '  It  is  too  good  to  be  true,  it  cannot  be  true.'  He  was  al- 
together skeptical  in  regard  to  the  rumors.  The  general  subject, 
however,  was  the  absorbing  topic  at  the  dinner-table  ;  after  dinner 
the  company  joined  the  ladies  in  the  drawing-room.  I  sat  near  a 
window  which  looked  out  in  the  direction  of  the  distant  park. 
Presently  a  flash  and  a  distant  dull  report  of  a  gun  attracted  my 
attention,  but  was  unnoticed  by  the  rest  of  the  company.  Pres- 
ently another  flash  and  report  assured  me  that  the  park  guns  were 
firing,  and  at  once  I  called  Mr.  Wilberforce's  attention  to  the  fact. 
Running  to  the  window,  he  threw  it  up  in  time  to  see  the  next  flash 
and  hear  the  next  report.  Clasping  his  hands  in  silence,  with  the 
tears  rolling  down  his  cheeks,  he  stood  for  a  few  moments  perfectly 
absorbed  in  thought,  and,  before  uttering  a  word,  embraced  his  wife 
and  daughter,  and  shook  hands  with  every  one  in  the  room.  The 
scene  was  one  not  to  be  forgotten." 

A  few  days  after  this  scene  Mr.  Morse  left  England  for  his 
native  land. 


CHAPTEE    IY. 

1815-1823. 

BETUEN  TO  AMEEIOA — OPENS  A  STUDIO  IN  BOSTON — NO  SUCCESS — INVENTS 
IMPROVEMENT  IN  PUMP — TRAVELS  IN  VEEMONT  AND  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 
AS  POETEAIT-PAINTEE — MEETS  HIS  FUTUEE  BEIDE — PUESUES  HIS  IN- 
VENTION— GOES  TO  CHAELESTON,  SOUTH  OAEOLINA — DE.  FINLEY — SUC- 
CESS —  ALLSTON'S  ENCOUBAGEMENT  —  EETUENS  NOETH  —  MABEIAGE  — 
CHAELESTON  AGAIN — THE  PUMP — W.  ALLSTON — MOESE  PAINTS  THE  POE- 
TEAIT  OP  PEESIDENT  MONROE — THIED  WINTEB  IN  CHAELESTON — NEW 
HAVEN — PAINTING  "HOUSE  OF  EEPEESENTATIVES  " — HISTOEY  OF  THE 
PIOTUEE. 

AFTER  waiting  fourteen  days  in  Liverpool  for  a  fair  wind, 
Mr.  Morse  set  sail  Angnst  21, 1815,  in  the  ship  Ceres,  Cap- 
tain Webber,  for  Boston.  Two  hundred  vessels  sailed  in  company. 
«  we  gradually  lost  sight  of  our  companions,"  he  writes,  "  as 
night  approached,  and  at  sunset  they  were  dispersed  all  over  the 
horizon.".  The  passage  was  long  and  boisterous.  His  sea-diary 
is  but  a  record  of  head-winds,  rain,  gales,  tempests,  sea-sickness, 
and  every  thing  disagreeable.  They  sighted  the  signal  of  a  ship 
in  distress.  The  captain  refused  to  go  to  the  rescue,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  enough  to  do  to  look  out  for  his  own.  The 
passengers  entreated  him  to  have  mercy,  but  he  was  obstinate. 
Mr.  Morse  then  assured  him  that,  as  soon  as  they  landed  in  Bos- 
ton, he  would  expose  his  inhumanity  by  stating  the  facts  in  the 
public  journals.  This  brought  him  to,  and  he  bore  down  for 
the  dismasted  ship  whose  signal-guns  and  signs  of  distress  called 
two  other  ships  to  its  aid. 


90  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

One  gale  followed  another.  "  Obliged,"  he  says,  "  to  keep 
our  berths,  cabin  dark,  dead  lights  on.  Oh,  who  would  go  to 
sea  who  can  stay  at  home."  A  few  days  after  this  despairing 
groan,  the  sea  is  calm  :  "  A  serene  and  delightful  night ;  the  full 
moon  rose  in  a  cloudless  sky.  The  sea  is  like  a  mirror,  with  not 
a  ripple  on  its  surface,  and  the  ship  is  as  still  as  if  we  were  at 
anchor  in  the  harbor :  nothing  is  in  sight  but  sky  and  water, 
and  the  color  of  the  water  is  so  like  the  sky  that  we  seem  to  be 
suspended  in  the  midst  of  space." 

He  arrived  in  Boston  on  the  18th  day  of  October,  after  a 
passage  of  fifty-eight  days,  and  an  absence  from  his  country  of 
more  than  four  years.  His  profession  he  had  pursued  with  ar- 
dor and  great  success  ;  his  ambition  was  stimulated,  and  he  was 
buoyant  with  hope  ;  and  the  impelling  power  of  necessity  was 
upon  him,  for  his  profession  was  to  be  his  only  source  of  sup- 
port. 

The  year  1816  was  spent  in  Boston  and  in  Charlestown, 
where  he  lodged  at  his  father's  house.  His  father  had  engaged 
a  studio  for  him  in  the  city.  His  great  picture  was  opened  for 
exhibition.  The  fame  of  the  young  artist  had  preceded  him, 
and  hundreds  of  people  went  to  see  a  picture  by  the  favorite 
pupil  of  Allston  and  "West.  He  was  constantly  invited  to  the 
entertainments  of  the  cultivated  and  wealthy  families  of  the  city 
of  Boston.  The  "  Judgment  of  Jupiter  "  was  admired  by  the 
critics  and  the  multitude.  He  set  up  his  easel  with  the  confi- 
dent expectation  that  his  fame  and  his  work  would  bring  him 
orders  and  money.  But  an  entire  year  dragged  itself  along, 
without  an  offer  for  his  picture,  or  an  order  for  an  historical 
work.  His  mind  was  too  active  and  earnest  for  such  a  life  as 
this.  In  the  evenings  at  home  he  meditated  an  invention  by 
which  a  great  improvement  would  be  made  in  the  common 
pump  and,  one  that  could  be  adapted  to  the  forcing-pump  in  the 
fire-engine.  His  brother,  Sidney  E.  Morse,  two  years  younger 
than  he,  entered  into  the  project  with  him,  and  they  completed 
the  invention  and  secured  a  patent.  In  the  autumn  the  follow- 
ing notice  was  published : 

"  New  Lsventio^s. — A  new-constructed  patent  pump  is  in  op- 
eration on  Gray's  Wharf,  in  Charlestown,  where  any  who  feel  de- 


LETTER  FROM   LESLIE.  91 

sirous  of  seeing  it  may  see  it  on  any  day  during  one  week  from  this 
date,  from  half  ebb  to  half  flood-tide.  Four  men  can  work  it  with 
ease  and  deliver  three  hundred  and  sixty  gallons  in  one  minute. 
The  pump-bore  is  five  inches  in  diameter ;  a  wooden  ball  four  and 
three-fourth  inches,  entered  at  the  bottom  of  the  log,  will  pass  freely 
through  and  be  delivered  at  the  nose." 

His  friends  in  London  did  not  forget  hirn.     Leslie  writes : 

"London,  November  17,  1815. 

"  Mv  dear  Morse  :  I  have  just  received  your  very  welcome 
letter  announcing  your  arrival.  Our  sorrow  for  the  length  and  un- 
pleasantness of  your  voyage  is  entirely  swallowed  up  in  joy  for 
your  safety,  about  which  we  were  extremely  anxious,  from  accounts 
we  have  had  of  the  hurricanes  off  Boston. 

"  "We  continue  pretty  much  as  when  you  left  us,  excepting  that 
our  good  old  landlady,  Mrs.  Bridgen,  has  been  very  dangerously  ill 
with  a  violent  attack  of  the  rheumatic  gout.  She  is  now,  thank 
Heaven,  nearly  recovered,  and  I  am  sure  your  letter  did  her  more 
good  than  any  thing  the  doctor  has  given  her  for  some  time. 
When  she  was  first  taken  ill,  she  refused  to  have  a  physician.  I 
used  every  argument  in  my  power  to  persuade  her  to  it,  but  she 
would  not  consent,  saying  it  would  go  off  of  itself.  Knowing  too 
well  the  fatal  effects  of  this  dread  of  the  doctor,  I  went  without 
her  knowledge  to  an  eminent  one  (Dr.  Blackburn),  and  sent  him  to 
her,  and  I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  he  did  not  save  her  life. 
During  her  illness  I  had  opportunities  of  discovering  more  of  the 
real  character  of  Mr.  Bridgen  than  I  had  ever  known  before.  He 
showed  a  most  affectionate  disposition,  and  I  am  sure  it  was  merely 
his  testy  manner  that  had  before  obscured  it.  He  was  unceasingly 
assiduous  in  his  attentions  to  her,  and,  though  in  bad  health  himself, 
sat  up  with  her,  and  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  alleviate  her 
sufferings  in  the  kindest  manner  possible.  He  was  describing  to 
me  one  night  how  indefatigable  he  had  formerly  been  in  his  occu- 
pation: 'For'  (said  he  with  tears  in  his  eyes),  'I  loved  my  missus, 
sir,  and  thought  I  could  never  do  enough  for  her.'  He  spoke  in 
the  highest  terms  of  her  excellent  temper,  at  the  same  time  re- 
proaching himself  for  having  tormented  her  so  much  by  his  bad 
one,  of  which  he  seemed  perfectly  sensible. 

"  Soon  after  you  left  London,  Mr.  McMurtrie  arrived  from  Phila- 
delphia. He  is  one  of  our  few  men  of  taste.  He  was  highly  de- 
lighted with  Allston's  pictures,  and  persuaded  him  to  send  out  his 


92  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

*  Dead  Man '  to  Philadelphia  for  exhibition,  which  I  suppose  is  there 
by  this  time.  McMurtrie  introduced  us  to  the  great  General  Scott, 
and  his  aide-de-camp  Major  Mercer,  who  were  fellow-passengers 
with  him.  They  are  both  most  gentlemanly  men.  Scott  is  six  feet 
four  inches  high,  well  made,  and  has  a  fine  face.  His  eyes  are  re- 
markably expressive.  I  regretted  exceedingly  you  were  not  here ; 
you  would  have  been  so  delighted  with  them.  I  painted  a  portrait 
of  Mercer,  and  am  making  a  copy  of  Mr.  West's  pictures  (the  Cupid 
with  a  lion,  sea-horse,  etc.)  for  the  general,  for  which  I  am  to  have 
sixty  guineas.  They  are  now  in  France,  and  when  they  return  I 
am  to  have  the  honor  of  painting  a  portrait  of  the  general.  Mr. 
Ogden,  who  commanded  a  regiment  of  volunteers  in  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans,  has  lately  been  here.  He  brought  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  me  from  Jarvis,  the  painter,  and  a  portrait  of  Jackson, 
painted  in  the  true  Italian  touch,  bj  the  immortal  Wheeler,  which 
he  is  having  engraved  here.  General  Jackson  is  by  no  means  hand- 
some, having  very  much  the  physiognomy  of  a  dried  shad,  with 
the  complexion  of  a  pair  of  leather  breeches ;  nevertheless,  he  was 
the  man  that  did  John's  business  for  him.  Ogden  told  me  that  the 
battle  was  gained  principally  by  the  volunteers,  who  were  com- 
posed of  the  wealthiest  citizens  of  New  Orleans. 

"  I  have  very  little  information  to  give  you  in  the  arts,  except- 
ing that  Holland  was  not  elected  an  associate,  and  that  Jackson 
and  Mulready  were.  Haydon  gets  on  slowly  with  his  picture. 
Collins  has  improved  wonderfully,  and  made  some  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite sketches  from  Nature  I  have  ever  seen.  Kukup  is  likely  to 
get  the  prize,  I  believe;  he  has  but  one  antagonist  (Williehass). 
Allston  is  more  than  half  through  his  'Peter,'  and  a  glorious  pict- 
ure it  will  be.  I  am  painting  a  half-length  of  a  beautiful  actress 
(Mrs.  Mardyn)  for  exhibition.  She  has  just  appeared  at  Drury 
Lane  in  Mrs.  Jordan's  characters.  Her  beauty,  however,  is  her 
greatest  attraction.  Collard,  Lonsdale,  Haydon,  Hewling,  desire 
their  regards  to  you. 

"  Your  sincere  friend, 

"  Leslie." 

The  state  of  the  arts  in  America  at  this  juncture  is  shown  in 
a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Samuel  F.  Jarvis  to  S.  F.  B.  Morse  : 

"New  Yoke,  January  29,  1816. 
"  You  are  now,  I  suppose,  unremittingly  engaged  in  the  pursuits 
of  your  profession.     It  will  gratify  me  much  to  hear  what  you  are 


LETTER  BY   REV.   S.   J.  JARVIS.  93 

doing.  Portrait-painting  alone  is  profitable  in  this  country — our 
rich  men  not  having  yet  obtained  that  relish  for  the  fine  arts  which 
would  lead  them  to  admire  a  painting  for  its  own  sake,  or  to  pa- 
tronize genius  from  the  noble  principles  of  love  for  excellence,  and 
love  for  country.  The  Bostonians  probably  will  patronize  you, 
however,  because  you  are  their  fellow  -  citizen,  and,  though  the 
thought  of  being  indebted  to  that  motive  cannot  be  a  very  pleasing 
one  to  you,  yet  it  may  in  time  lead  to  juster  views.  You  know,  I 
presume,  that  Colonel  Trumbull  has  seated  himself  down  in  this 
city,  and  his  collection  you  are  probably  well  acquainted  with.  Our 
Academy  of  Arts  is  at  present  in  rather  a  languishing  state ;  but  I 
trust  we  shall  soon  be  able  to  make  it  worth  attention.  The  cor- 
poration of  this  city  have  given,  or  are  about  giving,  a  large  lot 
near  the  new  City  Hall  in  Broadway,  where  it  is  proposed  to  erect 
a  building  to  correspond  with  that  noble  edifice  (not  to  vie  with  it, 
of  course,  but  as  a  sort  of  appendage),  which  is  to  be  devoted  to 
our  literary,  scientific,  and  elegant  institutions.  "We  are  to  have  in 
it  the  City  Library,  Scudder's  Museum,  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 
a  chemical  laboratory,  and  apartments  for  the  several  learned  soci- 
eties— the  New  York  Historical  Society,  the  New  York  Literary 
and  Philosophical  Society,  etc.  I  hope  that  we  shall  institute  an 
Academy  of  Painting ;  and  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  see 
you  one  of  the  professors  of  it.  Why  will  you  not  let  us  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you,  when  we  can  talk  over  these  matters  at  our 
leisure  ?  I  am  reserving  the  painting  of  my  phiz  for  your  pencil ; 
and  as  they  tell  me  I  look  best  in  the  winter,  because  fattest,  you 
see  it  is  of  great  importance  that  I  see  you  at  this  season.  Have 
3^ou  attended  at  all  to  architecture  ?  That  is  with  me  a  favorite 
science,  though  I  know  but  little  about  it.  I  hope  some  time  or 
other  to  see  a  Gothic  church  erected  here,  and  I  must  consult  your 
taste  concerning  the  plans.  There  has  been  a  Gothic  church  erect- 
ed at  New  Haven  since  you  were  there,  and  it  is  my  intention  to 
put  up  a  monument  in  it  to  the  memory  of  my  father,  the  decora- 
tions of  which  I  wish  to  have  correspondent  with  the  style  of  the 
building.  As  you  have  probably  noticed  the  principal  monuments 
in  England,  it  may  be  in  your  power  to  furnish  me  with  a  design." 

His  thoughts  were  much  with  those  friends  he  had  left. 
Allston  he  loved  and  revered.  He  pours  out  his  heart  to  him 
in  letters,  some  of  which  have  been  found  among  Mr.  Allston's 
papers.     The  passage  in  the  following  letter,  where  the  pupil 


94  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

implores  his  master's  forgiveness  for  possible  errors,  beautifully 
illustrates  the  feeling  that  subsisted  between  them. 

"Boston,  April  10,  1816. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  have  but  one  moment  to  write  you  by  a  ves- 
sel which  sails  to-morrow  morning :  I  wrote  Leslie  by  New  Packet 
some  months  since,  and  am  hourly  expecting  an  answer.  I  congratu- 
late you,  my  dear  sir,  on  the  sale  of  your  picture  of  the  '  Dead 
Man.''  I  suppose  you  will  have  received  notice  before  this  reaches 
you,  that  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Arts  have  purchased  it  for 
the  sum  of  thirty-five  hundred  dollars.  Bravo  for  our  country  !  I 
am  sincerely  rejoiced  for  you,  and  for  the  disposition  which  it  shows 
of  future  encouragement.  I  really  think  the  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  we  shall  all  be  able  to  settle  in  our  native  land  with  profit  as 
well  as  pleasure.  ...  I  long  to  spend  my  evenings  again  with  you 
and  Leslie  ;  I  shall  certainly  visit  Italy  (should  I  live  and  no  unfore- 
seen event  take  place)  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  eighteen  months. 
Could  there  not  be  some  arrangement  made  to  meet  you  and  Leslie 
there  ?  You  will  now  be  in  funds,  and  perhaps  would  not  dislike  to 
visit  again  the  scenes  of  your  early  studies.  Do  write  me,  if  it  is 
but  a  line,  and  say  if  it  cannot  be  so  arranged.  .  .  .  My  conscience 
accuses  me,  and  hardly  too,  of  many  instances  of  pettishness  and  ill- 
humor  toward  you,  which  make  me  almost  hate  myself,  that  I  could 
offend  a  temper  like  }Tours ;  I  need  not  ask  you  to  forgive  it,  I 
know  you  cannot  harbor  anger  a  minute,  and  perhaps  have  forgot- 
ten the  instances ;  but  I  cannot  forget  them.  If  you  had  failings 
of  the  same  kind,  and  I  could  recollect  any  instances  where  you  had 
spoken  pettishly  or  ill-natured  to  me,  our  accounts  would  then  have 
been  balanced,  they  would  have  called  for  mutual  forgetfulness  and 
forgiveness ;  but  when  on  reflection  I  find  nothing  of  the  kind  to 
charge  you  with,  my  conscience  severely  upbraids  me  with  ingrati- 
tude to  you,  to  whom  (under  Heaven)  I  owe  all  the  little  knowl- 
edge of  my  art  which  I  possess ;  but  I  hope  still  I  shall  prove 
grateful  to  you ;  at  any  rate,  I  feel  my  errors  and  must  mend 
them. 

"  I  was  at  a  large  party  at  William  Walter  Channing's  a  few 
evenings  since ;  I  there  saw  your  '  Katherine  and  Petruchio.''  It 
reminded  me  of  old  times. 

"  I  have  just  completed  a  Kitcat  landscape,  a  sea-piece  on  a 
common  half-length  upright,  a  ship  in  distress  on  the  top  of  a  small 
piece  of  a  single  wave  which  occupies  the  whole  foreground ;  she 


MR.   ALLSTON'S   "DEAD   MAN."  95 

comes  out  against  a  bright  bank  of  clouds,  such  as  you  like,  is  scud- 
ding directly  toward  you  under  a  close-reefed  foresail.  I  bought  a 
fantous  model  of  a  seventy-four  a  week  or  two  since,  seven  feet  long 
and  five  feet  high,  completely  rigged  and  perfect  in  every  part ;  all 
the  blocks  traverse,  so  that  I  can  brace  or  square  the  yards  at 
pleasure,  or  place  that  in  what  state  of  dishabille  I  please.  I  gave 
twenty  dollars  for  it,  and  it  was  sold  a  few  weeks  before  for  one 
hundred.  I  shall  keep  it  to  paint  from  always.  Please  write  me 
soon  and  tell  me  all  about  yourself  and  Leslie.  Remember  me  most 
particularly  to  Leslie,  Collard,  Lonsdale,  Collins,  Haydon,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hewlings,  Cregan,  Martin,  Lane  (if  in  London),  and  the 
Bridges. 

"  Yours  most  sincerely, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Allston  replied  in  these  words  : 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  will  not  apologize  for  having  so  long  delayed 
answering  your  kind  letter,  being,  as  you  well  know,  privileged 
by  my  friends  to  be  a  lazy  correspondent.  I  was  sorry  to  find 
that  you  should  have  suffered  the  recollection  of  any  hasty  expres- 
sions you  might  have  uttered  to  give  you  uneasiness.  Be  assured 
that  they  never  were  remembered  by  me  a  moment  after ;  nor  did 
they  ever  in  the  slightest  degree  diminish  my  regard  or  weaken  my 
confidence  in  the  sincerity  of  your  friendship  or  the  goodness  of 
your  heart.  Besides,  the  consciousness  of  warmth  in  my  own  tem- 
per would  have  made  me  inexcusable  had  I  suffered  myself  to  dwell 
on  an  inadvertent  word  from  another.  I  therefore  beg  you  will  no 
longer  suffer  any  such  unpleasant  reflections  to  disturb  your  mind ; 
but  that  you  will  rest  assured  of  my  unaltered  and  sincere  esteem. 

"  Your  letter,  and  one  I  had  about  the  same  time  from  my  sis- 
ter Mary,  brought  the  first  intelligence  of  the  sale  of  my  picture, 
it  being  near  three  weeks  later  when  I  received  the  account  from 
Philadelphia.  When  you  recollect  that  I  considered  the  'Dead 
Man '  (from  the  untoward  fate  he  had  hitherto  experienced)  almost 
literally  as  a  caput  mortuum,  you  may  easily  believe  that  I  was  most 
agreeably  surprised  to  hear  of  the  sale.  But,  pleased  as  I  was,  on 
account  of  the  very  seasonable  pecuniary  supply  it  would  soon 
afford  me,  I  must  say  that  I  was  still  more  gratified  at  the  encour- 
agement it  seemed  to  hold  out  for  my  return  to  America — not 
that  I  expect  as  ready  a  sale  for  every  large  picture  I  might  paint ; 
but  from  the  growing  interest  in  the  arts,  which  the  present  pur- 


96  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.  MORSE. 

chase  appears  to  indicate  among  our  countrymen,  I  think  I  may 
reasonably  reckon  on  a  quantum,  sufficit  of  taste  in  them  to  calcu- 
late on  at  least  a  decent  support  from  future  exhibitions.  The  '  St. 
Peter'  has  been  long  since  finished,  exhibited,  and  sent  home  to  Sir 
G.  I  worked  on  it  for  three  weeks  after  it  came  out  of  the  Gallery ; 
repainted  the  angel's  head,  and  made  other  alterations.  Sir  G.  and 
Lady  Beaumont  expressed  themselves  highly  pleased  with  it.  The 
Gil  Bias  was  bought  by  Lieutenant  Drayton,  of  South  Carolina. 
'Tis  now,  I  believe,  at  Philadelphia.  In  Somerset  House  I  exhib- 
ited a  landscape.  You  saw  the  dead  color  of  it  last  summer.  I 
inclose  a  short  notice  of  it  from  the  Examiner.  I  don't  remember 
whether  Leslie  had  begun  his  '  Death  of  Rutland '  before  you  left 
London.  He  has  made  a  fine  picture  of  it.  The  head  of  Rutland  is 
very  beautiful,  and  yet  full  of  expression.  Indeed,  Lhe  whole  pict- 
ure is  firmly  and  well  painted.  By-the-by,  I  have  given  up  the 
subject  of  '  Christ  Sealing  the  Sick,''  and  have  made  a  sketch  of  an- 
other much  finer,  which  I  think  by  all  odds  my  best  composition ; 
it  is  both  picturesque  and  highly  impassioned.  When  I  have  begun 
it  in  large  (which  will  be  as  soon  as  I  shall  have  found  a  good  paint- 
ing-room) I  will  tell  you  what  it  is,  and  more  about  it.  You  find  I 
have  not  been  sparing  about  my  own  concerns ;  so,  if  you  don't  tell 
me  more  about  yourself  and  your  pursuits  in  your  next,  than  you 
have  done  in  your  first  letter,  I  shall  become  modest,  and  write 
more  in  future  about  matters  a?id  things  in  general.  .  .  . 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"W.  Allston." 

Two  lively  letters  from  Leslie,  in  London,  cheered  him  dur- 
ing this  year  of  discouragement  and  fear : 

"London,  January  30,  1816. 
"  Dear  Morse  :  I  have  as  yet  received  but  one  letter  from  you, 
which  was  written  the  day  after  your  arrival.  .  I  suppose  by  this  time 
you  have  been  duly  and  truly  welcomed  by  all  your  friends ;  have  had 
each  of  your  arms  shaken  into  a  sort  of  demi-dislocation,  and  have  had 
your  health  drunk  till  you  are  an  insured  man,  wind  and  limb,  these 
thousand  years  at  least,  to  say  nothing  of  the  turkeys,  geese,  and 
all  other  good  things,  that  have  been  eaten  in  honor  of  your  arrival. 
I  say,  now  that  all  these  ceremonies  are  settled  and  passed,  I  hope 
and  expect  that  you  will  allow  the  recollection  of  your  friends  on 
this  side  of  the  water  to  occupy  some  of  your  thoughts.  Be 
assured  that  those  friends  think  of  you  very  often,  and  that  your 


LESLIE'S   LETTER  97 

image  is  deeply  engraven  on  their  hearts,  associated  with  many 
past  scenes  of  enjoyment.  Since  you  left  us  we  have  been  going 
on  much  in  the  old  way,  '  living  from  hand  to  mouth '  (as  it  is  vul- 
garly expressed).  Mr.  Allston  has  finished  his  '  Peter,'  of  which  he 
has  made  a  glorious  picture,  and  which  will  be  seen  by  the  public 
at  the  British  Gallery  in  a  few  days.  There  is  but  one  opinion  of 
it  among  his  friends.  But  what  seems  to  please  him  most  is  the 
very  high  opinion  Hay  don  has  of  it.  Punishment  seems  at  last 
likely  to  overtake  the  members  of  the  British  Institution  for  their 
various  misdemeanors.  They  narrowly  escaped  this  year  having  no 
exhibition  at  all,  by  reason  of  no  pictures  being  sent.  Allston  in- 
tended his  for  Spring  Gardens ;  but  a  very  tempting  offer  being 
made  to  him  by  Young,  that  of  allowing  him  to  work  on  it  for 
three  weeks  at  the  Gallery,  induced  him  to  send  it  there.  Notwith- 
standing, however,  that  they  had  succeeded  in  getting  his  great  pict- 
ure, which  fills  the  end  of  one  of  their  great  rooms,  their  ranks  were 
so  scanty  that  they  were  obliged  to  apply  to  Mr.  West  for  assist- 
ance, who  undertook  to  fill  a  whole  side  of  a  room  with  old  works 
of  his  own.  I  understood  they  also  applied  to  Hayter,  who  was 
finishing  a  large  picture  of  three  children  (portraits),  and  have 
taken  that  in  under  the  appellation  of  '  The  Garland.'  The  rest  of 
the  collection  consists  principally  of  the  paltry  sketches  for  which 
they  were  to  give  premiums,  and  the  fragments  and  refuse  of  Som- 
erset House.  It  is  generally  anticipated  that  this  same  British  In- 
stitution will  die  a  natural  death  one  of  these  days. 

"  I  am  going  on  with  my  '  Clifford  and  Rutta,'  and  a  copy  from 
Mrs.  West's  picture  of '  Cupid  commanding  the  Elements,'  for  Gen- 
eral Scott,  and  now  and  then  making  the  pot  boil  with  a  portrait 
or  so.  I  am  admitted  to  the  life  at  the  Academy,  where  I  draw 
very  regularly.  They  have  instituted  a  painting  school  at  the 
Academy,  which  they  have  begun  to  supply  with  pictures  from  the 
Dulwich  collection,  which  formerly  belonged  to  Sir  Francis  Bour- 
geois. The  academicians  are  visitors  by  turns  the  same  as  in  the 
life,  and  the  school  is  in  the  inner  room.  I  made  a  few  sketches 
this  year  at  the  Gallery,  and  I  shall  attend  the  school  at  the  Acad- 
emy when  Turner  is  visitor,  as  I  am  persuaded  I  can  learn  more 
from  him  than  any  one  of  the  R.  A.'s.  I  believe  there  is  no  doubt 
but  that  government  will  buy  the  Elgin  Marbles,  and  it  is  said  they 
will  be  removed  to  the  British  Museum  next  summer.  The  Acad- 
emy are  going  to  have  a  new  set  "of  casts  in  the  spring,  and  Eng- 
land will  present  far  more  advantages  to  the  students  in  arts,  as 

7 


'98  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

indeed  it  does  already,  than  any  other  part  of  the  world.     I  hope 
you  will  be  able  to  realize  your  plan  of  returning  in  a  year. 

"  There  was  no  gold  medal  given  the  last  year  at  Somerset 
House :  Kukup  and  Williehass  were  the  only  candidates.  Mr. 
West  told  me  that  he  thought,  had  you  been  allowed  to  try,  your 
picture  would  have  stood  a  better  chance  than  either  of  them.  Mr. 
Allston  has  sold  his  '  Gil  Bias '  (which  is  at  the  Gallery)  to  Colonel 
Drayton  of  the  U.  S.  Army.  I  am  very  glad  to  see  our  heroes  take 
an  interest  in  the  arts." 

"London,  September  6,  1816. 

"  Dear  Morse  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  by  Mr.  Pey- 
son.  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  the  arts  are  advancing  so  slowly  in 
America  ;  but  as  to  encouragment  there  is  very  little  anywhere,  I  ap- 
prehend, just  at  present.  There  is  a  general  stagnation  of  business 
in  England,  and  the  artists  are  as  much  affected  by  it  as  any  other 
class  of  men.  I  hope,  however,  your  prospects  may  not  be  really  so 
dull  in  America  as  you  imagine.  As  you  were  before  a  little  too 
sanguine  of  success,  it  is  possible  you  may  now  be  more  depressed 
than  there  is  really  cause  to  be.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are 
going  on  a  tour  into  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire ;  it  will  be  a 
pleasant  relaxation  to  you,  and  I  hope  you  will  return  well  loaded 
with  sketches.  I  sincerely  hope  that  you  will  be  able  to  revisit 
Europe ;  but,  by  all  means,  come  to  London,  instead  of  Rome.  I 
am  convinced  there  are  greater  advantages  here  than  anywhere. 
You  will  find  a  great  deal  that  will  be  new  to  you,  and  the  Elgin 
Marbles  will  be  placed  in  a  building  erected  for  them  at  the  Muse- 
um, where  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  shall  be  able  to  study  them  in  good 
lights.  I  never  thought  of  preserving  catalogues  of  the  exhibition 
to  send  you,  as  I  did  not  suppose  the  mere  names  of  pictures 
would  give  you  any  pleasure.  And  as  to  critiques,  they  (you 
know)  are  so  bad  that  it  is  impossible  to  form  any  idea  of  the  pict- 
ures they  describe.  The  Somerset  House  show  was  not  so  good 
as  usual.  Turner  has  two  small  pictures,  by  no  means  his  best. 
Hilton's  great  picture  of  the  '  Raising  of  Lazarus '  disappointed 
every  one.  Lawrence  had  some  fine  portraits,  among  which  was 
one  of  Canova,  the  Italian  sculptor,  a  very  intelligent  and  agree- 
able head. 

"  Your  humble  servant  exhibited  a  beautiful  landscape  of  a  sun- 
rise, which,  I  believe,  he  had  outlined  before  you  went  away.  Mr. 
A.  is  at  present  painting  a  picture  of  '  Rebecca  at  the  Well,'  for 


MODEL   DIRECTOKS.  99 

Mr.  Van  Schaick.  He  has  lately  painted  a  head  of  Dante's  Beatrice, 
which  is  extremely  beautiful,  and  has  a  chastity  and  refinement  of 
expression  equal  to  Raphael.  I  am  at  present  painting  portraits 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams,  and  studying  at  the  Gallery.  The  exhi- 
bition of  old  masters  was  the  finest  I  have  seen  by  far.  They  had 
two  of  the  cartoons,  the  '  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes,'  and  the 
'  Paul  preaching  at  Athens.'  The  '  Bacchus  and  Ariadne,'  by  Ti- 
tian, and  the  most  beautiful  little  Paul  Veronese  (of  the  '  Adoration 
of  the  Shepherds ')  I  ever  saw,  which  I  am  now  making  a  finished 
copy  of.  There  were  two  large  Paulos,  '  Wisdom  and  Strength,' 
and  '  The  Painter  between  Virtue  and  Vice,'  of  which  you  may 
have  seen  prints.  There  was  also  a  glorious  portrait  of  Lorenzo  de 
Medicis,  by  Sab.  del  Piombo,  the  most  intellectual  and  grand  head 
I  ever  saw  for  a  portrait ;  and  there  was  a  beautiful  little  picture, 
by  Raphael,  of  St.  Catherine.  The  Catalogue  Maisonne  appeared 
according  to  promise,  but  is  not  near  so  good  as  the  one  last  year. 
At  the  conclusion  the  author  says  that  Mr.  PayDe  Knight  told  the 
directors  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Greek  nobility  to  strip  and  ex- 
hibit themselves  naked  to  the  artists  in  various  attitudes,  that  they 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  studying  fine  form.  Accordingly, 
those  public-spirited  men,  the  directors,  have  determined  to  adopt 
the  plan,  and  are  all  practising  like  mad  to  prepare  themselves  for 
the  ensuing  exhibition,  when  they  are  to  be  placed  on  pedestals. 
It  is  supposed  that  Sir  G.  Beaumont,  Mr.  Long,  Mr.  Knight,  etc., 
will  occupy  the  principal  lights.  The  Marquis  of  Stafford,  unfor- 
tunately, could  not  recollect  the  attitude  of  any  one  antique  figure, 
but  was  found  practising,  having  the  head  of  the  dying  gladiator, 
the  body  of  the  Hercules,  one  leg  of  the  Apollo,  and  the  other  of 
the  dancing  Faun,  turned  the  wrong  way.  Lord  Mulgrave,  having 
a  small  head,  thought  of  representing  the  Torso,  but  he  did  not 
know  what  to  do  with  his  legs,  and  was  afraid  that  as  Master  of 
the  Ordnance  he  could  not  dispense  with  his  arms.  In  another 
part  of  the  catalogue  there  is  a  quotation  from  one  of  Leigh  Hunt's 
poems,  where  one  angel  says  to  another — 

'  If  your  cloud  holds  two, 
I'll  get  up  and  ride  with  you.'  " 

Disappointed  in  bis  expectations  of  encouragement  in  his- 
torical painting,  Mr.  Morse  resolved  to  go  into  the  country,  and 
earn  his  bread  by  painting  the  portraits  of  the  people.  In  the 
rural  districts  of  New  England  he  would  find  ready  introduc- 


100  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

tion  to  the  most  respectable  families,  as  his  father's  name  was  a 
household  word  in  every  town.  "With  letters  to  the  pastors  and 
others,  he  took  his  way  into  the  world  to  seek  his  fortune ;  fame 
did  not  tempt  him  now.  During  the  autumn  of  1816,  and  the 
winter  of  1816-17,  he  visited  several  towns  in  New  Hampshire 
and  Yermont.  He  painted  portraits  in  Walpole,  Hanover, 
Windsor,  Portsmouth,  and  Concord,  meeting  with  moderate 
success,  and  receiving  the  modest  sum  of  fifteen  dollars  for  each 
portrait.  At  Concord,  ISTew  Hampshire,  the  sun  shone  brightly 
upon  him.  He  writes  from  this  place  to  his  parents :  "  I  am 
still  here  (August  16th),  and  am  passing  my  time  very  agreea- 
bly. I  have  painted  five  portraits  at  fifteen  dollars  each,  and 
have  two  more  engaged,  and  many  more  talked  of.  I  think  I 
shall  get  along  well.  I  believe  I  could  make  an  independent 
fortune  in  a  few  years  if  I  devoted  myself  exclusively  to  por- 
traits, so  great  is  the  desire  for  good  portraits  in  the  different 
country  towns." 

He  doubtless  was  candid  when  he  wrote  that  he  was  "  passing 
his  time  in  Concord  very  agreeably."  In  his  history  of  Concord, 
Dr.  Bouton  says :  "  At  a  party  given  by  Mr.  Sparhawk,  in  ISIS, 
among  the  invited  guests  was  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  now  distin- 
guished as  the  inventor  of  the  electric  Telegraph,  who  was  that 
evening  introduced  to  Miss  Lucretia  P.  Walker,  daughter  of 
Charles  Walker,  who  was  accounted  the  most  beautiful  and  ac- 
complished young  lady  of  the  town,  whom  Mr.  Morse  subse- 
quently married." 

She  was  a  young  lady  of  great  personal  loveliness  and  rare 
good  sense.  The  eye  of  the  artist  was  attracted  by  her  beauty, 
her  sweetness  of  temper,  and  high  intellectual  culture,  which 
fitted  her  to  be  his  companion.  Her  sound  judgment  and  pru- 
dence made  her  a  counselor  and  friend.  All  the  letters  that 
she  wrote  to  him,  before  and  after  their  marriage,  he  carefully 
preserved,  and  they  are  witnesses  to  her  intelligence,  education, 
tenderness  of  feeling,  and  admirable  fitness  to  be  the  wife  of 
such  a  man  as  Mr.  Morse. 

Before  an  engagement  of  marriage  was  made,  their  corre- 
spondence was  so  frequent  and  voluminous  that  the  artist  must 
have  been  rapid  with  pen  and  brush  to  have  been  able  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  his  patrons  and  his  love.     Early  in  the  year 


DR.   MORSE'S  INVITATION.  101 

1817  the  engagement  was  concluded.  He  imparted  a  knowledge 
of  the  fact  at  once  to  his  parents,  having  received  the  cordial 
approbation  of  the  parents  of  Miss  "Walker.  To  them  Rev.  Dr. 
Morse  addressed  a  letter  inviting  their  daughter  to  visit  Charles- 
town,  that  he  and  Mrs.  Morse  might  form  the  acquaintance  of 
one  who  was  to  stand  to  them  in  this  new  and  near  relation. 
The  letter  was  in  these  stately  but  affectionate  terms : 

Rev.  Dr.  Morse  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.    Walker. 

"  Charlestown,  January  13, 1S1Y. 

"  Dear  Sir  and  Madam  :  The  mutual  attachment  subsisting  be- 
tween our  eldest  son  and  your  daughter,  and  the  matrimonial  en- 
gagement which  in  consequence  has  been  entered  into  by  them, 
with  the  consent  of  their  parents,  respectively,  render  it  proper  and 
desirable,  in  prospect  of  such  a  connection  in  our  families,  that  an 
acquaintance  should  be  formed  between  us.  As  this  cannot  now 
be  done  personally,  with  convenience,  I  take  the  liberty  to  com- 
mence it  by  letter.  From  this  acquaintance,  and  future  intercourse, 
Mrs.  Morse  and  myself  anticipate  much  pleasure  and  satisfaction. 
We  are  very  anxious  to  become  personally  acquainted  with  your 
daughter,  who  is  much  endeared  to  us  by  the  amiable  dispositions 
and  virtues  which  she  is  reported  to  possess,  as  well  as  from  the 
consideration  that  she  shares  so  largely  in  the  affections  of  a  be- 
loved son.  And  I  accordingly  .write  this  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
questing your  permission  that  your  daughter  should  make  us  a  visit 
with  our  son,  of  such  length  as  may  suit  her  convenience. 

"  We  hope  you  will  not  deny  us  this  request,  a  compliance  with 
which  will  afford  us  much  gratification.  If  it  can  be  made  con- 
venient, we  should  be  obliged  particularly*  if  they  could  be  here  in 
the  course  of  the  next  week.  It  will,  be  assured,  give  us  much 
pleasure  to  see  you,  or  any  of  your  family,  at  our  house,  whenever 
it  may  be  convenient  to  you,  or  to  them. 

"  Mrs.  Morse  unites  in  kind  regards  to  you  both,  with,  dear  sir, 
and  madam,  your  affectionate  and  obedient  servant, 

"Jed.  Morse." 

The  visit  was  made,  to  the  delight  of  all  parties.  The  young 
lady  returned  to  her  parents  in  Concord,  and  the  artist  contin- 
ued his  travels  and  painting.  The  congratulations  of  friends 
poured  in  upon  him  when  his  engagement  became  known. 
Leslie,  the  friend  of  his  youth,  in  London ;  his  companion  in 


102  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

study  and  in  many  a  gay  and  festive  hour — the  humorist  alike 
with  pen  and  pencil,  and  in  conversation  more  than  with  either 
— wrote  to  him  when  he  heard  of  it : 

"  So,  you  are  over  head  and  ears  in  love  ?  Happy  fellow  !  You 
have  described  her  in  such  delicious  terms  that  your  pen  should 
have  flowed  with  honey  instead  of  ink.  Excuse  my  saying  one 
serious  word  to  you,  my  dear  Morse,  on  this  serious  subject,  though 
I  have  little  doubt  your  own  excellent  judgment  has  already  dic- 
tated it  to  you.  Take  care  to  ascertain,  before  the  knot  is  tied, 
whether  she  has  a  deep  sense  of  true  religion.  Do  not,  on  any 
account,  marry  unless  you  are  satisfied  that  she  has,  and  be  not 
contented  with  a  mere  outward  profession  ;  she  must  delight  in  it. 
Her  religion  must  be  practical,  or  she  will  not  make  the  kind  of 
wife  I  should  wish  a  friend  to  have.  You  and  I  have  seen  how  very 
greatly  true  Christianity  conduces  to  domestic  comfort  in  the  in- 
stance of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allston." 

Such  counsel  from  such  a  rare  genius  as  Leslie  reveals  the 
inner  life  in  a  light  at  once  unexpected  and  beautiful.  Leslie 
proceeds  in  the  next  paragraph  to  describe  the  paintings  in  the 
annual  exhibition  then  open  in  the  British  Gallery,  among  them 
some  just  finished,  which  are  now  famous,  Wilkie's  "  Sheep- 
shearing"  and  others;  and,  after  cheering  his  friend  with  words 
of  hope,  he  adds  :  "  Believe  that  you  are  destined  to  do  some- 
thing great,  and  you  will  do  it.  I  write  this  with  the  hope  of 
rousing  your  spirits.  You  will  be  pleased  to  hear  that  Collins, 
who  was  a  Deist,  has  become  a  sincere  Christian.  I  find  there 
are  more  artists  religious  than  I  was  aware  of;  Wilkie  and 
Haydon  are,  and  so  are  Ward,  and  Jackson,  and  Linnell. 
Willes  you  knew  was  a  Christian,  and  Starke  and  Severn  are 
both  Christians,  and  very  amiable  young  men." 

As  Morse  pursued  his  wandering  life  among  the  cities 
and  rural  towns  of  Yermont  and  Kew  Hampshire,  the  letters 
to  and  from  him  keep  us  acquainted  with  his  progress,  and 
with  the  peculiar  bent  of  his  mind,  even  in  the  midst  of  his 
labors,  as  a  painter  of  portraits.  We  would  not  look  among 
letters  of  love  to  find  notices  of  useful  inventions  in  the  arts ; 
yet,  in  the  midst  of  these  effusions  of  the  heart,  put  away 
more  than  half  a  century  ago,  we  discover  the  young  lover, 
while  making  declarations  of  his  affection,  mingling  his  hopes 


THE  PATENT  PUMP.  103 

and  fears  with  calculations  about  the  prospective  profits  of  his 
"  flexible  piston-pump."  He  writes  to  Miss  Walker,  in  June, 
1817 :  "  I  am  preparing  for  a  journey  to  Washington,  to  take 
out  our  patents  foe  theee  machines,  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
judicious,- philosophical,  and  practical  men,  will  be  of  great  value. 
I  would  not  be  too  sanguine.  It  is  best  to  be  always  prepared 
for  disappointment."  Finding  that  the  business  at  Washington 
could  be  attended  to  by  an  agent,  he  did  not  go,  and  in  the 
month  of  July  writes  to  Miss  Walker  : 

"We  are  in  daily  expectation  of  hearing  of  the  arrival  of  our 
models  of  machinery  at  Washington,  and  of  receiving  our  letters- 
patent.  We  have  just  tried  our  fire-engine  on  a  large  scale,  and  it 
succeeds  to  our  utmost  expectation.  We  have  shown  it  in  opera- 
tion to  several  friends,  who  have  given  it  their  entire  approbation, 
and  think  that  it  will  not  only  be  profitable  to  us,  but  beneficial  to 
the  community.  From  its  cheapness,  it  will  be  within  the  reach  of 
every  village.  But  good-by,  dearest ;  I  hope  to  talk  over  all  these 
things  shortly  with  you." 

His  brother,  Sidney  E.,  was  at  work  diligently  upon  improve- 
ments in  the  new  engine,  their  joint  production,  and,  in  a  letter 
to  Finley,  the  brother  writes,  closing  with  a  mock-heroic  name 
which  he  had  invented : 

"  Since  you  left  us  I  have  been  employed  in  newly  modifying  and 
improving  the  pump-machine.  I  have  got  it  now  exactly  to  my 
mind.  The  valves  will  be  on  a  new  plan,  far  superior  to  any  thing 
ever  before  thought  of.  The  bag-piston,  I  find,  is  no  new  thing. 
The  '  Cyclopaedia '  states  that  one  Benjamin  Martin,  an  English- 
man, invented  the  same  thing  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  His 
pump,  they  say,  worked  admirably,  but  was  never  introduced  into 
common  use,  because  the  leathers,  when  dry,  were  continually 
cracking.  I  have  invented  a  remedy  for  all  difficulties,  and  have 
got  a  pump  in  every  respect  to  my  liking.  Particulars  when  you 
return.  I  think  of  calling  it  'Morse's  Patent  Metallic  Double- 
Headed  Ocean  -  Drinker  and  Deluge  -  Spouter  Valve  Pump- 
Boxes.''  " 

And  Finley  himself  writes  to  his  father,  from  Concord,  in 
August,  1817 : 

"  When  in  Andover,  I  conversed  with  Mr.  Farrar  and  others  on 


104  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  subject  of  our  engines.  Mr.  F.  was  highly  delighted,  and  said 
he  should  certainly  wait  to  know  the  result  of  our  experiment,  and 
would  take  ours,  in  preference  to  any  others,  for  their  college  en- 
gine, and,  instead  of  one,  would  probably  want  two.  He  said  that 
the  town,  also,  had  long  had  an  idea  of  procuring  an  engine ;  but, 
on  account  of  the  expense,  had  not  yet  obtained  one.  He  said  he 
believed  they  had  subscribed  about  three  hundred  dollars,  but  it 
was  not  sufficient,  and  they  had  given  up  the  idea  at  present ;  but 
he  thought  they  would  have  one  of  ours,  without  doubt. 

"  In  Concord,  also,  all  that  I  have  conversed  with  seem  highly 
pleased.  Mr.  Sparhawk,  the  Secretary  of  State  (who  is  very  much 
my  friend),  carried  me  to  see  the  Concord  engine,  which  is  a  mis- 
erable affair,  and  which  cost  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  He 
said  it  was  always  out  of  order,  and  they  did  not  like  it.  He  also 
said  if  ours  succeeded,  and  cost  only  half  or  even  two-thirds  of  the 
price,  they  would  have  two  or  three  in  Concord. 

"  I  wish  much  to  know  how  Dearborn  proceeds  with  the  engine 
and  bellows.  I  think  the  prospect  brightens  with  respect  to  our 
inventions,  if  our  smallest  can  be  made  so  as  to  be  afforded  at  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  so  that  our  patent-fee  should  be  on  it 
fifty  dollars.     I  think  we  should  make  something  handsome." 

The  New  Hampshire  Patriot,  of  April  14,  1818,  has  this 
notice : 

"  An  additional  fire-engine  has  been  purchased  by  the  inhab- 
itants of  this  town.  It  is  a  new  invention  of  Mr.  Morse,  the  cele- 
brated paiuter,  and  is  procured  for  about  half  the  usual  expense — 
say  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  dollars.  It  requires 
much  less  manual  labor,  and  throws  the  water  to  as  great  a  distance 
and  in  as  large  quantities.  As  yet  we  have  seen  only  the  opera- 
tion of  Mr.  Morse's  miniature  model.  Should  his  invention  succeed 
equal  to  expectation  and  appearance,  every  village  of  any  consid- 
erable extent  will  be  a  gainer  to  purchase  one  or  more  of  these 
engines." 

To  Miss  "Walker  lie  writes  from  his  father's  house  in  Charles- 
town  : 

"November  20,  1817. 

"  Our  inventions  are  in  a  prosperous  way ;  it  takes  a  deal  of 
time  and  patience  to  attend  to  them,  but  I  hope  they  will  be  a 
handsome  property  to  us  ere  long.     All  is  in  God's  hands ;  in  his 


A  MYSTERIOUS  LOCK.  105 

own  time  and  his  own  way,  all  things  shall  work  for  good  to  us  if 
we  love  Him." 

And  in  the  same  letter  he  mentions  sending  a  curious  gift  to 
a  young  lady,  and  such  a  present  as  could  have  come  only  from 
a  young  man  of  an  ingenious  turn  of  mind.  It  illustrates  the 
mechanical  tendencies  of  his  intellect  at  this  period  of  his  life. 
He  writes : 

"  I  send  by  Mr.  Ambrose  with  the  book  the  lock  which  I  once 
mentioned  to  you ;  it  may  amuse  you.  I  think  it  will  puzzle  the 
ingenuity  of  Mr.  J.  to  find  it  out.  I  will  tell  you  how  it  opens  by 
the  annexed  figure :  the  word  that  opens  it  must  be  spelt  in  a  line 
between  the  two  marks  on  the  end-pieces,  and  when  spelt  the  right- 
hand  end  pulls  out  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  and  the  ketch  can  be 
lifted  up.  You  must  not  tell  Mr.  J.  the  key-word ;  it  is  the  name 
of  some  one  you  know.  I  must  leave  it  for  your  ingenuity  to  find 
out  whose  it  is." 

And,  again,  a  week  later : 

"  Our  inventions  are  slowly  progressing.  Surely  an  inventor 
earns  his  money  hard.  It  appears  to  me  I  would  not  go  through 
the  vexations,  and  delays,  and  disappointments,  I  have  gone  through, 
for  double  what  I  expect  to  obtain  from  them.  They,  however, 
promise  very  well,  and  I  hope  to  realize  something  handsome  from 
them.  Our  engine  has  been  proved.  Tell  Mr.  Sparhawk  (with  my 
best  respects  to  him  and  Mrs.  Sparhawk)  that  we  can  order  one 
made  for  Concord,  if  they  please,  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
which  shall  throw  three  barrels  eighty  feet  in  five  seconds,  by 
the  power  of  eight  men.  I  wish  the  Concord  people  would  give  us 
an  order  for  such  a  one,  which  shall  be  warranted,  and  thus  en- 
courage the  new  invention.  An  advertisement  is  preparing  for 
the  papers,  which  will  be  ready  in  a  day  or  two." 

Little  did  the  perplexed  and  anxious  artist,  then  bewailing 
the  vexatious  delays  and  disappointments  of  the  inventor,  im- 
agine that,  within  twenty  short  years  from  that  time,  his  bride 
to  whom  he  was  then  writing  would  be  in  her  grave,  their  chil- 
dren homeless,  he  living  in  a  solitary  garret,  carrying  in  the  dark- 
ness to  his  comfortless  chamber  the  simple  food  which  he  pre- 
pared with  his  own  hands,  while  toiling  to  produce  an  invention 
that  was  to  electrify  the  world !     And  in  another  letter,  after 


106  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

filling  three  pages  with  details  of  his  inventions,  he  says :  "  But 
good-by,  Lucrece ;  I  am  bothering  you  with  engines  and  machi- 
nations, and  I  am  sure  they  can't  be  pleasant  to  you ;  so  I  will 
stop." 

The  Allstons,  of  South  Carolina,  were  frequently  at  the 
North,  and  among  the  friends  of  their  relative,  Washington 
Allston,  Mr.  Morse  became  acquainted  with  Hon.  John  A.  All- 
ston  of  Charleston,  who  assured  him  that  a  far  more  hopeful 
field  for  his  professional  labors  would  be  found  in  the  South 
than  in  the  rural  towns  of  New  England.  Rev.  Dr.  Morse 
had  written  to  his  son,  while  in  Walpole,  New  Hampshire, 
saying : 

"  Mr.  Legare,  cousin  to  the  Legares  you  know,  a  young  man  of 
genius  and  taste,  says  he  prefers  your  prize  picture  to  Mr.  Allston's 
great  picture.  He  returns  to  Carolina  next  month,  and  speaks  fa- 
vorably of  your  spending  the  winter  there,  and  will  do  what  he  can 
to  prepare  the  way  for  you,  should  you  go.  Mr.  Gallaudet  was 
here  yesterday  with  a  young  Frenchman  [Le  Clerc]  deaf  and  dumb, 
a  most  interesting  character.  I  showed  him,  and  Dr.  Coggswell, 
of  Hartford,  with  Mr.  G.,  your  paintings.  They  were  highly  grati- 
fied. The  remarks  of  the  Frenchman  were  very  sensible  and 
shrewd.  He  understood  the  subjects  perfectly,  and  appeared  to 
have  fine  taste." 

Dr.  Morse's  large  acquaintance  in  the  South,  where  he  had 
spent  several  months  at  different  times,  and  where  relatives 
of  his  were  residing,  encouraged  his  son  Finley  to  contemplate 
with  favor  the  suggestions  of  Mr.  Allston  and  Mr.  Legare.  Dr. 
Finley,  his  uncle,  was  at  this  time  a  resident  of  Charleston,  and 
to  him  he  wrote  on  the  subject.  The  answer  to  his  inquiries 
was  a  cordial  invitation  to  come  on  and  find  a  home  in  his 
uncle's  house.  While  making  preparations  to  go  to  the  South, 
he  writes  to  his  Lucretia :  "  I  am  over  head  and  ears  in  business, 
so  much  so  that  I  am  at  a  loss  which  thing  to  commence  first. 
Portraits  and  engines,  and  pumps  and  bellows,  and  various 
models  of  various  things,  letters  to  write,  and  visits  to  pay,  and 
preparations  for  voyages  by  sea  and  land,  all  crowd  upon  me. 
Tell  Mr.  Sparhawk  that  the  engine  is  commenced,  and  will  be 
finished  with  all  expedition.  I  hope  the  Pembroke  people  will 
wait  until  they  see  ours  before  they  order  their  engine." 


RECOMMENDATIONS   OF   THE  PUMP.  107 

His  arrangements  being  completed,  he  went  to  New  Haven, 
and  there  laid  before  the  professors  of  the  college,  and  others, 
the  inventions  which  he  and  his  brother  had  patented.  From 
New  York  he  writes  to  his  parents : 

"City  Hotel,  New  York,  January  10,  1818. 

"  My  dear  Parents  :  I  arrived  here  safely  last  evening,  from 
New  Haven.  Commodore  Perry  was  a  fellow-passenger.  I  was 
much  pleased  with  him.  I  left  the  machine  business  in  a  prosper- 
ous way  in  New  Haven.  I  showed  the  models  to  President  Day, 
Professor  Silliman,  Mr.  Whitney,  Mr.  Porter,  and  others  ;  from  Mr. 
Day  and  Mr.  Whitney  I  obtained  recommendations  which  I  will 
transcribe.  Mr.  Silliman  was  so  much  pleased  that  he  requested 
me  to  let  him  take  the  model  of  the  engine  to  show  it  to  the  class, 
and  wishes  me  to  make  a  set  of  drawings,  with  an  abstract  of  the 
specifications,  for  the  first  number  of  a  periodical  publication,  de- 
voted to  the  arts  and  sciences,  he  is  about  to  commence,  to  be  out 
in  May  next;  he  to  be  at  the  expense  of  engravings.  The  models 
I  left  with  Mr.  Porter,  who  is  our  agent  at  New  Haven ;  with  him 
I  made  the  following  agreement,  viz. : 

"  '  I  authorize  John  E.  Porter,  Esq.,  of  New  Haven,  to  contract  with 
any  mechanic  that  he  may  think  proper,  to  construct  and  sell  at  his  own 
expense  any  number  of  Morse's  patent  fire-engines,  he  paying  or  securing 
to  be  paid,  to  the  satisfaction  of  said  Porter  the  sum  of  thirty  dollars 
for  each  one  he  shall  so  construct  and  sell,  which  sum  said  Porter  is  au- 
thorized to  receive  and  hold  for  our  benefit,  and  for  his  compensation  we 
will  allow  him  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent,  on  the  sum  so  secured  and  paid 
to  us.  " '  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

u  t  -p,      j  Sidney  E.  Morse,  and 
* or  \  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

"'New  Ha  yen,  January  8,  1818.' 

"  B}r  this  contract  we  make  it  for  the  interest  of  Mr.  Porter  to 
exert  himself  in  behalf  of  the  machines,  and  we  are  secured  twenty- 
five  dollars  on  each  one.     Mr.  Day's  recommendations  run  thus : 

"  '  Having  seen  an  improved  pump-piston,  contrived  by  Mr.  Morse  for 
the  purpose  of  playing  without  friction,  and  an  application  of  it  to  the 
fire-engine  and  other  instruments,  I  take  the  liberty  of  stating  that  it 
appears  to  me  to  be  calculated  to  answer  a  useful  purpose ;  as  it  unites 
simplicity  in  the  construction,  with  effectual  security  against  friction. 

"'Jeremiah  Day. 
"'Yale  College,  January  8,  1818.' 


108  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  Mr.  Whitney's  runs  thus : 

"  '  Having  examined  the  model  of  a  fire-engine,  invented  by  Mr.  Morse, 
with  pistons  of  a  new  construction,  I  am  of  opinion  that  an  engine  may 
be  made  on  that  principle  (being  more  simple  and  much  less  expensive), 
which  would  have  a  preference  to  those  in  common  use. 

"'Eli  Whitney. 
"  'New  Haven,  January  8,  1818.' 

"  I  am  unfortunate  in  not  finding,  in  New  York,  either  George 
Clinton  or  Mr.  Moses  Rogers.  The  former  resides  in  Albany,  the 
latter  is  in  England.  I  called  on  Mr.  Van  Schaick,  and  on  Monday 
we  shall  endeavor  to  find  some  one  to  arrange  the  business  of  the 
inventions  with." 

"With  his  mind  quite  as  full  of  the  pump  as  of  painting,  Mr. 
Morse  sailed  from  New  York  in  a  packet,  and  arrived  in 
Charleston,  January  27,  1818.  A  cordial  welcome  greeted  him 
at  Dr.  Einley's.  He  wrote  to  his  parents  the  next  day,  express- 
ing his  resolution  to  put  the  pump  aside,  and  devote  himself 
wholly  to  his  chosen  art.     He  says : 

"  I  find  myself  in  a  new  climate,  the  weather  warm  as  our  May. 
I  have  been  introduced  to  a  number  of  friends.  I  think  my  pros- 
pects are  favorable.  I  did  nothing  about  the  machine  in  New 
York.  The  absence  of  Governor  Clinton  entirely  deranged  my 
plans.  Rev.  Dr.  Spring  advised  me  to  leave  it  until  my  return  to 
New  York,  after  the  subject  had  been  noticed  in  Silliman's  Jour- 
nal. He  thought  it  would  then  be  revived  with  better  effect.  The 
street  commissioner,  Mr.  Macomb,  was  very  much  pleased  with 
the  model,  and  said  it  promised  to  be  extensively  useful.  The 
machine  business  (between  ourselves)  I  am  heartily  sick  of.  It 
yields  much  vexation,  labor,  and  expense,  and  no  profit.  Yet  I 
will  not  abandon  it.  I  will  do  as  well  as  I  can  with  it,  but  I  will 
make  it  subservient  to  my  painting,  as  I  am  sure  of  a  support,  and 
even  independence,  if  I  pursue  it  diligently,  and  I  am  sure  I  am 
disposed  to  do  it." 

Bright  as  his  prospects  appeared  when  he  entered  under  the 
most  favorable  auspices  the  charmed  circles  of  society  in  the 
hospitable  city  of  Charleston,  the  weeks  wore  slowly  away,  and 
no  sitters  presented  themselves  at  the  door  of  his  solitary  studio. 
"Weary  with  waiting,  and  drawn  northward  by  a  magnet  more 
powerful  than  that  which  he  afterward  employed,  he  resolved  to 


SUCCESS  IN  CHARLESTON.  109 

return  to  his  Lucretia,  and  portraits  at  fifteen  dollars.  These, 
and  a  pump  that  would  throw  three  barrels  of  water  in  a  minute, 
began  to  appear  more  likely  to  yield  to  the  young  people  the 
income  needed  to  render  it  prudent  to  marry,  than  the  generous 
hospitalities  of  Charleston,  with  no  orders  for  the  artist's  pencil. 
He  implored  his  uncle,  Dr.  Finley,  to  sit  to  him  for  his  por- 
trait, that  he  might  leave  a  memorial  of  his  visit,  and  make 
some  return  for  the  kindness  he  had  received.  Then  he  would 
turn  his  back  upon  Charleston,  and  seek  his  native  New  Eng- 
land. This  decision  was  evidently  prompted  by  feeling  rather 
than  judgment,  though  it  must  be  admitted  there  was  nothing 
else  for  him  to  do.  Dr.  Finley  consented  to  sit.  The  artist 
summoned  to  the  work  before  him  all  the  energies  and  resources 
of  his  youth  and  manhood.  Never,  in  his  anxious  contests  for 
prizes  in  the  Royal  Academy,  had  he  made  a  more  heroic  effort 
than  in  this  attempt  to  produce  a  perfect  picture  of  his  relative 
and  friend.  The  studies  of  the  past  were  invoked  to  aid  him, 
and  hopes  of  the  future  nerved  him.  If  it  were  the  last,  as  it 
was  the  first,  work  in  the  South,  and  far  from  the  home  of  his 
childhood,  it  should  be  a  memento  of  what  the  neglected  and 
despairing  artist  could  do.  It  was  done,  and  to  this  day  it  is 
valued  as  one  of  the  best  productions  of  his  master-hand.  As 
he  advanced  in  its  execution,  and  intelligent  critics  were  in- 
vited by  Dr.  Finley  to  see  the  coining  portrait,  three  applica- 
tions were  filed  by  persons  who  now  desired  to  be  portrayed  on 
canvas.  The  clouds  began  to  break  away.  The  wonderful  skill 
of  the  artist  became  the  talk  of  the  town.  In  a  few  weeks  his 
list  of  patrons  to  be  painted  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty.  His  price  was  sixty  dollars  a  portrait !  His  success  was 
assured.  He  toiled  unceasingly,  literally  day  and  night,  and 
even  then  he  could  not  meet  the  demand  for  his  work.  Draw- 
ings were  made  of  many  who  would  permit  him  to  finish  the 
painting  at  greater  leisure  in  the  ensuing  summer. 

In  the  distance  he  saw,  and  not  very  far  off,  the  vision  of 
wife  and  home.  He  would  go  North  in  the  early  summer,  and 
return  in  the  autumn  with  his  bride,  and  make  a  home  in  that 
genial  clime,  among  friends  to  whom  he  had  become  strongly 
attached.  Mr.  John  A.  Allston,  who  had  advised  Mr.  Morse  to 
come  to  Charleston,  continued  to  give  him  encouragement  and 


110  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

material   aid.      "Writing  to  him,  on  learning  that  Mr.   Morse 
wished  to  paint  a  portrait  of  his  daughter,  Mr.  Allston  says : 

"Georgetown,  March  29,  1818. 

"  Sir  :  I  have  lately  received  a  letter  from  my  brother  Motte,  in 
which  he  tells  me  you  have  authorized  him  to  communicate  your 
intention  of  shortly  commencing  the  full-sized,  Aa^-portrait  of  my 
daughter.  Upon  your  application  to  my  brother,  and  to  Mrs.  Col- 
cock,  at  whose  boarding-school  my  daughter  is,  she  will  attend  to 
you  for  that  purpose. 

"  I  am  unwilling  that  a  painter  of  your  reputation  should  pass 
me  without  gratifying  myself  completely,  and  therefore  beg  the 
favor  of  you  to  answer  the  following  question,  with  the  least  pos- 
sible delay:  What  is  your  price  for  a  full-length  portrait  of  my 
daughter  executed  nearly  in  miniature,  say  from  twelve  to  twenty- 
four  inches  in  length,  with  as  superb  a  landscape  as  you  are  capa- 
ble of  designing  and  painting  ?  It  would  be  a  convenient  opportu- 
nity to  make  out  this  painting,  while  my  daughter  is  attending  you 
for  her  full-sized,  Aa?/-portrait.  I  would  be  very  glad  to  have  a 
painting  of  her  in  the  way  described.  You  need  not  take  any 
steps  toward  it  until  you  write  and  receive  my  answer.  I  am,  sir, 
most  respectfully,  your  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"John  A.  Allston. 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Esq." 

And  the  patron's  idea  of  the  art  will  be  gathered  from  a 
subsequent  letter  written  by  Mr.  Allston,  on  receiving  Mr. 
Morse's  reply  to  his  inquiries. 

"  Georgetown,  April  1,  1818. 

"  Sir  :  I  have  just  received  your  favor,  of  the  30th  ultimo,  and 
thank  you  very  cordially  for  your  goodness  in  consenting  to  take 
my  daughter's  full-length  likeness  in  the  manner  I  described,  say, 
twenty-four  inches  in  length.  I  will  pay  you  most  willingly  the 
two  hundred  dollars  you  require  for  it,  and  will  consider  myself  a 
gainer  by  the  bargain.  I  shall  expect  you  to  decorate  this  picture 
with  the  most  superb  landscape  you  are  capable  of  designing,  and 
that  you  will  produce  a  masterpiece  of  painting.  I  agree  to  your 
taking  it  with  you  to  the  northward  to  finish  it.  Be  pleased  to 
represent  my  daughter  in  the  finest  attitude  you  can  conceive.  I 
wish  the  drapery  to  be  white,  but  if  you  think  some  light  color 
would  be  handsomer,  you  can  adopt  it.     I  cannot  refrain  from  as- 


THE   DAUGHTER'S  PORTRAIT.  HI 

suring  you  that  your  letter  has  delighted  me  beyond  measure, 
particularly  that  part  of  it  which  proposes  your  taking  this  picture 
with  you  to  the  North  to  finish,  as  I  know  from  sad  experience 
the  difference  between  pictures  executed  at  leisure  and  those  done 
under  a  pressure  of  business.  In  the  short  space  of  twelve  months 
I  have  paid  much  more  than  two  thousand  dollars  for  pictures  of 
my  family,  not  one  of  which  can  be  said  to  be  even  a  tolerable 
likeness,  though  two  of  them  are  certainly  beautifully  painted. 
As  the  season  has  far  advanced,  and  my  brother  Motte  writes  me 
that  you  have  already  seventy  portraits  on  your  list  to  be  finished 
in  rotation,  I  must  relinquish  for  the  present  my  application  to 
you  for  the  several  portraits  I  had  intended,  until  your  return  to 
Charleston  in  November  next. 

"  The  full-sized  half-length  portrait  of  my  daughter  I  hope  you 
will  have  time  to  do  justice  to,  and  to  finish  before  you  leave 
Charleston,  as  my  brother  informs  me  it  is  now  at  the  head  of  your 
list.  If,  however,  you  would  prefer  to  take  this  picture  also  with  you 
to  the  northward  to  finish,  I  would  have  no  objection,  but  I  could 
never  consent  to  it  unless  you  will  agree  to  receive  payment  for  it 
immediately.  If  you  think  your  time  will  permit  you  to  finish  this 
picture  in  your  best  style  before  your  departure  from  Charleston,  I 
would  of  course  greatly  prefer  it,  and  only  make  use  of  the  above 
observation  in  case  you  might  prefer  taking  it  with  you. 
"  I  am,  sir,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"  John  A.  Allston. 
"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Esq.'1'' 

Mr.  Allston  paid  the  artist  handsomely  for  these  pictures  of 
his  children,  and  Mr.  Morse  begged  him  afterward  to  accept  as 
a  present  his  great  picture,  "  The  Judgment  of  Jupiter."  It 
was  accepted  in  terms  as  honorable  to  the  writer  as  to  the  artist 
who  so  handsomely  had  expressed  his  sense  of  obligation.  Mr. 
Allston  writes  to  Mr.  Morse : 

"Georgetown,  April  18,  1820. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  your  kind  letter 
of  the  14th  inst.,  which  has  just  reached  me.  I  am  unable  to  express 
to  you  sufficiently  the  sense  of  the  obligation  I  entertain,  for  the 
very  splendid  present  you  have  been  pleased  to  make  me.  Much 
less  am  I  able  to  convey  to  you  the  value  I  set  upon  the  friendly 
sentiments  you  must  have  experienced  and  which  have  induced  you 


112  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  P.  B.  MORSE. 

to  make  me  a  present  so  highly  flattering  to  me.  The  painting  is 
of  inestimable  value,  and,  though  I  am  delighted  in  being  the 
owner  of  it,  yet  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  (however  undeserv- 
ing I  am  of  it)  that  I  value  your  regard  even  more  than  the  picture. 
This  present  is  an  exhibition  of  exalted  sentiments.  It  may  be  my 
lot  to  view  it  for  a  number  of  years.  I  shall  never  pass  it  but  with 
mingled  emotions  of  admiration  for  your  talents,  and  of  unfeigned 
homage  to  your  superior  feelings.  I  will  direct  Messrs.  Kershaw 
and  Lewis  to  forward  it  to  me. 

"I  wish  you,  my  dear  sir,  a  safe  voyage  to  the  North,  and  that 
we  may  live  to  meet  again — and  to  accept  the  unfeigned  assurance 
of  the  regard  of  your  much  obliged  and  most  obedient  servant, 

"  John  A.  Allston. 
"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Esq." 

The  subsequent  history  of  this  picture  is  remarkable.  While 
Mr.  Allston  lived,  it  was  the  most  attractive  picture  in  his  gal- 
lery. At  his  death,  his  paintings  were  sold  and  scattered,  and 
this  one  was  lost  to  the  knowledge  of  the  artist  and  his  friends. 
Many  years  after,  an  American  collector  of  pictures  bought  it  in 
England, ■  and  presented  it  to  Mrs.  Parmalee,  a  niece  of  Prof. 
Morse,  without  the  slightest  suspicion  of  his  being  the  author. 
He  recognized  it  instantly  on  seeing  it,  and  it  is  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  family. 

In  May  of  1818,  having  spent  less  than  five  months  in 
Charleston,  and  having  painted  fifty-three  portraits,  and  com- 
menced nine,  to  be  finished  in  the  summer,  Mr.  Morse  returned 
to  Boston.  Not  many  days  after  his  arrival  he  received  a  letter 
from  Dr.  Finley,  in  Charleston,  rallying  him  playfully  on  his 
having  met  his  Lucretia ;  and  then  the  uncle  says : 

"  Finley,  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  too  happy ;  you  ought  to  meet 
a  little  rub  or  two,  or  you  will  be  too  much  in  the  clouds,  and  forget 
that  you  are  among  mortals.  Let  us  see  if  I  cannot  give  you  a 
friendly  hoist  downward.  Your  pictures;  ay,  suppose  I  should 
speak  of  them,  and  what  is  said  of  them  during  your  absence.  I 
will  perform  the  office  of  him  who  was  placed  on  the  triumphal 
car  of  the  conqueror  to  abuse  him  lest  he  should  be  elated.  "Well, 
*  His  pictures,'  say  people,  '  are  undoubtedly  good  likenesses,  but 
he  paints  carelessly,  and  in  too  much  haste,  and  his  draperies  are 
not  well  done ;  he  must  be  more  attentive,  or  he  will  lose  his  repu- 


MARRIAGE.  113 

tation.'  '  See,'  say  others,  'how  he  flatters  ! '  '  Oh,'  says  another, 
'  he  has  not  flattered  me,'  etc.,  etc.  By-the-by,  I  saw  old  General 
C.  C.  Pinckney  yesterday,  and  he  told  me  in  his  laughing,  humorous 
way,  that  he  had  requested  you  to  draw  his  brother  Thomas  twenty 
years  younger  than  he  really  was,  so  as  to  be  a  companion  to  his 
own  when  he  was  twenty  years  older  than  at  this  time,  and  to  flat- 
ter him,  as  he  had  directed  Stuart  to  do  so  to  him.  Here  you  have 
a  nice  little  anecdote  to  amuse  yourself  and  friends  with." 

Resuming  bis  labors  at  home,  Mr.  Morse  spent  the  summer 
in  completing  the  portraits  be  had  brought  with  bim  in  an  un- 
finished state,  and  executing  such  orders  as  now  came  to  bis  hand. 
On  the  6th  of  October,  1818,  the  New  Hampshire  Patriot  had 
the  following  notice : 

"Married  in  this  town,  October  1st,  by  Rev.  Dr.  McFarland, 
Mr.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  (the  celebrated  painter)  to  Miss  Lucretia 
Walker,  daughter  of  Charles  "Walker,  Esq." 

His  bridal  tour,  with  horse  and  gig,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
day,  is  portrayed  in  a  letter  to  bis  parents : 

"  Concord,  N.  H.,  October  5,  1818. 
"  My  dear  Parents  :  I  was  married,  as  I  wrote  you  I  should  be, 
on  Tuesday  morning  last.  We  set  out  at  nine  o'clock,  and  reached 
Amherst,  over  bad  roads,  at  night.  The  next  day  we  continued  our 
journey  through  Wilton  to  New  Ipswich,  eighteen  miles,  over  one 
of  the  worst  roads  I  ever  traveled;  all  up  hill  and  down,  and  very 
rocky,  and  no  tavern  on  the  road.  We  inquired  at  New  Ipswich 
our  best  route  to  Northampton,  where  we  intended  to  go  to  meet 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cornelius ;  but  we  found,  on  inquiry,  that  there  were 
nothing  but  cross-roads,  and  these  very  bad,  and  no  tavern  where 
we  could  be  comfortably  accommodated.  Our  horse  was  also  tired ; 
so  we  thought  our  best  way  would  be  to  return.  Accordingly,  the 
next  day  we  started  for  Concord,  and  arrived  on  Friday  evening 
safe  home  again.  Lucretia  wishes  to. spend  this  week  with  her 
friends,  so  that  I  shall  return  (Providence  permitting)  on  this  day 
week,  and  reach  home  by  Tuesday  noon ;  probably  to  dinner.  We 
are  both  well,  and  send  a  great  deal  of  love  to  you  all.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Walker  wish  me  to  present  their  best  respects  to  you. 
"  Your  affectionate  son, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 
8 


114  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

On  the  12th  of  the  next  month,  Mr.  Morse,  with  his  young 
wife,  sailed  in  the  schooner  Tontine,  Captain  Fanning,  from 
New  York,  for  Charleston,  S.  C.  They  were  welcomed  with 
great  hospitality  by  the  many  friends  that  Mr.  Morse  had  made 
the  previous  winter,  and  their  residence  was  rendered  peculiarly 
pleasant  by  the  many  attentions  they  received.  Mrs.  Morse  won 
general  admiration  and  love.  Several  other  artists  had  estab- 
lished themselves  at  Charleston,  attracted,  doubtless,  by  the 
fame  of  his  great  success,  and  with  them  he  had  to  divide  the 
business.  One  man,  whom  he  had  employed  as  a  waiter  in  his 
studio,  suddenly  assumed  the  proportions  of  a  painter  of  por- 
traits, and  announced  himself  in  the  papers  as  an  artist.  He 
did  not  fail  altogether  in  finding  patrons,  who  discovered  rare 
merit  in  the  painter.  But  Mr.  Morse's  old  patrons  returned 
with  new  friends,  and  he  soon  had  as  much  work  upon  his  hands 
as  he  could  possibly  accomplish.  Yet  he  could  not  dismiss  the 
inventions  from  his  thoughts.  He  was  experimenting  upon 
improvements  in  the  engine.  His  letters  to  his  brother  are  not 
preserved,  but  one,  in  reply  to  his  suggestions,  shows  how  perti- 
naciously his  mind  was  at  work : 

From  Sidney  F.  Morse. 

"Andoter,  January  17,  1819. 

"  Dear  Brother  :  For  various  reasons,  which  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  mention,  I  do  not  think  your  experiment  a  fair  test  of  the 
principle.  The  friction  of  the  potato  plug  against  the  sides  of 
the  tube  might  have  been  sufficient  to  destroy  the  whole  force. 
In  experiments  on  so  small  a  scale,  the  friction  is  very  great  com- 
pared with  the  force  exerted.  I  would  not  advise  you  to  try  the 
full  experiment,  as  you  propose,  with  oil  and  valves,  etc.,  because 
there  will  be  a  great  deal  of  perplexity  and  expense  which  you  do 
not  anticipate;  and,  in  trying  the  experiment  on  so  small  a  scale, 
there  will  be  a  great  many  little  causes  of  failure  not  affecting 
the  truth  of  the  principle.  Besides,  the  principle  can  be  much 
more  satisfactorily  tested  by  a  simple  experiment  than  by  a  com- 
plicated one.     I  have  thought  of  the  following  method : 

"  Procure  a  cylindrical  vessel  of  tin,  of  any  dimensions,  according 
to  the  size  of  the  boat  you  employ  (the  larger  the  better,  if  it  is  not 
inconveniently  large).  Let  it  be  divided  into  two  apartments  by  a 
perpendicular  partition,  as  in  the  following  diagram : 


AN  IMPROVEMENT   SUGGESTED.  115 

"  A  B  represents  the  cylinder,  c  d  the  partition  running  from 
the  top  nearly  to  the  bottom ;  e  is  a  little  tube  \  of  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter or  less,  capable  of  being  stopped  per- 
fectl}7  tight  with  a  plug  (and  therefore  I 
think  should  not  be  of  tin),  f  is  a  tube 
\  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  capable  also 
of  being  completely  closed  with  a  plug, 
or  with  the  hand.  Take  care  that  there 
is  no  leakage,  especially  in  the  parti- 
tion between  the  two  apartments.  To 
prepare  for  the  experiment:  First,  let  the  tube  e  be  carefully 
stopped.  Then  turn  the  cylinder  over  so  that  the  line  c  d  shall 
be  parallel  with  the  horizon,  and  then  pour  in  water  at  the  ori- 
fice f,  till  you  have  filled  the  apartment  h.  Then  let  the  cylinder 
assume  its  original  position,  and  if  every  thing  is  tight  the  water 
will  remain  in  the  apartment  A,  while  the  apartment  g  is  empty. 
The  next  step  is  to  close  the  orifice  f,  either  with  your  hand  or 
a  plug — while  some  one  unstops  the  tube  e,  and  pours  in  a  dozen 
or  twenty  drops  of  ether,  which  will  float  on  the  top  of  the  water 
in  the  apartment  h.  Then  let  the  tube  e  be  closed  again.  Let 
the  c}dinder  now  be  placed  in  the  boat  with  the  orifice  f  tow- 
ard the  stern,  and  apply  heat  to  the  water  in  the  apartment  h 
in  any  convenient  way.  When  the  water  becomes  blood-warm 
the  ether  will  be  converted  into  vapor,  and  force  the  water  from 
the  apartment  h  into  the  apartment  g,  and,  if  my  theory  is  cor- 
rect, will  propel  the  boat  forward.  If  you  can  conveniently  apply 
heat  enough  to  make  the  water  boil,  you  may  simplify  the  ap- 
paratus still  further,  for  then  you  might  use  the  steam  of  the 
water,  instead  of  the  steam  of  ether,  to  force  the  water  out  of  the 
apartment  A,  and  so  dispense  with  the  tube  e.  Two  or  three  days 
since,  I  saw  the  National  Intelligencer,  for  Wednesday  and  Thurs- 
day, January  27th  and  28th,  and  noticed  an  article  headed  '  An- 
tiquity of  Steamboats.'  I  want  you  to  get  the  paper,  and  read 
that  article.  You  will  find  that  they  are  now  actually  building  a 
steamboat  on  the  very  principle  of  the  experiment  which  we  tried 
in  the  navy-yard. 

"  I  am  much  rejoiced  to  hear  that  you  are  going  on  so  pros- 
perously in  your  business.  Don't  let  the  experiment  take  up  your 
time  or  your  thoughts,  so  as  to  interfere  with  your  business. 

"  Your  affectionate  brother, 

"  Sidney  E.  Mokse." 


116  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

To  Mr.  Washington  Allston,  having  now  returned  from 
London,  and  established  himself  in  Boston,  Mr.  Morse  wrote, 
proposing  to  exhibit  and  sell  some  of  the  pictures,  in  Charles- 
ton, of  his  distinguished  friend.  Mr.  Allston's  mother  was 
living  at  that  time  in  Charleston.  To  the  letter  of  Morse,  Mr. 
Allston  replied  as  follows : 

From,  Washington  Allston. 

"Boston,  January  27,  1819, 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  Before  this  reaches  you,  you  will  probably  re- 
ceive the  landscape,  which  you  were  so  good  as  to  undertake  the 
disposal  of  in  Charleston,  or  at  least  to  give  house-room  to  there ; 
I  mean  the  landscape  I  painted  in  Italy,  and  which  has  been  for  a 
year  or  two  past  in  Mr.  Sully's  room,  in  Philadelphia.  The  price 
I  have  set  on  it  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  guineas ;  not  a  farthing  less. 
If  it  is  worth  any  thing,  I  think  it  worth  three  hundred ;  but  I  am 
content  to  get  two  hundred  and  fifty.  At  any  rate,  however,  I  beg 
you  to  observe  that  I  would  on  no  account  sell  it  for  more  than 
three  hundred,  even  if  it  should  be  offered.  The  price  is  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty ;  ask  that,  and  with  that  I  shall  be  content.  I  have 
directed  the  case  containing  the  picture  to  be  addressed  to  you,  to 
the  care  of  Mr.  Hugh  Paterson,  who  was  formerly  my  agent ;  and 
I  must  beg  the  favor  of  you  to  pay  the  freight  and  other  charges 
that  may  be  incident  to  the  landing  of  it,  as  I  have  no  longer  any  ac- 
count standing  with  Mr.  Paterson,  which  I  will  repay  you  when 
we  meet ;  or  you  may  deduct  the  sum  from  the  sale,  if  it  should  be 
so  fortunate  as  to  meet  with  a  purchaser.  I  will  make  no  apology 
for  giving  this  trouble,  since  I  know  you  would  not  consider  it 
other  than  a  pleasure  to  render  me  a  service. 

"  Now  the  business  part  of  my  letter  is  over,  I  suppose  you 
will  expect  something  like  news  concerning  the  art.  Sargent  is 
going  on  with  his  second  picture  of  the  '  Landing  of  our  Fore- 
fathers,' and  I  think  will  make  it  better  than  that  of  the  '  Entrance 
into  Jerusalem.'  He  is  a  worthy  and  liberal  man,  and  I  hope  he 
may  meet  with  that  praise  for  it  which  his  love  of  the  art,  under  so 
many  unexciting,  not  to  say  discouraging  circumstances,  may  fairly 
entitle  him  to ;  and  under  which  his  perseverance  is  no  small  proof 
that  he  cultivates  it  solely  for  itself.  Mr.  Stuart  has  lately  painted 
a  fine  head  of  Commodore  Peny.  Fisher  left  this  for  Charleston 
some  time  since,  and  I  suppose  is  now  there.  Leslie,  from  whom  I 
lately  had  a  letter,  does  not  contemplate  returning  to  America  be- 


LETTER  FROM  ALLSTOK  H7 

fore  the  next  autumn.  John  Payne  has  written  a  tragedy  on  the 
subject  of  'Junius  Brutus,'  which  is  now  acting  with  great  applause 
at  the  Drury  Lane.  Kean  plays  the  principal  part  in  it.  This  is 
all  the  news  I  have  to  tell  about  others.  Now  concerning  myself: 
I  yesterday  received  an  official  communication  from  Mr.  Howard, 
the  -  secretary  of  the  Royal  Academy,  informing  me  that  on  the  2d 
of  November  last  I  was  elected  an  associate  of  that  body.  I  had 
received  intelligence  of  it  about  three  weeks  ago,  both  from  Leslie 
and  Collins.  I  must  own  this  is  very  pleasing  to  me,  and  I  am 
sure  it  will  be  very  gratifying  to  you ;  I  am  the  more  pleased  too 
with  the  distinction,  inasmuch  as  I  never  would  nor  did  solicit  a 
vote  from  any  academician.  And  this  is  a  proof  that  the  report 
of  candidates  being  expected  to  canvass,  or  in  other  words  to  beg 
votes,  is  without  foundation.  I  wish  you  could  see  Collins's  letter. 
I  suppose  you  know  he  was  made  an  associate  before  you  left  Eng- 
land. He  says  I  must  come  back.  But  that  I  have  no  thoughts  of 
— at  least  for  many  good  years,  if  it  should  please  God  to  grant 
me  them. 

"  Something  like  encouragement  seems  to  appear  in  our  hori- 
zon ;  and  if  we  have  any  talents  we  owe  something  to  our  country 
when  she  is  disposed  to  foster  them.  One  of  the  gentlemen  con- 
cerned told  me  two  days  ago  that  he  was  appointed  one  of  a 
committee  for  engaging  me  to  paint  a  picture  for  the  hospital  here. 
As  yet  I  have  had  no  formal  notice  of  it ;  but  do  not  doubt  that 
the  communication  will  soon  be  made.  This,  however,  is  between 
ourselves.  I  expect,  in  your  answer  to  this,  a  full  and  particular 
account  of  all  that  you  are  doing.  You  cannot  be  too  minute.  Re- 
member me  most  cordially  to  your  wife.  And  pray  present  my  re- 
spects to  Mrs.  Heyward,  Mrs.  and  Miss  Rutledge,  and  Colonel 
Drayton  and  his  lady.  Remember  me  also  to  White,  Racot,  Frazer, 
and  Cogdell.     Believe  me  sincerely  your  friend, 

"  Washington  Allston." 

This  letter  was  post-marked  January  29th,  and,  before  it  could 
have  been  received  in  Charleston,  Mr.  Morse  writes  to  his  friend 
and  teacher : 

"Charleston,  S.  C,  February  4,  1819. 
"  Washington  Axlston,  Esq. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  Excuse  my  neglect  in  not  having  written  you 
before  this,  according  to  my  promise  before  I  left  Boston.  I  can 
only  plead  an  apology  (what  I  know  will  gratify  you),  a  multiplicity 


118  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

of  business.  I  am  painting  from  morning  till  night,  and  have  con- 
tinual applications  ;  I  have  added  to  my  list,  this  season  only,  to  the 
amount  of  three  thousand  dollars  ;  that  is,  since  I  left  you.  Among 
them  are  three  full-lengths  to  be  finished  at  the  North,  I  hope  in 
Boston,  where  I  shall  once  more  enjoy  the  advantages  of  your  criti- 
cisms. I  am  exerting  my  utmost  to  improve ;  every  picture  I  try  to 
make  my  best ;  and  in  the  evening  I  draw  two  hours  from  the  an- 
tique, as  I  did  in  London,  for  I  ought  to  inform  you  that  I  fortu- 
nately found  a  fine  Venus  de  Medicis  without  a  blemish,  imported 
from  Paris  some  time  since  by  a  gentleman  of  this  city,  who  wished 
to  dispose  of  it ;  also  a  young  Apollo,  which  was  so  broken  that 
he  gave  it  to  me,  saying  that  it  was  useless.  I  have,  however,  after 
a  great  deal  of  trouble,  put  it  together  entirely,  and  these  two  fig- 
ures, with  some  fragments,  hands,  feet,  etc.,  make  a  very  good 
academy.  Mr.  Fraser,  Mr.  Cogdell,  Mr.  Fisher,  of  Boston,  and  my- 
self, meet  here  of  an  evening  to  improve  ourselves.  I  feel  as  much 
enthusiasm  as  ever  in  my  art,  and  love  it  more  than  ever.  A  few 
years,  at  the  rate  I  am  now  going  on,  will  place  me  independent 
of  public  patronage ;  thus  much  for  myself,  for  you  told  me  in  one 
of  your  letters  from  London  that  I  must  be  more  of  an  egotist,  or 
you  should  be  less  of  one  in  your  letters  to  me,  which  I  should 
greatly  regret.  And  now  permit  me,  my  dear  sir,  to  congratulate 
you  on  your  election  to  the  Royal  Academy.  I  know  you  will  be- 
lieve me  when  I  say  I  jumped  for  joy  when  I  heard  it :  though  it 
cannot  add  to  your  merit,  yet  it  will  extend  the  knowledge  of  it, 
especially  in  our  own  country,  where  we  are  still  influenced  by  for- 
eign opinion,  and  more  justly  perhaps  in  regard  to  taste  in  the  fine 
arts  than  in  any  other  thing. 

"I  have  been  using  a  compound,  or  rather  mixture,  in  flesh,  on 
which  I  wish  your  opinion.  Yellow-ochre  has  heretofore  been  the 
best  yellow  that  I  could  use,  but  it  always  appeared  to  me  to  want 
brilliancy  y  c/irome-yellow,  on  the  contrary,  is  too  bright,  or  eggy  / 
but  these  two  I  have  mixed  half-and-half,  and  find  it  excellent 
flesh-yellow.  I  find  this  mixture  also  excellent  in  the  shadows  of 
white  drapery,  and  in  reflected  lights,  when  properly  tempered  with 
blue  and  red.  A  very  strong  tint  of  this  yellow,  laid  on  boldly  in 
a  shadow,  gives  a  clearness  and  liquidness  to  it  which  no  other  yel- 
low that  I  have  used  can  give ;  and  gives  a  warmth  and  gloAV  to 
the  picture,  without  being  hot.  I  should  like  to  know  the  result  of 
your  experiment  with  it. 

"  How  does  your  great  picture  progress  ?  I  hope  to  see  it,  when 


PORTRAIT   OF  MONROE.  119 

I  return,  entirely  finished.  Have  you  got  a  good  room  ?  How  are 
your  Boston  friends  disposed  toward  you  now  ?  Are  they  still  de- 
sirous of  keeping  you  with  them,  and  of  giving  you  something  to 
paint  for  them  ?  Do  write  me,  dear  sir,  all  about  yourself,  as  you 
used  to  wish  me  to  do  of  myself.  I  long  to  see  you,  and  talk  over 
every  thing.  Do  write  me,  dear  sir,  soon.  You  know  what  a 
gratification  it  will  be  to  one  who  is  proud  in  calling  himself  your 
pupil.  May  God  bless  you,  dear  sir,  and  believe  me  your  affection- 
ate pupil, 

"S.  F.  B.  Morse." 

The  Common  Council  of  Charleston  paid  Mr.  Morse  the 
compliment  of  requesting  him  to  paint  the  portrait  of  James 
Monroe,  then  the  President  of  the  United  States.  And  after 
spending  the  summer  at  the  North,  and  leaving  his  wife  and 
their  infant  daughter  in  Concord,  with  Mrs.  Morse's  parents  for 
the  winter,  he  returned  South,  taking  Washington  in  his  way, 
that  he  might  execute  the  commission  for  the  city.  He  was 
alarmed  at  the  price  of  board,  as  he  writes  to  his  wife,  finding 
it  to  be  two  dollars  a  day  in  New  York  City,  and  equally  high  in 
Washington.  I  began,"  he  says,  in  a  letter,  "  on  Monday  to  paint 
the  President,  and  have  almost  completed  the  head  " — this  was 
on  Thursday — "  I  airi  thus  far  pleased  with  it,  but  I  find  it  very 
perplexing,  for  he  cannot  sit  more  than  ten  or  twenty  minutes 
at  a  time ;  so  that,  the  moment  I  feel  engaged,  he  is  called 
away  again.  I  set  my  palette  to-day  at  ten  o'clock,  and  waited 
until  four  o'clock  this  afternoon  before  he  came  in.  He  then 
sat  ten  minutes,  and  we  were  called  to  dinner.  Is  not  this  try- 
ing to  one's  patience  ?  My  room  is  at  his  house,  next  to  his 
cabinet-room,  for  his  convenience.  When  he  has  a  moment's 
leisure  he  comes  in  to  sit  to  me.  He  is  very  agreeable  and  affa- 
ble, as  are  also  his  family.  I  drank  tea  with  them  on  Saturday, 
and  dined  with  them  on  Monday  and  to-day."  When  his  work 
was  completed,  the  family  were  so  delighted  with  it  that  he  was 
obliged  to  remain  and  make  a  copy  for  them.  The  portrait  was 
considered,  by  all  who  saw  it  at  the  time,  a  great  triumph  of 
art.   It  remains  in  the  City  Hall  of  Charleston. 

Another  winter  was  spent  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
His  brother  Richard  having  become  a  preacher,  came  down,  and 
was  employed  on  John's  Island,  where  the  artist  frequently  vis- 


120 


LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.   MORSE. 


ited  him.     Speaking  of  one  of  these  visits  in  a  letter  to  his  wife, 
April  8,  1820,  he  says : 

"  My  visit  to  John's  Island  was  a  very  agreeable  one.  I  staid 
at  Mr.  James  Legare's,  and  painted  Mrs.  Legare,  at  my  leisure.  In 
the  intermediate  time  we  went — I  say  we — there  was  Prof.  Porter, 
of  Andover,  and  brother  Richard,  and  Mr.  Wilson,  and  Thos.  Le- 
gare, and  his  sons,  and  the  sons  of  Mr.  James  Legare,  and  two  or 
three  others — we  spent  a  week  upon  the  island.  On  Monday,  we 
all  dined  with  Mr.  Wilson,  and  in  the  afternoon  I  mounted  a  horse 
(the  first  time  for  ten  years),  and  with  a  Mr.  Hart,  and  Richard,  and 
Mr.  John  Legare,  set  out  with  six  hounds  in  search  of  a  fox.  We 
had  not  proceeded  half  a  mile  when  the  dogs  opened  their  cry,  and 
the  chase  commenced.  Owing  to  my  want  of  skill  in  riding,  I  was 
unable  to  keep  up  with  the  rest  of  the  compam',  over  ditches,  and 
fences,  and  cotton-fields,  and  old  logs,  so  that  I  did  not  enjoy  the 
sport  so  much  as  the  rest ;  but  I  was,  fortunately,  in  at  the  death, 
as  the  huntsmen  say ;  for,  after  a  chase  of  about  half  an  hour,  the 
fox  took  to  a  cotton-field,  and  after  doubling  two  or  three  times 
was  caught  by  the  dogs.  As  this  field  was  near  where  I  was  left 
by  the  rest,  I  rode  in,  in  time  to  see  him  caught. 

"  On  Tuesday  was  our  great  hunting-day.  The  Legares,  Wil- 
sons, Prof.  Porter,  Richard,  and  myself,  with  two  or  three  others, 
set  out  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  a  deer-hunt,  with  eleven 
hounds,  and  a  negro,  to  drive  the  woods.  We  were  all  well  mounted 
and  with  guns.  I  have  drawn  a  little  figure  below,  to  explain  our 
proceedings.     The  triangular  piece  is  a  piece  of  woods ;  the  negro, 

with  the  dogs,  was  put  into  the 
woods  at  A,  while  we  galloped  brisk- 
ly along  the  road,  and  took  our  dif- 
ferent stands  at  B,  B,  etc.  The  dogs 
soon  opened,  but,  to  our  mortification, 
the  deer  took  the  course  C,  and 
avoided  us.  When  we  found  the 
dogs  had  passed  the  road,  we  all  gal- 
loped off  again,  and  took  stands  at 
I),  in  hopes  of  heading  the  deer,  but 
he  again  avoided  us  in  the  same  way ; 
so  we  lost  the  deer.  The  dogs  soon, 
however,  opened  again,  and  we  found  they  had  scented  a  fox.  We 
had  a  fine  chase  of  an  hour  after  him,  in  which  time  we  saw  him 


PORTRAITS  IN   CHARLESTON.  121 

often,  and  I  was  enabled  to  keep  up  with  the  rest  of  the  company 
all  the  time.  We  lost  him,  however,  in  the  end ;  but  I  was  very 
much  amused  at  the  sagacity  of  the  fox  and  the  hounds.  I  ar- 
rived at  Mr.  Legare's  in  the  evening  at  eight  o'clock,  having  been 
on  horseback  eleven  hours,  much  fatigued,  but  very  much  benefited 
in  my  health  by  this  fine  exercise." 

A  list  of  the  names  of  all  the  persons  whose  portraits  lie 
painted  in  Charleston  during  the  successive  winters  of  his  resi- 
dence in  that  city  he  preserved  with  care  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
It  includes  Dr.  Finley,  the  Allstons,  Mrs.  Porter,  Dr.  Mitch- 
ill,  Mrs.  Hitchborn,  Dr.  Baron,  Mr.  Perroneau,  Judge  Desau- 
sure,  Mr.  Simmons,  Mrs.  Stiles,  Mrs.  Heyward,  Mrs.  Bentham, 
Bishop  Smith,  Major  Theus,  Major-General  Pinckney,  Mrs.  Smi- 
lie,  Mr.  John  Axson,  Dr.  Poyas,  Colonel  Drayton,  Judge  and 
Mrs.  Cheves,  Mr.  Legare,  Mrs.  Dr.  Grimkie,  Mrs.  Colcock, 
Lady  Nesbit,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huger,  and  scores  of  others.  Mr. 
Cogdell  furnishes  Mr.  Dunlap  with  this  record  of  one  of  Mr. 
Morse's  last  works  in  Charleston  : 

"  Tn  January,  1821,  my  friend  Morse  had  several  conversations 
with  me  about  the  practicability  of  establishing  an  academy.  We 
agreed  to  have  a  meeting ;  we  solicited  the  main  hall  of  the  city. 
Mr.  Morse  moved  that  the  Hon.  Joel  R.  Poinsett  take  the  chair ; 
Mr.  Jay  that  Mr.  Cogdell  act  as  secretary.  Mr.  Morse  then  sub- 
mitted a  resolution  asking  of  the  council  a  site  in  the  public  square 
for  the  building,  and  we  adjourned.  A  number  of  artists  and  ama- 
teurs were  requested  to  meet  at  my  office,  where  the  first  organiza- 
tion was  made  of  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  Gentlemen  were 
named  officers  and  directors  ;  on  my  writing  to  them,  they  accepted. 
Thus  was  brought  into  existence  the  South  Carolina  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts. 

"Joel  R.  Poinsett,  President. 
Directors : 
Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Charles  Frazer, 

Joshua  Cantir,  John  S.  Cogdell, 

John  B.  White,  Wm.  Jay,  architect, 

■  Charles  C.  Wright,  die-sinker,      Wm.  Shields, 
James  Wood,  engraver,  Chs.  Simmons,  engraver. 

"  The  Legislature  granted  a  charter,  but,  my  good  sir,  as  they 
possessed  no  powers  under  the  constitution  to  confer  taste  or  talent, 


122  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

and  possessed  none  of  those  feelings  which  prompt  to  patronage, 
they  gave  none  to  the  infant  academy.  We  have  had  as  splendid 
exhibitions  as  I  have  ever  seen  in  any  other  city.  On  the  presen- 
tation of  my  bust  of  Dr.  J.  E.  Holbrook,  I  received  from  the 
directors,  under  the  eleventh  rule,  the  title  of  academician ;  but, 
cui  bono  f  The  institution  was  allowed,  from  apathy  and  opposi- 
tion, to  die,  and  the  property  has  been  sold  recently  to  pay  its 
debts ;  but  Mr.  Poinsett  and  myself,  with  a  few  others,  have  pur- 
chased, with  a  hope  of  reviving,  the  establishment." 

In.  the  month  of  February,  1820,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morse  re- 
signed his  charge  as  pastor  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  and 
removed  to  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  with  the  family  of  his  son. 
Mr.  Morse  joined  his  family  there  in  the  spring,  when  he  came 
from  South  Carolina,  and  passed  the  summer  in  that  city.  He 
had  constant  employment  for,  his  pencil  in  completing  the 
paintings  he  had  commenced  in  Charleston,  and  he  found  great 
delight  in  renewing  his  studies  of  electricity  and  galvanism  in 
the  laboratory  of  Yale  College.  To  this  spot  he  resorted  while 
Prof.  Silliman  was  preparing  his  experiments,  and  gratified  his 
tastes  for  philosophical  and  chemical  studies,  in  the  midst  of  his 
profession  as  an  artist.  The  painting  of  portraits  was  to  him,  as 
to  all  painters  of  original  power,  a  weariness,  and  Mr.  Morse  re- 
solved to  attempt  something  in  which  it  might  be  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  history.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  large  pict- 
ure of  the  "House  of  Representatives"  at  Washington,  pre- 
senting a  view  of  the  chamber,  and  portraits  of  individual  mem- 
bers. For  this  purpose  he  went  to  Washington  in  November, 
1821,  and  was  kindly  received  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  encouraged  his  grand  undertaking,  and  gave  him 
every  facility  for  its  execution.  The  architect  of  the  House, 
Mr.  Bullfinch,  and  all  the  officers  of  the  House,  entered  cor- 
dially into  the  work,  and  encouraged  him  with  their  efficient 
aid. 

"  The  President,"  Mr.  Morse  writes  to  his  wife,  "  asked  me, 
in  the  course  of  conversation,  whether  he  could  obtain  from 
New  Haven  some  small  elms  for  his  estate  in  Virginia.  He 
seemed  desirous  of  having  some.  Now,  I  should  like  very 
much  if  father  could  procure  a  dozen  at  my  expense  (they  will 
be  but  a  trifle)  and  bring  them  on  with  him  when  he  comes  to 


AT   THE   PRESIDENT'S   HOUSE.  123 

"Washington.  They  will  not  take  up  any  room  if  the  roots  are 
wound  round  with  mats,  and  the  whole  done  up  as  apple  or 
other  trees  are  transplanted.  I  should  like  very  much  to  make 
this  little  acknowledgment  to  the  President  for  his  civilities,  and 
I  think  he  would  be  pleased  with  the  attention." 

Mr.  Morse  obtained  the  use  of  one  of  the  lower  rooms  of  the 
Capitol,  and  there  established  his  studio,  to  make  it  convenient 
for  the  members  to  sit  to  him  for  their  portraits ;  and  while 
they  were  not  with  him  he  could  work  upon  the  interior  of  the 
chamber.    He  writes  to  Mrs.  Morse : 

"  I  am  up  at  daylight,  have  my  breakfast  and  prayers  over,  and 
commence  the  labors  of  the  day  long  before  the  workmen  are  called 
to  work  on  the  Capitol  by  the  bell.  This  I  continue  unremittingly 
till  one  o'clock,  when  I  dine  in  about  fifteen  minutes,  and  then  pur- 
sue my  labors  until  tea,  which  scarcely  interrupts  me,  as  I  often 
have  my  cup  of  tea  in  one  hand  and  pencil  in  the  other.  Between 
ten  and  eleven  o'clock  I  retire  to  rest.  This  has  been  my  course 
every  day  (Sundays,  of  course,  excepted)  since  I  have  been  here, 
making  about  fourteen  hours'  study  out  of  the  twenty-four.  This, 
you  will  say,  is  too  hard,  and  that  I  shall  injure  my  health.  I  can 
say  that  I  never  enjoyed  better  health,  and  my  body,  by  the  sim- 
ple fare  I  live  on,  is  disciplined  to  this  course.  As  it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  continue  long  so  assiduously,  I  shall  not  fear  to  pursue 
it  till  this  work  is  done. 

"  I  receive  every  possible  facility  from  all  about  the  Capitol. 
The  door-keeper,  a  venerable  man,  has  offered  to  light  the  great 
chandelier  expressly  for  me  to  take  my  sketches  in  the  evening,  for 
two  hours  together,  for  I  shall  have  it  a  candle-light  effect,  when 
the  room,  already  very  splendid,  will  appear  ten  times  more  so." 

His  absorption  in  the  picture  was  so  great  that  once  he  arose 
in  the  night  mistaking  the  light  of  the  moon  for  day,  and  went 
to  his  task,  and  at  another  time  lost  the  reckoning  of  the  days 
of  the  week,  and  attempted  to  enter  the  Hall  on  Sunday  to  pur- 
sue his  work,  and  could  hardly  be  persuaded  to  admit  that  he 
had  lost  a  day.  By  the  middle  of  December  he  was  working 
sixteen  hours  a  day.  "  I  never  enjoyed  better  health  ;  the  mo- 
ment I  feel  unwell  I  shall  desist,  but  I  am  in  the  vein  now,  and 
must  have  my  way.  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  with 
the  perspective  of  my  picture.    But  I  have  conquered,  and  have 


124  ,.        LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

accomplished  my  purpose.  After  having  drawn  in  the  greater 
part  three  times,  I  have  as  many  times  rubbed  it  all  out  again. 
I  have  been,  several  times,  from  daylight  until  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  solving  a  single  problem."  And  then  he  turns  away  from 
his  "  vexations  "  and  "  disappointments  "  to  his  anxieties  for  his 
little  family  in  New  Haven,  and  says  :  "  How  I  do  long  to  see 
that  dear  little  girl  of  mine,  and  to  hear  her  sweet  prattle !  In- 
struct her  early,  my  dear  wife,  in  the  most  important  of  all  con- 
cerns ;  teach  her  that  there  is  a  great  Father  above,  her  obliga- 
tions to  Him  and  to  her  Saviour.  Kiss  her  often  for  papa,  and 
tell  her  he  will  come  back  one  of  these  days." 

The  work  required  far  more  time  than  he  anticipated.  De- 
cember was  gone  before  the  portraits  of  the  members  were  be- 
gun.    On  the  2d  of  January,  1822,  he  writes : 

"  I  have  commenced  to-day  taking  the  likenesses  of  the  mem- 
bers. I  find  them  not  on]y  willing  to  sit,  but  apparently  esteeming 
it  an  honor.  I  shall  take  seventy  of  them,  and  perhaps  more ;  all, 
if  possible.  I  find  the  picture  is  becoming  the  subject  of  conversa- 
tion, and  every  day  gives  me  greater  encouragement.  I  shall  paint 
it  on  part  of  the  great  canvas  when  I  return  home.  It  will  be 
eleven  feet  by  seven  and  a  half  feet ;  that  will  divide  the  great  can- 
vas exactly  into  two  equal  parts,  on  one  of  which  I  paint  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  the  other  the  Senate.  It  will  take 
me  until  October  next  to  complete  it." 

He  painted  eighty  portraits  on  the  great  picture,  and  on  the 
10th  of  February  left  "Washington.  By  steady  travel  in  the 
stage  he  performed  the  journey  from  Washington  to  New 
Haven  in  six  days,  reaching  his  home  and  family  on  Saturday 
the  16th  of  the  month. 

As  a  work  of  art  this  picture  was  admirable,  but  it  failed 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  public.  The  artist's  expectations 
of  deriving  profit  from  its  exhibition  were  disappointed.  It 
proved  a  loss  to  him  pecuniarily,  and  was  at  length  sold  to  an 
English  gentleman,  who  took  it  to  his  own  country,  where  it  re- 
mained for  several  years.  The  artist  lost  trace  and  knowledge 
of  it.  While  abroad  in  after-years  he  made  inquiries  for  it  in 
vain.  After  the  lapse  of  a.  quarter  of  a  century  he  received  the 
following  letter  from  an  artist  friend  : 


THE   LOST   PICTURE  FOUND.  125 

F.  W.  Edmonds,  Esq.,  to  Prof.  Morse. 

"  New  York,  December  Y,  184*7. 
"My  dear  Sib:  I  was  applied  to  by  a  gentleman  a  few  days 
since  to  call  and  see  your  picture  of  the  'House  of  Representa- 
tives '  which  has  been  sent  to  this  city  from  London  by  a  house 
who  had  advanced  a  sum  of  money  upon  it  while  in  England.  I 
called  upon  Mr.  Durand,  and  he  accompanied  me  on  visiting  it. 
We  found  it  at  the  store  of  Coates  &  Co.,  No.  54  Exchange  Place, 
nailed  against  a  board  partition  in  the  third  story,  almost  invisible 
from  the  dirt  and  dust  upon  it.  It  has  evidently  been  rolled  up, 
and,  having  no  strainer,  its  surface  is  as  uneven  as  the  waves  of  the 
sea.  In  one  place  where  it  has  been  rolled  the  paint  has  pealed 
off  in  a  narrow  but  long  seam,  but  this  is  above  the  heads  of 
the  figures,  and  I  think  can  be  easily  repaired.  Otherwise  the  pict- 
ure seems  in  a  good  condition  if  washed,  stretched,  and  varnished. 
They  (Coates  &  Co.)  hold  it  for  sale,  but  in  its  present  condition 
few,  except  those  very  familiar  with  pictures,  would  look  at  with  a 
view  of  purchasing  it.  I  suggested  to  them  to  wait  till  I  could 
write  to  you  before  they  showed  it,  as  you  would  probably  de- 
sire that  it  should  be  cleaned  and  varnished,  and,  if  you  were 
likely  soon  to  be  in  the  city,  would  perhaps  prefer  doing  it  yourself. 
I  think  it  would  not  cost  over  ten  dollars  to  put  it  in  good  order. 
Excuse  me  for  troubling  you  in  this  matter,  but,  believing  it  to  be 
one  of  the  best  works  ever  painted  by  you,  and  knowing  it  to  be  in- 
valuable as  containing  portraits  of  many  eminent  statesmen  of  this 
country,  I  could  not  patiently  be  silent  while  in  its  present  con- 
dition. 

"  Respectfully  and  truly  yours, 
"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Esq."  "  F.  W.  Edmonds. 

The  picture  was  rescued  from  its  confinement,  and  became 
the  property  of  the  distinguished  artist  Daniel  Huntington, 
Esq.,  in  whose  private  gallery  it  is  preserved. 

In  the  winter  of  1822,  notwithstanding  the  great  expenses 
to  which  Mr.  Morse  had  been  subjected  in  producing  this  pict- 
ure, and  before  he  had  realized  any  thing  from  its  exhibition, 
he  made  a  donation  of  five  hundred  dollars  to  the  library  fund 
of  Yale  College,  probably  the  largest  donation,  in  proportion  to 
the  means  of  the  giver,  which  that  institution  ever  received. 
The  corporation,  by  vote,  presented  the  thanks  of  the  board  in 
the  following  letter : 


126  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

"Yale  College,  December  4,  1822. 
"  Dear  Sir  :  I  am  directed,  by  the  corporation  of  this  college, 
to  present  to  you  the  thanks  of  the  board  for  your  subscription  of 
five  hundred  dollars  for  the  enlargement  of  the  library.    Should  this 
example  of  liberality  be  generally  imitated  by  the  friends  of  the  in- 
stitution, we  should  soon  have  a  library  creditable  to  the  college, 
and  invaluable  to  men  of  literary  and  philosophic  research. 
"  With  respectful  and  grateful  acknowledgments, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"Jeremiah  Day. 
"  Mr.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 


CHAPTEK    Y. 

1823-1828. 

INVENTS  A  MAOHrNE  FOE  GUTTING  MAEBLE — GOES  TO  ALBANY — LITTLE  SUC- 
CESS —  EETUENS  TO  NEW  YOEK — POETEAIT  OF  CHANCELLOE  KENT — 
IOHABOD  CEANE — AEEANGEMENTS  TO  GO  TO  MEXICO  AS  ATTACHE  TO 
THE    LEGATION — LETTEE    FEOM     HON.     EOBEET    T.    HATNE — THE    SCHEME 

ABANDONED — IN  NEW   HAVEN — TEAVELS   IN   NEW   ENGLAND SETTLES    IN 

NEW    TOEK COMMISSIONED    TO    PAINT    POETEAIT  OF   GENEEAL  LAFAYETTE 

— GOES   TO    WASHINGTON — SUDDEN    DEATH   OF   HIS   WIFE — DEATH   OF    HIS 

FATHEE — FOUNDS    THE    NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    DESIGN SKETOH-CLUB 

LETTEE    FEOM    GENEEAL   T.    S.    OUMMINGS LOED    LYNDHUEST'S    LETTEE 

STUDIES     IN     ELEOTEO- MAGNETISM — PEOFESSOE     DANA'S     LEOTUEES — HIS 
OWN  LECTUEES — ESCAPE   FEOM  DEATH. 

THE  inventive  faculty,  so  characteristic  of  the  family  to 
which  Mr.  Morse  belonged,  we  have  already  seen  developed 
in  him.  While  struggling  in  his  profession,  and  having  far  less 
to  do  than  he  desired,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  invention 
of  a  machine  for  carving  marble,  and  by  which  he  hoped  to  be 
able  to  produce  statues — perfect  copies  of  any  model.  Others 
have  attempted  machines  for  similar  purposes,  and  perhaps  with 
no  better  success  than  crowned  his  efforts. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  1823,  while  in  New  Haven,  he  sent 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washington  a  letter  in  the  form  of  a 
caveat,  in  which  he  describes  the  machine  he  had  invented,  and 
his  intention  to  secure  a  patent  for  the  same.  Mr.  Augur,  an 
ingenious  mechanic  of  New  Haven,  was  employed  to  construct 
a  working  machine.  After  ward,  he  used  it  successfully  in  cut- 
ting statues  from  the  solid  marble.  This  machine  is  frequently 
alluded  to  in  his  correspondence,  and  he  looked  to  it  as  a  source 
of  great  pecuniary  profit.     Early  in  February  of  this  same  year 


128  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

Mr.  Morse  went  to  Boston  with  his  picture  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  placed  it  there  upon  exhibition. 

On  the  first  day  the  receipts  were  forty  dollars  and  fifty-five 
cents,  which  sum  was  sufficient  to  encourage  him  that  it  would 
be  successful.  Mr.  Allston  called  to  see  it,  and  Mr.  Morse,  in  a 
letter  to  his  wife,  remarks  that  "  Mr.  Allston  says  it  is  a  mag- 
nificent picture.  He  has  suggested  some  small  improvements, 
which  I  can  make  in  two  days."  But  it  failed  to  excite  public 
attention ;  and,  leaving  it  there  on  exhibition,  he  went,  in  the 
month  of  August,  to  the  city  of  Albany,  N.  T.,  where  he  had 
been  encouraged  to  hope  for  patronage  from  the  public  men. 
He  had  formed  a  pleasant  acquaintance  with  the  Patroon,  the 
Hon.  Stephen  Tan  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  who  was  a  member 
of  Congress  while  Mr.  Morse  was  engaged  in  painting  his  pict- 
ure of  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  immediately  com- 
menced the  portrait  of  the  Patroon,  which  he  designed  to 
exhibit  in  Albany  as  a  specimen  of  his  art.  Day  after  day  he 
waited  patiently  in  hopes  of  winning,  by  the  exhibition  of  the 
portrait,  a  few  at  least  who  might  be  tempted  to  employ  him. 
He  writes  to  his  wife  : 

"I  have  found  lodgings — a  large  front  room  on  the  second 
story,  twenty-five  by  eighteen  feet,  and  twelve  feet  high — a  fine 
room  for  painting,  with  a  neat  little  bedroom,  and  every  conven- 
ience, and  board,  all  for  six  dollars  a  week,  which  I  think  is  very 
reasonable.  My  landlord  is  an  elderly  Irish  gentleman,  with  three 
daughters,  once  in  independent  circumstances,  but  now  reduced. 
Every  thing  bears  the  appearance  of  old-fashioned  gentility,  which 
you  know  I  always  liked.  Every  thing  is  neat  and  clean  and  gen- 
teel. The  family  reside  at  No.  94  North  Pearl  Street.  They  are 
well  acquainted  with  Bishop  Brownell  and  his  lady,  and  say  that 
they  always  call  when  they  come  to  Albany.  Colonel  Baldwin  has 
been  very  kind  and  obliging  to  me.  He  is  in  high  estimation  in 
this  city,  and  deservedly  so.  Elkanah  Watson  is  .not  in  town.  I 
called  on  Rev.  Dr.  Chester,  and  heard  him  preach  to-day.  Bishop 
Hobart  and  a  great  many  acquaintances  were  on  board  of  the  boat 
upon  which  I  came  up  to  this  city.  I  can  form  no  idea  as  yet  of 
the  prospect  of  success  in  my  profession  here.  If  I  get  enough  to 
employ  me,  I  shall  go  no  farther ;  if  not,  I  may  visit  some  of  the 
smaller  towns  in  the  interior  of  the  State.     I  await  with  some  anx- 


PORTRAIT   OF   SENT.  129 

iety  the  result  of  experiments  with  my  machine.     I  hope  the  inven- 
tion may  enable  me  to  remain  at  home." 

On  the  16th  of  August  he  writes : 

"  I  have  not  as  yet  received  any  application  for  a  portrait. 
Many  tell  me  I  have  come  at  the  wrong  time — the  same  tune  that 
has  been  rung  in  my  ears  so  long  !  I  hope  the  right  time  will  come 
by-and-by.  The  winter,  it  is  said,  is  the  proper  season ;  but,  as  it 
is  better  in  the  South  in  that  season,  and  it  will  be  more  profitable 
to  be  there,  I  shall  give  Albany  a  thorough  trial  and  do  my  best. 
If  I  should  not  find  enough  to  employ  me  here,  I  think  I  shall  re- 
turn to  New  York  and  settle  there.  This  I  had  rather  not  do  at 
present,  but  it  may  be  the  best  that  I  can  do.  Roaming  becomes 
more  and  more  irksome.  Imperious  necessity  alone  drives  me  to 
this  course.  Don't  think  by  this  I  am  faint-hearted.  I  shall  per- 
severe in  this  course,  painful  as  is  the  separation  from  my  family, 
until  Providence  clearly  points  out  my  duty  to  return." 

August  2%d. — "  I  have  something  to  do.  I  have  one  portrait 
in  progress,  and  the  promise  of  more.  One  hundred  dollars  will  pay 
all  my  expenses  here  for  three  months,  so  that  the  two  I  am  now 
painting  will  clear  me  in  that  respect,  and  all  that  comes  after  will 
be  clear  gain.  I  am,  therefore,  easier  in  my  mind  as  to  this.  The 
portrait  now  painting  is  Judge  Moss  Kent,  brother  of  the  Chancel- 
lor. He  says  that  I  shall  paint  the  Chancellor  when  he  returns  to 
Albany,  and  his  niece  also;  and,  from  these  particulars,  you  may 
infer  that  I  shall  be  here  for  some  little  time  longer,  just  so  long  as 
my  good  prospects  continue  ;  but,  should  they  fail,  I  am  determined 
to  try  New  York  City,  and  sit  down  there  in  my  profession  perma- 
nently. I  believe  I  have  now  attained  sufficient  proficiency-  to 
venture  there.  My  progress  may  be  slow  at  first,  but  I  believe  it 
will  be  sure.  I  do  not  like  going  South,  and  I  have  given  up  the 
idea  of  New  Orleans  or  any  Southei'n  city,  at  least  for  the  present. 
Circumstances  may  vary  this  determination,  but  I  think  a  settle- 
ment in  New  York  is  more  feasible  now  than  ever  before.  I  shall 
be  near  you  and  home  in  cases  of  emergency,  and  in  the  summer 
and  sickly  season  can  visit  you  at  New  Haven,  while  you  can  do 
the  same  to  me  in  New  York,  until  we  live  again  at  New  Haven 
altogether.  I  leave  out  of  this  calculation  the  machine  for  sculpt- 
ure. If  that  should  entirely  succeed,  my  plans  would  be  materially 
varied ;  but  I  speak  of  my  present  plan  as  if  that  had  failed.  I 
hope  Mr.  Augur  will  not  be  discouraged  by  the  little  minutiae  of 
9 


130  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

the  machine,  but  carry  it  through.  I  should  like  to  have  a  letter 
from  him  on  the  subject,  putting  down  a  list  of  questions  respecting 
marble  and  marble-cutting  which  he  wishes  me  to  ask  of  stone-cut- 
ters, as  there  are  some  here,  and  I  can  gain  much  from  them. 

"  With  respect  to  young  Longworth,  I  should  have  no  objection 
to  take  him  as  a  pupil,  if  I  go  to  New  York,  on  what  terms  I  am 
hardly  prepared  now  to  say.  I  may  find  it  to  be  an  advantage  to 
take  a  number  of  pupils." 

August  24:th. — "  I  finished  Mr.  Kent's  picture  yesterday,  and 
received  the  money  for  it.  Mr.  Kent  is  very  polite  to  me,  and  has 
introduced  me  to  a  number  of  persons  and  families ;  among  others 
to  the  Kanes — very  wealthy  people — to  Governor  Yates,  etc.  Mr. 
Clinton's  son  called  on  me  and  invited  me  to  their  house.  I  have 
been  introduced  to  Senior  Rocafuerto,  the  Spaniard,  who  made  so 
excellent  a  speech  before  the  Bible  Society  last  May.  He  is  a  very 
handsome  man,  very  intelligent,  full  of  wit  and  vivacity.  He  is  a 
great  favorite  with  the  ladies,  and  is  a  man  of  wealth  and  a  zealous 
patriot,  studying  our  manners,  customs,  and  improvements,  with  a 
view  of  benefiting  his  own  countrymen  in  Peru." 

August  27th,  he  writes  again  to  his  wife : 

"  My  last  two  letters  have  held  out  to  you  some  encouraging 
prospects  of  success  here,  but  now  they  seem  darkened  again.  I 
have  had  nothing  to  do  this  week  thus  far  but  to  wait  patiently.  I 
have  advertised  in  both  of  the  city  papers  that  I  should  remain  one 
week  to  receive  applications,  but  as  yet  it  has  produced  no  effect. 
Mr.  Kent's  niece  has  not  arrived  as  expected,  so  that  it  is 
doubtful  whether  I  shall  paint  her ;  but,  as  she  lives  in  New  York, 
and  as  it  is  to  be  for  Mr.  Kent,  I  can  make  arrangements  to  paint  it 
for  him  there.  Chancellor  Kent  is  out  of  town,  and  will  not  be  in 
until  the  end  of  next  month.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  stay  solely 
for  that ;  many  have  been  talking  of  having  their  portraits  painted, 
but  there  it  has"  thus  far  ended.  I  find  nothing  in  Albany  which 
Can  profitably  employ  my  leisure  hours.  If  there  were  any  pictures 
or  statuary  where  I  could  sketch  and  draw,  it  would  be  different. 
I  have  visited  several  families  who  have  been  very  kind  to  me, 
for  which  I  am  thankful.  I  shall  leave  Albany  and  return  to  New 
York  a  week  from  to-day,  if  there  is  no  change  in  my  prospects. 
The  more  I  think  of  making  a  push  at  New  York  as  a  permanent 
place  of  residence  in  my  profession,  the  more  proper  it  seems  that  it 
should  be  at  once.    New  York  does  not  yet  feel  the  influx  of  wealth 


HIS  EASEL  IN  NEW  YORK.  131 

from  the  Western  canals,  but  in  a  year  or  two  she  will  feel  it,  and  it 
will  be  advantageous  to  me  to  be  previously  identified  among  her 
citizens  as  a  painter.  It  requires  some  little  time  to  become  re- 
nowned in  such  a  city." 

All  his  hopes  of  patronage  in  Albany  were  dissipated  ;  and 
on  the  3d  of  September  he  writes  to  his  wife  : 

"  I  have  nothing  to  do,  and  shall  pack  up  on  the  morrow  for 
New  York,  unless  appearances  change  again.  I  have  not  had  full 
employment  since  I  have  been  in  Albany,  and  I  feel  miserable  in 
doing  nothing." 

After  a  brief  visit  with  his  family  at  New  Haven,  he  went 
to  New  York,  to  carry  out  his  purpose  of  making  a  permanent 
settlement  in  that  city  in  the  pursuit  of  his  profession  as  an 
artist.  He  made  the  passage  from  New  Haven  to  New  York 
by  water ;  was  driven  in  by  a  gale  into  Black  Rock  Harbor,  and 
there  detained,  and  the  next  day  completed  the  journey  to  New 
York  by  land.     Writing  home  the  next  day,  he  says  : 

"  I  have  obtained  a  place  to  board  at  friend  Coolidge's,  at  two 
dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  a  week,  and  have  taken  for  my  studio 
a  fine  room  in  Broadway,  opposite  Trinity  Churchyard,  for  which  I 
am  to  pay  six  dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  week,  being  fifty  cents  less 
than  I  expected  to  pay.  I  shall  go  to  work  in  a  few  days  vigor- 
ously. It  is  a  half-mile  from  my  room  to  the  place  where  I  board, 
so  that  I  am  obliged  to  walk  more,  than  three  miles  every  day.  It 
is  good  exercise  for  me,  and  I  feel  better  for  it.  I  sleep  in  my 
room  on  the  floor,  and  put  my  bed  out  of  sight  during  the  day,  as 
at  Washington.  I  feel  in  the  spirit  of  '  buckling  down  to  it,'  and 
am  determined  to  paint  and  study  with  all  my  might  this  winter." 

The  first  portrait  which  he  painted,  after  his  coming  to  New 
York,  was  that  of  the  distinguished  Chancellor  Kent.  He  says 
of  the  Chancellor : 

"  He  is  not  a  good  sitter ;  he  scarcely  presents  the  same  view 
twice ;  he  is  very  impatient,  and  you  well  know  that  I  cannot  paint 
an  impatient  person ;  I  must  have  my  mind  at  ease  or  I  cannot 
paint.  I  have  no  more  applications  as  yet,  but  it  is  not  time  to 
expect  them.  All  the  artists  are  complaining,  and  there  are  many 
of  them,  and  they  are  all  poor.     The  arts  are  as  low  as  they  can  be* 


132  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

It  is  no  better  at  the  South,  and  all  the  accounts  of  the  arts  or 
artists  are  of  the  most  discouraging  nature." 

And  in  successive  letters  to  his  wife  he  says : 

"  I  waited  many  days  in  the  hope  of  some  application  in  my 
profession,  but  have  been  disappointed,  until  last  evening  I  called 
and  spent  the  evening  with  my  friend  Mr.  Van  Schaick,  and  told 
him  I  had  thought  of  painting  some  little  design  from  the  '  Sketch- 
Book,'  so  as  not  to  be  idle,  and  mentioned  the  subject  of  '  Ichabod 
Crane  discovering  the  headless  horseman.'  He  said  :  '  Paint  it  for 
me,  and  another  picture  of  the  same  size,  and  I  will  take  them  of 
you.'  So  I  am  now  employed.  I  shall  want  immediately  the  little 
plaster  cast  of  the  horse,  which  is  at  my  painting-room.  I  have  re- 
ceived Mr.  Augur's  letter.  It  is  a  very  encouraging  one.  All  the 
difficulties  that  he  complains  of  are  unconnected  with  the  invention,  • 
and  those  which  we  apprehended  have  not  been  realized,  so  that 
here  is  fresh  cause  for  gratitude.  My  secret  scheme  is  not  yet  dis- 
closable,  but  I  shall  let  you  know  as  soon  as  I  hear  any  thing 
definite." 

"  You  will  be  anxious  to  know  what  I  am  doing.  The  answer 
is  very  simple — '  Nothing?  I  am  waiting  for  applications,  but  none 
offer.  The  chancellor's  picture  and  Mr.  Dewey's  have  been  finished 
about  a  week  ;  and,  as  far  as  painting  is  concerned,  I  am  completely 
idle,  and  of  course  a  little  low-spirited.  I  have  been  active  in  call- 
ing on  my  friends  and  inviting  them  to  my  room  ;  they  have  prom- 
ised to  come,  but  as  yet  few  have  called.  As  far  as  human  fore- 
sight can  perceive,  my  prospects"  seem  gloomy  indeed.  The  only 
gleam  of  hope — and  I  cannot  underrate  it — is  from  confidence  in 
God.  When  I  look  upward,  it  calms  my  apprehensions  for  the 
future,  and  I  seem  to  hear  a  voice  saying  :  '  If  I  clothe  the  lilies  of 
the  field,  shall  I  not  also  clothe  you  ? '  Here  is  my  strong  confidence, 
and  I  will  wait  patiently  for  the  direction  of  Providence.  I  have 
seen  many  of  the  artists ;  they  all  agree  that  little  is  doing  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  It  seems  wholly  given  to  commerce.  Every 
man  is  driving  at  one  object  —  the  making  of  money — not  the 
spending  of  it.  - 

"What  is  Mr.  Augur  doing  with  the  machine?  Is  he  still  san- 
guine.-?   I  should  be  glad  to  hear  from  him." 

"  My  secret  scheme  looks  promising,  but  I  am  still  in  suspense ; 
you  shall  know  the  moment  it  is  decided  one  way  or  the  other.  I 
met  with  a  singular  accident  to-day.     You  recollect  I  complained 


OUT    OF  FUNDS.  133 

of  a  little  bone  being  out  of  place  in  my  left  hand,  which  pained  me 
when  I  touched  it.  To-day  in  coming  out  of  the  house  I  slipped 
down,  and  came  with  my  whole  weight  upon  my  left  hand.  I  felt 
something  snap,  and  experienced  a  good  deal  of  pain  in  it  for  a  few 
moments ;  upon  examining  my  hand,  I  found,  to  my  surprise,  that 
this  bone  had  snapped  into  its  place,  and  in  about  half  an  hour  the 
pain  left  me,  and  my  hand  is  as  well  as  it  ever  was." 

The  straits  to  which  he  was  reduced,  and  his  plans  for  the 
future,  are  developed  in  the  following  letter : 

"  New  York,  December  21,  1823. 

"  My  dear  Wife  :  .  .  .  Last  Saturday  we  had  a  meeting  at  a 
private  house.  Dr.  Milnor  was  present,  and  made  an  address.  While 
engaged  there,  a  thief  slipped  into  the  entry  where  were  our  hats 
and  coats,  but,  being  discovered,  he  made  a  precipitate  retreat,  and 
carried  with  him  my  hat.  The  circumstance  was  not  known  to  us  till 
we  were  ready  to  go ;  no  other  gentleman  lost  any  thing.  Had 
they  taken  Edward's  surtoUt,  they  would  have  deranged  his  whole 
business,  as  all  his  memoranda  and  accounts  were  in  the  pocket  of 
it.  The  act  was  a  very  audacious  one,  and  to  me  a  serious  loss,  as  I 
had  to  purchase  immediately  another  hat,  which  cost  four  dol- 
lars, and  obliged  me  to  break  the  last  five-dollar  bill  I  have. 

"  My  cash  is  almost  gone,  and  I  begin  to  feel  some  anxietjr  and 
perplexity  to  know  what  to  do.  I  have  advertised,  and  visited,  and 
hinted,  and  pleaded,  and  even  asked  one  man  to  sit,  but  all  to  no 
purpose.  I  have  been  stopped,  too,  in  the  pictures  for  Mr.  Van  S., 
by  the  delay  of  the  packet  having  the  little  horse  on  board ;  the 
Paragon  has  not  yet  arrived.  My  expenses,  with  the  most  rigid 
economy  too,  are  necessarily  great ;  my  rent  to-morrow  will  amount 
to  thirty-three  dollars,  and  I  have  nothing  to  pay  it  with.  What  can 
I  do  ?  I  have  been  here  five  weeks,  and  there  is  not  the  smallest 
prospect  now  of  any  difference  as  to  business.  I  am  willing  to  stay, 
and  wish  to  stay,  if  there  is  any  thing  to  do.  The  pictures  that  I 
am  painting  for  Mr.  V.  S.  will  not  pay  my  expenses  if  painted  here  ; 
my  rent  and  board  would  eat  it  all  up.  I  have  thought  of  various 
plans,  but  what  to  decide  upon  I  am  completely  at  a  loss,  nor  can  I 
decide,  until  I  hear  definitely  from  Washington  in  regard  to  my 
Mexico  expedition.  Since  brother  Sidney  has  hinted  it  to  you,  I 
will  tell  you  the  state  of  it.  I  wrote  to  General  Van  Rensselaer,  Mr. 
Poinsett,  and  Colonel  Hayne  of  the  Senate,  applying  for  some  situ- 
ation in  the  legation  to  Mexico  soon  to  be  sent  thither.    I  stated  my 


134  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

object  in  going,  and  my  wish  to  go  free  of  expense,  and  under  gov- 
ernment protection.  I  received  a  letter  a  few  days  ago  from  Gen- 
eral Van  Rensselaer,  in  which  he  says  :  '  I  immediately  laid  your  re- 
quest before  the  President,  and  seconded  it  with  my  warmest  rec- 
ommendations. It  is  impossible  to  predict  the  result  at  present. 
If  our  friend  Mr.  Poinsett  is  appointed  minister,  which  his  friends 
are  pressing,  he  will  no  doubt  be  happy  to  have  you  in  his  suite.' 

"  Thus  the  case  rests  at  present :  if  Mr.  Poinsett  is  appointed,  I 
shall  probably  go  to  Mexico ;  if  not,  it  will  be  more  doubtful.  I 
have  placed  it  on  this  ground,  that  I  am  to  be  at  no  expense  in 
getting  there,  and  back  again ;  so  that,  if  I  fail  in  the  objects  of  my 
visit  there,  I  am  at  no  expense,  and  I  am  also  under  government 
protection,  should  the  country  be  in  a  revolutionary  state  and  un- 
safe for  other  strangers.  If  I  go,  I  should  take  my  picture  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  which,  in  the  present  state  of  favorable 
feeling  toward  our  country,  I  should  probably  dispose  of  to  advan- 
tage. All  accounts  that  I  hear  from  Mexico  are  in  the  highest  de- 
gree favorable  to  my  enterprise,  and  I  hear  much  from  various 
quarters." 

December  29th. — "  I  am  waiting  with  some  anxiety  for  news 
from  Washington.  There  is  no  guessing  when  the  President  will 
make  his  appointment.  It  rests  with  him.  My  way,  however,  is 
plain  :  I  see  present  duty,  and  that  is  as  much  as  I  ought  to  desire." 

In  the  midst  of  his  discouragements  lie  had  determined  to 
go  if  possible,  to  Mexico,  and  establish  himself  in  his  profession 
in  the  capital.  Having  met  Mr.  Poinsett,  the  former  American 
minister  to  that  country,  and  formed  with  him  a  pleasant  ac- 
quaintance, he  had  learned  much  from  him  in  relation  to  Mex- 
ico, and  had  been  encouraged  to  believe  that  he  might  succeed 
in  that  comparatively  untried  field  of  professional  labor. 

He  submitted  to  Mr.  Poinsett  a  series  of  written  questions, 
and  had  received  from  him  written  answers,  giving  the  most 
minute  information  in  relation  to  the  prospects  of  success  in 
that  country,  and  the  preparation  which  it  would  be  necessary 
for  him  to  make  for  the  journey.  Through  his  friend  General 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  and  others,  he  hoped,  and 
with  good  reason,  to  be  able  to  procure  an  appointment  to  Mex- 
ico on  the  legation  about  to  be  sent  to  that  country.  Strong 
hopes  were  entertained  that  Mr.  Poinsett  himself  would  be  ap- 


KOBERT  Y.   HAYNE.  135 

pointed  minister ;  but,  after  great  delay,  the  mission  was  given 
to  the  Hon.  Ninian  Edwards,  of  Illinois. 

These  negotiations  in  relation  to  the  appointment  occupied 
several  months,  during  which  time  Mr.  Morse  was  kept  in  a 
state  of  the  greatest  anxiety;  and,  not  until  the  middle  of 
March,  was  it  finally  settled  that  he  should  be  attached  to  the 
legation.  A  note  from  the  Hon.  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  the  dis- 
tinguished Senator  from  South  Carolina,  whose  name  is  asso- 
ciated in  history  with  that  of  Webster  and  the  great  debate  on 
State  rights  in  the  Senate,  informed  Mr.  Morse  of  his  appoint- 
ment. He  says :  "  Governor  Edwards's  suite  consists  of  Mr. 
Mason,  of  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia,  secretary  of  the 
legation ;  Mr.  Hodgson,  of  Virginia,  private  secretary,  and 
yourself  attache"  Mr.  Hayne  addressed  to  Mr.  Morse  the 
following  letter,  which  contains  material  of  interest  in  connec- 
tion with  the  politics  of  that  day : 

Hon.  B.    Y.  Hayne  to  8.  F.  B.  Morse. 

'  "Washington,  March  15,  1824. 
"  Dear  Sib  :  Having  a  few  moments  at  command,  I  hasten  to 
answer  yours  of  the  9th  inst.  The  movement  in  Pennsylvania  took 
place  without  the  knowledge  or  concurrence  of  Mr.  Calhoun  or  of 
his  friends  here.  The  first  step  was  as  unexpected  to  us  as  it 
could  have  been  to  you.  It  was .  a  spontaneous  movement  of  Mr. 
Calhoun's  friends  in  Pennsylvania,  founded  on  a  conviction  that  they 
could  not  successfully  oppose  General  Jackson,  and  believing  that 
it  was  necessary  to  concentrate  on  him,  in  order  to  defeat  Craw- 
ford. Pennsylvania  was  the  foundation  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  hopes — 
and,  that  being  taken  away,  it  is  the  duty  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  friends 
to  admit  that  his  prospects  of  the  presidency  are  destroyed ;  those 
who  supported  him,  therefore,  will  have  to  decide  for  themselves 
what  is  next  to  be  done.  In  South  Carolina,  Jackson  is  by  far  the 
most  popular  man,  and  will  doubtless  be  supported.  I  think  the 
great  object  ought  to  be  to  defeat  Crawford.  If  Adams  be  the 
only  man  who  can  accomplish  that  in  New  England,  he  ought,  I 
think,  to  be  supported  there.  A  friendly  feeling  should  be  cherished 
by  the  friends  of  all  the  anti-caucus  candidates  ;  the  common  cause 
must  not  be  jeopardized  by  disputes  among  them.  I  will  confess 
that  I  prefer  Jackson  to  any  candidate  except  Calhoun.  I  think 
you  have  a  very  mistaken  impression  of   him  in  New  England. 


136  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

I  am  satisfied  that,  in  good  sense,  practical  knowledge,  and  even 
in  temper,  he  is  decidedly  superior  to  Adams  or  Crawford.  The 
general's  conduct  and  deportment  here  have  secured  him  many- 
friends,  and  when  his  conduct  is  examined  in  those  respects  in  which 
it  has  been  censured,  I  feel  assured  that  it  will  be  found  that  in 
many  instances  facts  have  been  mistaken,  and  in  others  that  he 
can  be  fully  justified.  I  think  he  will  be  a  safe  President,  sur- 
rounded by  an  able  cabinet.  I  think  his  prospect  for  the  presi- 
dency is  at  present  decidedly  the  best. 

"I  will  with  great  pleasure  see  Mr.  Edwards  on  the  subject  of 
your  application,  and  will  exert  any  influence  I  may  possess  in  your 
behalf.  Remember  me  to  your  venerable  father  and  Mrs.  Morse,  and 
for  yourself  receive  the  assurance  of  the  great  respect  and  esteem 
of  yours, 

"  ROBERT   Y.    HaYNE." 

General  Tan  Rensselaer,  in  "Washington,  wrote  to  him : 

"  I  congratulate  you  on  your  prospect  of  visiting  Mexico,  and  I 
hope  you  will  meet  with  success  in  your  enterprise.  The  minister 
is  absent  on  a  visit  to  Philadelphia.  I  will  endeavor  to  procure  a 
letter  from  Colonel  Gometz  or  Colonel  Polilatie ;  Mr.  Poinsett  thinks 
it,  however,  unnecessary.  If  you  could  send  me,  without  much 
trouble,  a  seed  of  the  arbor  de  las  manitas,  or  '  hand-tree,'  you 
would  oblige  me.*  I  wish  you  a  pleasant  voyage  and  journey,  and 
safe  return." 

One  of  his  relatives  writes  to  him,  in  reference  to  his  pro- 
posed expedition  to  Mexico :  "  I  think  the  experiment  worth 
making ;  there  is  every  thing  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose,"  which 
happily  presents  the  desperate  condition  of  his  affairs. 

He  continnes  the  story  : 

"I  left  home  on  the  5th  of  April,  1824,  for  "Washington  and 
Mexico,  accompanied  by  my  father,  wife,  and  sister,  as  far  as  New 
York.  On  the  7th  they  returned  to  New  Haven,  and  I  proceeded 
on  my  way  to  Philadelphia,  with  my  heart  too  full  of  the  various 
saddening  emotions  which  naturally  occur  to  one  who  has  parted 
with  his  dearest  friends  for  a  long  and  uncertain  period,  to  enjoy 
either  the  country  through  which  I  passed  or  the  society  of  my 
fellow-passengers.  A  thousand  affecting  incidents  of  separation 
from  my  beloved  family  crowded  upon  my  recollection.     The  un- 


EXPEDITION  ABANDONED.  137 

conscious  gayety  of  my  dear  children  as  they  frolicked  in  all  their 
wonted  playfulness,  too  young-  to  sympathize  in  the  pangs  that 
agitated  their  distressed  parents;  their  artless  request  to  bring 
home  some  trifling  toy,  the  parting  kiss,  not  understood  as  meaning 
more  than  usual ;  the  tears  and  sad  farewells  of  father,  mother, 
wife,  sister,  family,  friends ;  the  desolateness  of  every  room,  as  the 
parting  glance  is  thrown  on  each  familiar  object,  and  farewell,  fare- 
well, seemed  written  on  the  very  walls— all  these  things  bear  upon 
my  memory ;  and  I  realize  the  declaration  that  c  the  places  which 
now  know  us  shall  know  us  no  more.' " 

With,  these  sorrowful  reflections,  Mr.  Morse  pursued,  his 
journey,  only  to  find  in  Washington  that  political  reasons,  long 
since  forgotten,  prevented  Mr.  Edwards  from  going  to  Mexico, 
and  the  expedition  was  abandoned.  Disappointment  was  thus 
far  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception  of  his  life.  He  writes  to 
his  wife  from  Washington,  April  22,  1824 : 

"  I  hardly  know  what  to  say,  or  think,  or  do.  I  went  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  this  morning,  to  hear  the  report  of  the 
committee  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Edwards.  They  stated  it  was  neces- 
sary to  a  full  investigation,  to  have  Mr,  Edwards  present,  who  is 
now  absent  in  Illinois.  Mr.  Randolph,  one  of  the  committee,  in- 
formed the  House  that  a  warrant  was  already  issued  to  detain  him, 
and  that  a  messenger  was  on  the  way  to  serve  it.  Thus  am  I 
placed  in  a  most  unpleasant  state  ;  one  which  no  human  foresight 
could  predict  or  provide  against.  Some  say  that  I  shall  be  detained 
for  more  than  a  month,  and  advise  me  to  go  home  and  wait ;  others 
advise  me  to  give  up  going ;  and  others  to  go  on  without  the  lega- 
tion. Among  the  latter  is  Mr.  Poinsett."  The  next  day  he  writes : 
"  I  have  seen  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  had  a 
conversation  with  them-  on  the  subject  of  the  detention  of  the  lega- 
tion. The  President  told  me  explicitly  that  there  would  be  a  delay 
of  five  or  six  weeks  at  least,  and  perhaps  of  some  months.  It  was 
intimated  that  it  might  be  necessary  to  send  the  secretary  of  the 
legation  without  the  minister  for  the  present.  In  that  case  we 
should  sail  from  New  York." 

But  it  was  finally  determined  that  the  legation  should  not 
be  sent,  and  Mr.  Morse  returned  to  his  family  in  New  Haven. 
The  summer  was  spent  there,  and  in  Concord,  Portsmouth,  and 
Portland,  whither  he  went  for  the  purpose  of  painting  portraits 


138  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

of  particular  individuals,  who  applied  to  him  to  come  for  that 
purpose.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  he  resumed  his  professional 
labors  in  the  city  of  Isew  York,  and  for  a  time  had  his  family 
with  him  there.  His  studio,  was  at  number  96  Broadway.  He 
lodged  in  his  studio,  and  boarded  at  Mrs.  Thompson's.  He  re- 
ceived as  his  pupils  some  young  men,  who  afterward  attained 
distinction  in  their  professions,  among  them  were  Field  and 
Agate.     In  December,  he  writes : 

"  I  am  going  on  prosperously,  through  the  kindness  of  Provi- 
dence in  raising  up  many  friends,  who  are  exerting  themselves  in 
my  favor.  My  storms  are  partly  over,  and  a  clear  and  pleasant  day 
is  dawning  upon  me. 

"Mr.  Auger's  bust  of  the  'Apollo,'  made  with  my  machine,  is 
very  much  admired;  and,  in  the  Statesman  of  this  evening,  there 
is  a  handsome  notice  of  it  by  Mr.  Carter,  who  called  to  see  it.  I 
hope  I  may  be  able  to  sell  it  for  Mr.  Auger.  I  have  put  the  price 
at  three  hundred  dollars  ;  but  I  think,  although  it  is  worth  that 
and  more,  that,  in  consequence  of  the  defects  in  the  marble,  it  can- 
not be  sold  for  so  much.     This  work  does  him  the  greatest  credit." 

These  expectations,  so  cheerfully  expressed  in  this  letter  to 
his  wife,  were  still  further  heightened  by  his  receiving  a  com- 
mission from  the  corporation  of  the  city  of  New  York  to  paint 
a  portrait  of  General  Lafayette,  who  was  at  this  time  on  a  visit 
to  the  United  States.  Lafayette  was  in  Washington,  and  thither 
Mr.  Morse  resorted,  after  having,  by  correspondence,  arrangeu 
for  the  time  which  could  be  given  to  him  by  the  General  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  his  portrait.  Mr.  Morse  was  received  by 
him  with  great  kindness,  and  the  acquaintance  then  commenced 
was  continued  until  the  death  of  Lafayette. 

Mr.  Morse's  letters  to  Mrs.  Morse  furnish  the  best  account 
of  his  struggles  and  success  at  this  critical  period  in  his  his- 
tory: 

"New  York,  January  4,  1825. 
"  You  will  rejoice  with  me,  I  know,  in  my  continued  and  in- 
creasing success.  I  have  just  learned  in  confidence  from  one  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  of  the  corporation  appointed  to  procure 
a  full-length  portrait  of  Lafayette,  that  they  have  designated  me 
as  the  painter  of  it,  and  that  a  sub-committee  was  appointed  to 
wait  on  me  with  the  information.     They  will  probably  call  to-mor- 


PORTRAIT   OF   LAFAYETTE.  139 

row ;  but,  until  it  is  thus  officially  announced  to  me,  I  wish  the 
thing  kept  secret,  except  to  the  family,  until  I  write  you  more 
definitely  on  the  subject,  which  I  will  do  the  moment  the  terms, 
etc.,  are  settled  with  the  committee.  I  shall  probably  be  under  the 
necessity  of  going  to  Washington  to  take  it  immediately  (the 
corporation,  of  course,  paying  my  expenses),  but  of  this  in  my  next. 
If  I  go  on  to  Washington,  I  shall  not  probably  be  in  New  Haven 
till  the  1st  of  February,  but  shall  make  a  great  effort  to  be  there 
before.  I  shall  write  you  fully  of  my  determination  and  plans  the 
moment  they  are  formed. 

"New  York,  January  6,  1825. 

"  I  have  been  officially  notified  of  my  appointment  to  paint  the 
full-length  portrait  of  Lafayette,  for  the  city  of  New  York,  so 
that  you  may  make  it  as  public  as  you  please.  The  terms  are  not 
definitely  settled ;  the  committee  are  disposed  to  be  very  liberal.  I 
shall  have  at  least  seven  hundred  dollars — probably  one  thousand. 
I  have  to  wait  until  an  answer  can  be  received  from  Washington 
from  Lafayette  to  know  when  he  can  see  me ;  the  answer  will 
arrive,  probably,  on  Wednesday  morning;  after  that  I  can  deter- 
mine what  to  do  about  going  on ;  the  only  thing  I  fear  is,  that  it  is 
going  to  deprive  me  of  my  dear  Lucretia.  Recollect  the  old  lady's 
saying,  often  quoted  by  mother,  '  There  is  never  a  convenience  but 
there  ain't  one.'     I  long  to  see  you. 

"  Mr.  Auger's  bust  is  exciting  great  attention  and  admiration, 
as  will  be  seen  by  the  New  York  papers.  I  cannot  but  hope  I  shall 
be  able  to  dispose  of  it  for  him.  Tell  him  I  shall  hold  it  at  three 
hundred  dollars,  and  he  ought  not  to  let  it  go  for  one  cent  less. 

"  I  have  made  an  arrangement  with  Mr.  Durand  to  have  an 
engraving  of  Lafayette's  portrait ;  I  receive  half  the  profits.  Van- 
derlyn,  Sully,  Peale,  Jarvis,  Waldo,  Inman,  Ingham,  and  some 
others,  were  my  competitors  in  the  application  for  this  picture." 

"New  York,  January  8,  1825. 
"Your  letter  of  the  5th  I  have  just  received,  and  one  from  the 
committee  of  medical  students,  engaging  me  to  paint  Dr.  Smith's 
portrait  for  them  when  I  come  to  New  Haven.  They  are  to  give 
me  one  hundred  dollars.  I  have  written  them  that  I  should  be  in 
New  Haven  by  the  1st  of  February,  or,  at  farthest,  by  the  6th. 
So  that  it  is  only  prolonging  for  a  little  longer,  my  dear  wife,  the 
happy  meeting  which  I  anticipated  by  the  25th  of  this  month. 
Events  are  not  under  our  own  control.     When   I   consider  how 


140  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   P.   B.   MORSE. 

wonderfully  things  are  working  for  the  promotion  of  the  great  and 
long-desired  event — that  of  being  constantly  with  my  dear  family — 
all  unpleasant  feelings  are  absorbed  in  this  joyful  anticipation,  and 
I  look  forward  to  the  spring  of  the  year  with  delightful  prospects 
of  seeing  my  dear  family  permanently  settled  with  me  in  our  own 
hired  house  here.  There  are  more  encouraging  prospects  than  I 
can  trust  to  paper  at  present,  which  must  be  left  for  your  private 
ear,  and  which  in  magnitude  are  far  more  valuable  than  any  en- 
couragement yet  made  known  to  you.  Let  us  look  with  thankful 
hearts  to  the  Giver  of  all  these  blessings." 

"Washington,  February  8,  1825. 

"  I  arrived  safely  in  this  city  last  evening.  I  find  I  have  no  time 
to  lose,  as  the  marquis  will  leave  here  the  23d.  I  have  seen  him, 
and  am  to  breakfast  with  him  to-morrow,  and  to  commence  his  por- 
trait. If  he  allows  me  time  sufficient,  I  have  no  fear  as  to  the  re- 
sult. He  has  a  noble  face.  In  this  I  am  disappointed,  for  I  had 
heard  that  his  features  were  not  good.  On  the  contrary  if  there  is 
any  truth  in  expression  or  character,  there  never  was  a  more  perfect 
example  of  accordance  between  the  face  and  the  character.  He 
has  all  that  noble  firmness  and  consistency,  for  which  he  has  been 
so  distinguished  strongly  indicated  in  his  whole  face.  While  he 
was  reading  my  letters  I  could  not  but  call  to  mind  the  leading 
events  of  his  truly  eventful  life.  'This  is  the  man  now  before  me, 
the  very  man,'  thought  I,  '  who  suffered  in  the  dungeon  of  Olmutz ; 
the  very  man  who  took  the  oaths  of  the  new  constitution  for  so 
many  millions,  while  the  eyes  of  thousands  were  fixed  upon  him 
(and  which  is  so  admirably  described  in  the  life  which  I  read  to 
you  just  before  I  left  home)  ;  the  very  man  who  spent  his  youth, 
his  fortune,  and  his  time,  to  bring  about  (under  Providence)  our 
happy  Revolution ;  the  friend  and  companion  of  Washington,  the 
terror  of  tyrants,  the  firm  •  and  consistent  supporter  of  liberty ;  the 
man  whose  beloved  name  has  rung  from  one  end  of  this  continent 
to  the  other,  whom  all  flock  to  see,  whom  all  delight  to  honor ;  this 
is  the  man,  the  very  identical  man  ! '  My  feelings  were  almost  too 
powerful  for  me,  as  I  shook  him  by  the  hand,  and  received  the 
greeting  of,  '  Sir,  I  am  exceedingly  happy  in  your  acquaintance,  and 
especially  on  such  an  occasion.' 

"  I  attended  the  debates  to-da}-.  The  House  was  principally,  if 
not  wholly,  occupied  in  discussing  the  measures  for  balloting  for 
President.     The  next  day  after  to-morrow  will  be  the  great  day. 


PRESIDENTS  LEVEE.  141 

From  all  I  can  learn  there  is  scarcely  a  doubt  but  the  choice  will 
fall  on  Mr.  Adams." 

[!No  choice  having  been  made  by  the  people,  the  election 
went  to  the  House  of  Bepresentatives,  and  John  Quincy  Adams 
was  elected.] 

"  Washington,  February  10,  1825. 

"  I  went  last  evening  to  the  President's  levee,  the  last  which  Mr. 
Monroe  will  hold  as  President  of  the  United  States.  There  was  a 
great  crowd,  and  a  great  number  of  distinguished  characters,  among 
whom  were  General  Lafayette,  the  President-elect,  J.  Q.  Adams, 
Mr.  Calhoun,  the  Vice-President-elect,  General  Jackson,  etc.  I  paid 
my  respects  to  Mr.  Adams,  and  congratulated  him  on  his  election. 
He  seemed,  in  some  degree,  to  shake  off  his  habitual  reserve,  and, 
although  he  endeavored  to  suppress  his  feelings  of  gratification  at  his 
success,  it  was  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  he  felt  in  high  spirits 
on  the  occasion.  General  Jackson  went  up  to  him,  and,  shaking 
him  by  the  hand,  congratulated  him  cordially  on  his  election.  The 
general  bears  his  defeat  like  a  man,  and  has  shown,  I  think,  by  this 
act,  a  nobleness  of  mind  which  will  command  the  respect  of  those 
who  have  been  most  opposed  to  him.  The  excitement  (if  it  may  be 
called  such)  on  this  great  question,  in  Washington,  is  over,  and 
every  thing  is  moving  on  in  its  accustomed  channel  again.  All 
seem  to  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  order  and  decorum  pre- 
served through  the  whole  of  this  imposing  ceremony,  and  the  good 
feeling  which  seems  to  prevail,  with  but  trivial  exceptions,  is 
thought  to  augur  well  in  behalf  of  the  new  administration. 

"  I  went,  last  night,  in  a  carriage  with  four  others — Captain 
Chauncey,  of  the  Navy ;  Mr.  Cooper,  the  celebrated  author  of  the 
popular  American  novels;  Mr.  Causici  (pronounced  Cau-see-chee), 
the  sculptor;  and  Mr.  Owen,  of  Lanark,  the  celebrated  philanthro- 
pist. Mr.  Cooper  remarked  that  we  had  on  board  a  more  singularly- 
selected  company,  he  believed,  than  any  carriage  at  the  door  of  the 
President's,  viz. :  a  misanthropist  (such  he  called  Captain  Chauncey, 
brother  of  the  commodore),  a  philanthropist  (Mr.  Owen),  &  painter 
(myself),  a  sculptor  (Mr.  Causici),  and  an  author  (himself). 

"  The  Mr.  Owen  mentioned  above  is  the  very  man  I  sometimes 
met  at  Mr.  Wilberforce's  in  London,  and  who  was  present  at  the 
interesting  scene  I  have  often  related  that  occurred  at  Mr.  Wilber- 
force's. He  recollected  the  circumstance,  and  recognized  me,  as  I 
did  him,  instantly,  although  it  is  twelve  years  ago. 


142  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

"  I  am  making  progress  with  the  general,  but  am  much  per- 
plexed for  want  of  time ;  I  mean  his  time.  He  is  so  harassed  by 
visitors,  and  has  so  many  letters  to  write,  that  I  find  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  do  the  subject  justice.  I  give  him,  the  last  sitting  in 
'Washington  to-morrow,  reserving  another  sitting  or  two  when  he 
visits  New  York  in  July  next.  I  have  gone  on  thus  far  to  my  satis- 
faction, and  do  not  doubt  but  I  shall  succeed  entirely,  if  I  am 
allowed  the  requisite  number  of  sittings.  The  general  is  very 
agreeable.  He  introduced  me  to  his  son,  by  saying :  '  This  is  Mr. 
Morse,  the  painter;  the  son  of  the  geographer;  he  has  come  to 
Washington  to  take  the  topography  of  my  face.'  He  thinks  of 
visiting  New  Haven  again,  when  he  returns  from  Boston.  He  re- 
gretted not  having  seen  more  of  it  when  he  was  there,  as  he  was 
much  pleased  with  the  place.  He  remembers  Prof.  Silliman  and 
others,  with  great  affection.  I  have  left  but  little  room  in  this  let- 
ter to  express  my  affection  for  my  dearly-loved  wife  and  children ; 
but,  of  that,  I  need  not  assure  them.  I  long  to  hear  from  you ; 
but  direct  your  letters  next  to  New  York,  as  I  shall  probably  be 
there  by  the  end  of  next  week,  or  the  beginning  of  the  succeeding 
one.  Love  to  all  the  family,  and  friends  and  neighbors.  Your 
affectionate  husband,  as  ever." 

Alas,  for  all  human  hopes !  One  more  sitting,  and  the 
proud  artist  was  to  return  to  Ms  beloved  wife.  A  letter  from 
his  father  brings  to  him  the  overwhelming  intelligence  of  her 
sudden  death ! 

Hev.  Dr.  Morse  to  his  Son. 

"New  Haven,  February  8,  1825. 

"  My  affectionately-beloved  Son  :  Mysterious  are  the  ways 
of  Providence.  My  heart  is  in  pain  and  deeply  sorrowful,  while  1 
announce  to  you  the  sudden  and  unexpected  death  of  your  dear 
and  deservedly-loved  wife.  Her  disease  proved  to  be  an  affection* 
of  the  heart — incurable,  had  it  been  known.  Dr.  Smith's  letter, 
accompanying  this,  will  explain  all  you  will  desire  to  know  on  this 
subject.  I  wrote  you  yesterday  that  she  was  convalescent.  So 
she  then  appeared,  and  so  the  doctor  pronounced.  She  was  up 
about  five  o'clock  yesterday  afternoon,  to  have  her  bed  made,  as 
visual ;  was  unusually  cheerful  and  social ;  spoke  of  the  pleasure  of 
being  with  her  dear  husband  in  New  York,  ere  long ;  stepped  into 
bed  herself;  fell  back,  with  a  momentary  struggle,  on  her  pillow; 
her   eyes   were  immediately   fixed,  the  paleness   of    death   over- 


A  FATHER'S   LETTER.  143 

spread  her  countenance,  and  in  five  minutes  more,  without  the 
slightest  motion,  her  mortal  life  terminated.  It  happened  that, 
just  at  this  moment  I  was  entering  her  chamber-door  with  Charles 
in  my  arms,  to  pay  her  my  usual  visit,  and  to  pray  with  her.  The 
nurse  met  me  affrighted,  calling  for  help.  Your  mother,  the  family, 
and  neighbors,  full  of  the  tenderest  sympathy  and  kindness,  and  the 
doctors,  thronged  the  house  in  a  few  minutes ;  every  thing  was  done 
that  could  be  done,  to  save  her  life.  But  her  '  appointed  time '  had 
come,  and  no  earthly  skill  or  power  could  stay  the  hand  of  death. 
It  was  the  Lord  who  gave  her  to  you,  the  chiefest  of  all  your 
earthly  blessings,  and  it  is  He  that  has  taken  her  away ;  and  may 
you  be  enabled,  my  son,  from  the  heart  to  say,  '  Blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord  ! '  Go  directly  to  Him  who  alone  can  give  you 
effectual  help  in  time  of  need.  Think  of  Jesus  at  the  house  of 
Martha  and  Mary,  on  the  death  of  their  brother — whom  Jesus 
loved — how  he  pitied  them,  wept  with  them,  and  comforted  them. 
This  same  Jesus,  with  the  like  feelings  which  he  manifested  on 
this  occasion,  still  lives  at  the  right  hand  of  his  Father,  is  touched 
with  the  feelings  of  his  afflicted  children,  and  pleads  effectually 
with  his  Father  in  their  behalf.  When  the  disciples  had  buried 
John  the  Baptist,  '  they  went  and  told  Jesus.'  Go,  my  afflicted 
son,  and  tell  him  your  sorrow,  of  the  loss  you  have  sustained.  He 
loves  to  have  his  disciples  manifest  this  affectionate  confidence  in 
him,  and  to  come  and  tell  him  all  their  troubles.  He  will  direct 
and  comfort  you.  Pursuing  this  course,  you  will  surely  find  the 
most  solid  support,  and  in  no  other  is  it  to  be  found.  Our  neighbors 
are  full  of  sympathy  for  us,  and  manifest  it  in'  all  ways  best  adapted 
to  comfort  us.  For  you  the}7  express  the  tenderest  feelings,  with 
many  tears,  and  they  cheerfully  promise  to  remember  you  in  their 
prayers.  I  have  no  doubt  these  prayers  will  be  heard,  and  that 
you  will  have  the  comfort  of  them.  The  shock  to  the  whole  fam- 
ily is  far  beyond,  in  point  of  severity,  that  of  any  we  have  ever  be- 
fore felt ;  but  we  are  becoming  composed,  we  hope,  on  grounds  which 
will  prove  solid  arid  lasting. 

"  I  expect  this  will  reach  you  on  Saturday,  the  day  after  the  one 
we  have  appointed  for  the  funeral,  when  you  will  have  been  in 
"Washington  a  week,  and  I  hope  will  have  made  so  much  progress 
in  your  business  as  that  you  will  soon  be  able  to  return. 

"  All  join  in  tenderest  sympathy  and  love  for  you,  with  yom 
afflicted  and  affectionate  father, 

"Jed.  Morse." 


144  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

His  brother  Sidney  also  wrote  to  him  : 

"  New  York,  February  9,  1825. 

"  My  dear  Brother  :  Father  has  doubtless  informed  you  of  the 
melancholy  event  which  has  filled  all  our  hearts  with  unspeakable 
sorrow.  May  God  support  you  under  this  most  afflicting  stroke  of 
his  providence !  He  has  seen  fit  to  deprive  us  of  her,  who  was  so 
eminently  lovely,  at  a  moment  when  our  earthly  prospects  had  put 
on  their  most  smiling  aspect,  and  when  we  were  fondly  looking 
forward  to  long  years  of  enjoyment ;  and  she  was  to  have  been  a 
partaker  in  every  pleasure ;  but  God  has  taken  her  to  himself,  to 
that  world  where  we  must  all  soon  follow,  and  where  separation 
and  sorrow  are  unknown.  Let  us  bow  before  the  will  of  him  who 
does  all  things  right." 

He  was  at  Gadsby's  Hotel,  when  this  blow  fell  upon  him. 
Unable  to  keep  his  appointment  to  proceed  that  day  with  his 
painting,  and  having  sent  a  message  to  General  Lafayette,  ex- 
plaining his  absence,  he  received  immediately  from  the  General 
a  few  lines  of  generous  sympathy : 

"  I  have  feared  to  intrude  upon  you,  my  dear  sir,  but  want  to  tell 
you  how  deeply  I  sympathize  in  your  grief — a  grief  of  which  nobody 
can  better  than  me  appreciate  the  cruel  feelings.  You  will  hear 
from  me,  as  soon  as  I  find  myself  again  near  you,  to  finish  the  work 
you  have  so  well  begun.  Accept  my  affectionate  and  mournful 
sentiment.  "  Lafayette. 

"February  11,  1825." 

He  left  Washington  the  day  after  the  news  reached  him,  and- 
stopped  in  Baltimore  over  Sunday,  with  a  friend,  from  whose 
house  he  writes  to  his  parents : 

"Baltimore,  Sunday,  February  13,  1825. 

"  My  dear  Father  :  The  heart-rending  tidings  which  you  com- 
municated reached  me,  in  Washington,  on  Friday  evening.  I  left 
yesterday  morning,  spend  this  day  here  at  Mr.  Cushing's,  and  set 
out  on  my  return  home,  to-morrow.  I  shall  reach  Philadelphia  on 
Monday  night,  New  York  on  Tuesday  night,  and  New  Haven  on 
Wednesday  night.  Oh,  is  it  possible — is  it  possible  ?  shall  I  never 
see  my  dear  wife  again  ?  But,  I  cannot  trust  myself  to  write  on 
the  subject.  I  need  your  prayers,  and  those  of  Christian  friends, 
to  God  for  support.     I  fear  I  shall  sink  under  it. 

"  Oh,  take  good  care  of  her  dear  children ! 

"  Your  agonized  son,  "  Finxey." 


LETTER   TO   A  FRIEND.  145 

He  did  not  reach  New  Haven,  traveling  by  stage,  until  nearly 
a  week  after  his  wife  had  been  consigned  to  the  grave.  A  month 
after  the  death  of  his  wife  he  writes  to  a  friend : 

"New  York,  March  20,  1825. 

"  My  dear  Madam  :  Though  late  in  performing  the  promise  I 
made  you,  of  writing  you  when  I  arrived  home,  I  hope  you  will 
attribute  it  to  any  thing  but  forgetfulness  of  that  promise.  The 
confusion  and  derangement  consequent  on  such  an  afflicting  be- 
reavement as  I  have  suffered,  have  rendered  it  necessary  for  me  to 
devote  the  first  moments  of  composure  to  looking  about  me,  and  to 
collecting  and  arranging  the  fragments  of  the  ruin  which  has 
spread  such  desolation  over  all  my  earthly  prospects.  Oh,  what  a 
blow !  I  dare  not  yet  give  myself  up  to  the  full  survey  of  its 
desolating  effects ;  every  day  brings  to  my  mind  a  thousand  new 
and  fond  connections  with  dear  Lucretia,  all  now  ruptured.  I  feel 
a  dreadful  void,  a  heart-sickness,  which  time  does  not  seem  to  heal, 
but  rather  to  aggravate.  You  know  the  intensity  of  the  attach- 
ment which  existed  between  dear  L.  and  me,  never  for  a  moment 
interrupted  by  the  smallest  cloud ;  an  attachment  founded,  I  trust, 
in  the  purest  love,  and  daily  strengthening  by  all  the  motives 
which  the  ties  of  nature,  and  more  especially  of  religion,  furnish. 

"  I  found  in  dear  L.  every  thing  I  could  wish.  Such  ardor  of 
affection,  so  uniform,  so  unaffected,  I  never  saw  nor  read  of,  but  in 
her.  My  fear  with  regard  to  the  measure  of  my  affection  toward 
her,  was  not  that  I  might  fail  of  '  loving  her  as  my  own  flesh,'  but 
that  I  should  put  her  in  the  place  of  him  who  has  said,  '  Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  gods  but  me.'  I  felt  this  to  be  my  greatest 
danger,  and  to  be  saved  from  this  idolatry  was  often  the  subject  of 
my  earnest  prayers.  If  I  had  desired  any  thing  in  my  dear  L.  dif- 
ferent from  what  she  was,  it  would  have  been  that  she  had  been 
less  lovely.  My  whole  soul  seemed  wrapped  up  in  her ;  with  her  was 
connected  all  that  I  expected  of  happiness  on  earth.  Is,,  it  strange, 
then,  that  I  now  feel  this  void,  this  desolateness,  this  loneliness, 
this  heart-sickness  ;  that  I  should  feel  as  if  my  very  heart  itself  had 
been  torn  from  me  ?  To  any  one  but  those  who  knew  dear  L., 
what  I  have  said  might  seem  to  be  but  the  extravagance  of  an  ex- 
cited imagination ;  but  to  you,  who  knew  the  dear  object  I  lament, 
all  that  I  have  said  must  but  feebly  shadow  her  to  your  memory." 

The  death  of  his  Lucretia  was  the  great  calamity  of  Mr. 
Morse's  early  life.     Her  virtues,  her  charms  of  mind  and  of  per- 
10 


146  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

son  are  celebrated  by  ihose  who  knew  her ;  so  that  we  have  no 
reason  to  donbt  that  she  was  one  of  the  most  lovely  of  women. 
The  late  Prof.  Benjamin  Silliman,  Sr.,  who  knew  her  well,  com- 
posed the  following  epitaph,  which  is  now  upon  her  tombstone 
in  the  beautiful  cemetery  in  New  Haven  : 

IN  MEMORY   OF 

LUCKETIA    PICKERING, 

WIFE    OP 

SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE, 

WHO  DIED  7th  OF  FEBRUARY,  A.  D.  1825, 
AGED  25  TEARS. 

SHE    COMBINED,    IN   HER    CHARACTER   AND    PERSON, 

A   RARE    ASSEMBLAGE    OF   EXCELLENCES  : 

BEAUTIFUL    IN   FORM,    FEATURES,    AND   EXPRESSION, 

PECULIARLY   BLAND    IN    HER    MANNERS, 

HIGHLY    CULTIVATED    IN   MIND, 

SHE    IRRESISTIBLY   DREW    ATTENTION,    LOVE, 

AND   RESPECT  ;     . 

DIGNIFIED   WITHOUT    HAUGHTINESS, 

AMIABLE    WITHOUT    TAMENESS, 

FIRM    WITHOUT    SEVERITY,    AND 

CHEERFUL    WITHOUT    LEVITY, 

HER    UNIFORM    SWEETNESS    OF   TEMPER 

SPREAD   PERPETUAL    SUNSHINE   AROUND 

EVERY    CIRCLE    IN    WHICH 

SHE    MOVED. 

"  WHEN   THE    EAR   HEARD   HER    IT    BLESSED   HER, 

WHEN    THE   EYE    SAW   HER    IT    GAVE 

WITNESS   TO    HER." 

IN  SUFFERINGS  THE  MOST  KEEN, 

HER  SERENITY  OF  MIND  NEVER  FAILED  HER  ; 

DEATH  TO  HER  HAD  NO  TERRORS, 

THE  GRAVE  NO  GLOOM. 

THOUGH  SUDDENLY  CALLED  FROM  EARTH, 

ETERNITY  WAS  NO  STRANGER  TO  HER  THOUGHTS, 

BUT  A  WELCOME  THEME  OF 

CONTEMPLATION. 

RELIGION  WAS  THE  SUN 

THAT  ILLUMINED  EVERY  VIRTUE, 

AND  UNITED  ALL  IN  ONE 

BOW  OF  BEAUTY. 

HERS   WAS    THE   RELIGION    OF    THE    GOSPEL  ; 

JESUS    CHRIST    HER   FOUNDATION, 

THE    AUTHOR   AND   FINISHER   OF   HER   FAITH. 

IN   HIM    SHE   RESTS,    IN    SURE 

EXPECTATION    OF   A    GLORIOUS 

RESURRECTION. 

More  than  thirty  years  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Morse  a  gen- 
tleman in  Boston  addressed  to  Mr.  Morse  a  letter  of  inquiry 


LAFAYETTE'S   PORTRAIT.  147 

respecting  the  portrait  of  General  Lafayette,  and,  in  the  midst 
of  his  telegraphic  success  and  fame,  he  returned  the  following 
reply : 

"  Poughkeepsie,  June  11,  1858. 

"My  dear  Sir:  In  answer  to  yours  of  the  8th  instant,  just  re- 
ceived, I  can  only  say  it  is  so  long  since  I  have  seen  the  portrait 
I  painted  of  General  Lafayette  for  the  city  of  New  York,  that, 
strange  to  say,  I  find  it  difficult  to  recall  even  its  general  character- 
istics. That  portrait  has  a  melancholy  interest  for  me,  for  it  was 
just  as  I  had  commenced  the  second  sitting  of  the  General  at 
Washington  that  I  received  the  stunning  intelligence  of  Mrs. 
Morse's  death,  and  was  compelled  abruptly  to  suspend  the  work. 
I  preserve,  as  a  gratifying  memorial,  the  letter  of  condolence  and 
sympathy  sent  in  to  me  at  the  moment  by  the  General,  and  in 
which  he  speaks  in  flattering  terms  of  the  promise  of  the  portrait 
as  a  likeness.  I  must  be  frank,  however,  in  my  judgment  of  my 
own  works  of  that  day.  This  portrait  was  begun  under  the  sad 
auspices  to  which  I  have  alluded,  and,  up  to  the  close  of  the  work, 
I  had  a  series  of  constant  interruptions  of  the  same  sad  character. 
A  picture  painted  under  such  circumstances  can  scarcely  be  ex- 
pected to  do  the  artist  justice,  and,  as  a  work  of  art,  I  cannot  praise 
it.  Still,  it  is  a  good  likeness,  was  very  satisfactory  to  the  General, 
and  he  several  times  alluded  to  it  in  my  presence  in  after-years 
(when  I  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  him  in  Paris)  in  terms  of  praise. 

"  It  is  a  full-length,  standing  figure,  the  size  of  life.  He  is  repre- 
sented as  standing  at  the  top  of  a  flight  of  steps,  which  he  has  just 
ascended  upon  a  terrace,  the  figure  coming  against  a  glowing  sun- 
set sky,  indicative  of  the  glory  of  his  own  evening  of  life.  Upon 
his  right,  if  I  remember,  are  three  pedestals,  one  of  which  is  vacant, 
as  if  waiting  for  his  bust,  while  the  two  others  are  surmounted  by 
the  busts  of  Washington  and  Franklin — the  two  associated  eminent 
historical  characters  of  his  own  time.  In  a  vase,  on  the  other  side, 
is  a  flower — the  heliotrope — with  its  face  toward  the  sun,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  characteristic,  stern,  uncompromising  consistency  of  La- 
fayette— a  trait  of  character  which  I  then  considered  and  still  con- 
sider the  great  prominent  trait  of  that  distinguished  man." 

Heart-broken,  Mr.  Morse  went  on  with  his  work  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  His  position  as  an  artist  was  established,  and 
other  men  would  have  been  content  with  the  bright  prospects 
which  his  profession  opened  before  him.    But  he  was  constantly 


148  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

aiming  at  something  higher  and  better  for  the  advancement  of 
the  arts  and  the  honor  of  his  country.  April  8,  1825,  he  writes 
to  his  parents  from  'New  York  : 

"  I  have  as  much  as  I  can  do,  but,  after  being  fatigued  at  night, 
and  having  my  thoughts  turned  to  my  irreparable  loss,  I  am  ready 
almost  to  give  up.  The  thought  of  seeing  my  dear  Lucretia,  and 
returning  home  to  her,  served  always  to  give  me  fresh  courage  and 
spirits  whenever  I  felt  worn  down  by  the  labors  of  the  day,  and  now 
I  hardly  know  what  to  substitute  in  her  place.  To  my  friends  here 
I  know  I  seem  to  be  cheerful  and  happy,  but  a  cheerful  countenance 
with  me  covers  an  aching  heart,  and  often  have  I  feigned  a  more 
than  ordinary  cheerfulness  to  hide  a  more  than  ordinary  anguish. 

"  I  am  blessed  with  prosperity  in  my  profession.  I  have  just 
received  another  commission,  from  the  corporation  of  the  city,  to 
paint  a  common-sized  portrait  of  Rev.  Mr.  Stanford  for  them,  to  be 
placed  in  the  almshouse." 

May  26,  1825. — "  I  have  at  length  become  comfortably  settled, 
and  begin  to  feel  at  home  in  my  new  establishment.  All  things  at 
present  go  on  smoothly.  Brother  Charles  Walker  and  Mr.  Agate 
join  with  me  in  breakfast  and  tea,  and  we  find  it  best  for  con- 
venience, economy,  and  time,  to  dine  from  home — it  saves  the  per- 
plexity of  providing  marketing  and  the  care  of  stores,  and,  besides, 
we  think  it  will  be  more  economical,  and  the  walk  will  be  bene- 
ficial." 

The  death  of  his  wife  was  followed,  with  no  great  interval, 
by  the  death  of  his  venerable  father.  No  man  who  has  attained 
distinguished  position  in  life  has  been  more  indebted  for  early 
culture  to  his  parents  than  Mr.  Morse.  A  clergyman,  with  no 
means  of  support  but  such  as  he  derived  from  his  people  and 
from  his  literary  labors,  Dr.  Morse  had  given  to  his  children  the 
highest  advantages  of  education  which  the  country  would  afford ; 
and,  when  this  son  had  manifested  a  desire  to  pursue  art  as  his 
profession,  his  father,  at  a  great  personal  sacrifice,  gave  him  the 
advantages  of  education  under  the  best  masters  in  the  world  in 
a  foreign  country,  sustaining  him  there  for  successive  years, 
when  it  was  necessary  for  him  (the  father)  to  exercise  great 
self-denial  in  order  to  command  the  means  to  give  such  advan- 
tages to  his  son.  These  sacrifices  were  always  appreciated  and 
gratefully  acknowledged  in  the  letters  which  he  so  frequently 


ACADEMY   OF   DESIGN.  149 

wrote  to  his  parents ;  and  now,  when  he  was  continuing  his 
struggles  in  New  York  as  an  artist,  his  family  were  still,  in  a 
great  measure,  dependent  npon  his  father  for  their  support. 

His  brothers,  Sidney  and  Richard,  established  themselves  in 
New  York,  in  the  year  1823.  Having  founded  the  New  York 
Observer,  they  were  now  engaged  in  building  it  up  with  great 
industry,  perseverance,  and  ability,  finally  crowned  with  com- 
plete success.  During  its  earlier  years  they  were  unable  to  do 
more  than  to  sustain  themselves  and  their  paper ;  and  Finley 
Morse,  the  artist,  was  obliged  to  look  oftentimes  to  his  father 
for  assistance.  Dr.  Morse  died  June  9,  1826,  in  the  city  of  New 
Haven. 

"  There  he  had  resided  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  in  the 
midst  of  a  highly-cultivated  and  Christian  community,  the  leading 
members  of  which,  men  of  world-wide  literary  and  scientific  fame, 
and  of  religious  sentiments  in  harmony  with  his  own,  were  his 
daily  companions  ;  while  all,  of  all  classes,  loved  and  honored  him 
for  the  services  he  had  rendered  to  his  country  and  to  mankind." 

NATIONAL   ACADEMY   OF   DESIGN. 

Colonel  Trumbull,  celebrated  as  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
successful  of  American  painters,  and  whose  works  portray  some 
of  the  most  important  scenes  of  the  American  Revolution,  was 
at  this  time  at  the  head  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts,  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  His  administration  was  not  popular 
with  the  artists  who  had  occasion  to  study  their  profession 
with  the  works  collected  and  possessed  by  the  Academy.  The 
artists  complained  of  being  denied  facilities  which  they  required 
for  the  successful  prosecution  of  their  studies;  and  especially 
that  the  hours  when  they  could  obtain  access  to  the  works 
which  they  desired  to  copy  were  not  convenient  for  them; 
and  that  no  attention  was  paid  to  their  remonstrances. 

Mr.  Dunlap  reports  that,  on  one  occasion,  Messrs.  Cum- 
mings  and  Agate  (both  of  whom  afterward  became  distinguished 
in  their  profession)  came  to  the  door  of  the  Academy,  and,  find- 
ing it  closed,  were  turning  away,  when  he,  Mr.  Dunlap,  spoke 
to  them,  and  advised  them  to  make  their  complaint  to  the  di- 
rectors of  the  Academy.  They  replied  that  it  would  be  useless ; 
and  Mr.  Dunlap  says :  "  At  that  moment  one  of  the  directors 


150  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

appeared,  coming  from  Broadway  toward  them.  I  urged  the 
young  gentlemen  to  speak  to  him,  but  they  declined,  saying, 
'they  had  so  often  been  disappointed,  that  they  gave  it  up.' 
The  director  came  and  sat  down  by  the  writer,  who  mentioned 
the  subject  of  the  recent  disappointment,  pointing  to  the  two 
young  men  who  were  still  in  sight.  The  conduct  of  the  per- 
son whose  duty  it  was  to  open  the  doors  was  promptly  con- 
demned by  that  gentleman ;  and,  while  speaking,  the  president 
appeared,  coming  to  his  painting-room,  which  was  one  of  the 
apartments  of  the  Academy.  It  was  unusually  early  for  him, 
although  near  eight  o'clock.  Before  he  reached  the  door,  the 
curator  of  the  Academy  opened  it  and  remained. 

"  On  Mr.  Trumbull's  arrival,  the  director  mentioned  the  dis- 
appointment of  the  students.  The  curator  stoutly  asserted  that 
'  he  would  open  the  doors  when  it  suited  him.'  The  president 
observed,  in  reply  to  the  director:  'When  I  commenced  the 
study  of  painting,  there  were  no  casts  in  the  country.  I  was 
obliged  to  do  as  well  as  I  could.'  These  young  gentlemen 
should  remember  that  the  gentlemen  have  gone  to  a  great  ex- 
pense in  importing  casts,  and  that  they '  (the  students)  '  have  no 
property  in  them ; '  concluding  with  these  memorable  words,  in 
the,  encouragement  of  the  curator's  conduct,  '  They  must  re- 
member that  beggars  are  not  to  be  choosers.'  "  Dunlap  con- 
tinues, "  We  may  consider  this  the  condemnatory  sentence  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts."  It  was  so,  as  it  afterward 
appeared. 

When  these  facts  came  to  be  known,  the  indignation  of  the 
artists  was  general,  and  a  strong  desire  was  expressed  that  some 
measures  might  be  taken  to  secure  for  the  artists  the  privileges 
of  the  Academy ;  or,  if  that  were  not  possible,  that  some  new 
association  should  be  formed  to  procure  for  them  the  advantages 
which  they  felt  to  be  indispensable  to  their  progress.  Mr. 
Morse  was  called  on  to  concentrate  these  efforts.  He  invited  a 
few  of  the  artists  to  his  rooms,  and  there  the  propriety  of  fur- 
ther endeavors  to  conciliate  the  directors  by  petition  was  dis- 
cussed. Mr.  Morse  suggested  that  an  association  might  be 
formed  "for  the  Promotion  of  the  Arts,  and  the  Assistanco 
of  Students  " — simply  a  union  for  improvement  in  drawing. 

On  the  8th  of  November,  1825,  a  meeting  of  the  artists, 


DRAWING  ASSOCIATION.  151 

probably  the  first  ever  held  in  the  city,  took  place  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Historical  Society  (generously  loaned  them  on  that  oc- 
casion), for  the  purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  "  the  for- 
mation of  a  Society  for  Improvement  in  Drawing."  Mr. 
Durand  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Morse  was  appointed 
secretary. 

The  question  of  organization  was  put,  and  carried  unani- 
mously; and  the  so-associated  artists  were  thenceforth  to  be 
known  as  the  "  New  York  Drawing  Association."  Samuel  F. 
B.  Morse  was  chosen  to  preside  over  its  meetings.  The  mem- 
bers were : 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Henry  Inman,  A.  B.  Durand,  Thomas 
S.  S.  Cummings,  Ambrose  Andrews,  Frederick  S.  Agate,  "Wil- 
liam Gr.  "Wall,  "William  Dunlap,  James  Coyle,  Charles  C.  Wright, 
Mosley  J.  Danforth,  Kobert  Norris,  Edward  C.  Potter,  Albert 
Durand,  John  "W.  Paradise,  Gerlando  Marsiglia,  Ithiel  Town, 
Thomas  Grinnell,  George  "W.  Hatch,  John  E..  Murray,  Jr., 
John  Neilson,  John  L.  Morton,  Henry  J.  Morton,  C.  C.  Ing- 
ham, Thomas  Cole,  Hugh  Beinagle,  Peter  Maverick,  D.  W. 
"Wilson,  Alexander  Gr.  Davis,  John  Frazee. 

By  its  few  and  simple  rules  it  was  provided  "  that  its  mem- 
bers should  meet  in  the  evenings,  three  times  a  week,  for  dew- 
ing ;  that  each  member  furnish  his  own  drawing-materials ;  that 
the  expense  of  light,  fuel,  etc.,  be  paid  by  equal  contributions ; 
that  new  members  should  be  admitted  on  a  majority  of  votes — 
paying  five  dollars  entrance-fee ;  that  the  lamp  should  be  lighted 
at  six,  and  extinguished  at  nine  o'clock,  p.  m."  The  lamp  was  a 
can,  containing  about  half  a  gallon  of  oil,  into  which  was  in- 
serted a  wick  of  some  four  inches  in  diameter ;  it  was  set  upon 
an  upright  post,  about  ten  feet  high.  To  give  sufficient  light, 
the  wick  was  necessarily  considerably  out  of  the  oil,  and  caused 
smoke.  There  was  no  chimney,  and  lamp-black  was  abundant ; 
added  to  that,  some  forty  draftsmen  had  an  oil-lamp  each.  The 
reader  may  easily  imagine  the  condition  of  the  room ! 

At  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  Drawing  Association,  held 
on  the  evening  of  the  14th  of  January,  1826,  Mr.  Morse,  the 
president,  stated  that  he  had  certain  resolutions  to  offer  the 
Association,  which  he  would  preface  with  the  following  re- 
marks : 


152  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

"  We  have  this  evening  assumed  a  new  attitude  in  the  com- 
munity :  our  negotiations  with  the  Academy  are  at  an  end ;  our 
union  with  it  has  been  frustrated,  after  every  proper  effort  on  our 
part  to  accomplish  it.  The  two  who  were  elected  as  directors  from 
our  ticket  have  signified  their  non-acceptance  of  the  office.  We 
are,  therefore,  left  to  organize  ourselves  on  a  plan  that  shall  meet 
the  wishes  of  us  all.  A  plan  of  an  institution  which  shall  be  truly 
liberal,  which  shall  be  mutually  beneficial,  which  shall  really  en- 
courage our  respective  arts,  cannot  be  devised  in  a  moment ;  it 
ought  to  be  the  work  of  great  caution  and  deliberation,  and  as 
simple  as  possible  in  its  machinery. 

"  Time  will  be  required  for  the  purpose.  We  must  hear  from 
distant  countries  to  obtain  their  experience,  and  it  must  necessarily 
be  perhaps  many  months  before  it  can  be  matured.  In  the  mean 
time,  however,  a  preparatory  simple  organization  can  be  made,  and 
should  be  made  as  soon  as  possible,  to  prevent  dismemberment, 
which  may  be  attempted  by  outdoor  influence.  On  this  subject 
let  us  all  be  on  our  guard ;  let  us  point  to  our  public  documents  to 
any  who  ask  what  we  have  done,  and  why  we  have  done  it ;  while 
we  go  forward,  minding  only  our  own  concerns,  leaving  the  Acad- 
emy of  Fine  Arts  as  much  of  our  thoughts  as  they  will  permit  us, 
and,  bending  our  attention  to  our  own  affairs,  act  as  if  no  such  insti- 
tutipn  existed. 

"  One  of  our  dangers  at  present  is  division  and  anarchy,  from  a 
want  of  organization  suited  to  the  present  exigency.  We  are  now 
composed  of  artists  in  the  four  arts  of  design,  viz.,  painting,  sculpt- 
ure, architecture,  and  engraving.  Some  of  us  are  professional 
artists,  others  amateurs,  others  students.  To  the  professed  and 
practical  artist  belongs  the  management  of  all  things  relating  to 
schools,  premiums,  and  lectures,  so  that  amateur  and  student  may 
be  most  profited.  The  amateurs  and  students  are  those  alone  who 
can  contend  for  the  premiums,  while  the  body  of  professional  artists 
exclusively  judge  of  their  rights  to  premiums,  and  award  them.  How 
shall  we  first  make  the  separation  has  been  a  question  which  is  a 
little  perplexing.  There  are  none  of  us  who  can  assume  to  be  the 
body  of  artists  without  giving  offense  to  others ;  and  still  every 
one  must  perceive  that,  to  organize  an  Academy,  there  must  be  the 
distinction  between  professional  artists,  amateurs  who  are  students, 
and  professional  students.  The  first  great  division  should  be  the 
body  of  professional  artists  from  the  amateurs  and  students  consti- 
tuting the  body,  who  are  to  manage  the  entire  concerns  of  the  in- 


THE  NATIONAL  ACADEMY.  I53 

stitution,  who  shall  be  its  officers,  etc.  There  is  a  method  which 
strikes  me  as  obviating  the  difficulty  :  place  it  on  the  broad  princi- 
ple of  the  formation  of  any  society — universal  suffrage.  We  are 
now  a  mixed  body ;  it  is  necessary  for  the  benefit  of  all  that  a 
separation  into  classes  be  made.  Who  shall  make  it  ?  Why, 
obviously  the  body  itself.  Let  every  member  of  this  association 
take  home  with  him  a  list  of  all  the  members  of  it.  Let  each  one 
select  for  himself  from  the  whole  list  fifteen,  whom  he  would  call  pro- 
fessional artists,  to  be  the  ticket  which  he  will  give  in  at  the  next 
meeting.  These  fifteen  thus  chosen  shall  elect  not  less  than  ten, 
nor  more  than  fifteen,  professional  artists,  in  or  out  of  the  associa- 
tion, who  shall  (with  the  previously- elected  fifteen)  constitute  the 
body  to  be  called  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design. 
To  these  shall  be  delegated  the  power  to  regulate  its  entire  con- 
cerns, choose  its  members,  select  its  students,  etc.  Thus  will  the 
germ  be  formed  to  grow  up  into  an  institution,  which  we  trust  will 
be  put  on  such  principles  as  to  encourage — not  to  depress — the 
arts.  When  this  is  done,  our  body  will  be  no  longer  the  Drawing 
Association,  but  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  still 
including  all  the  present  association,  but  in  different  capacities. 

"  One  word  as  to  the  name  '  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of 
Design.'  Any  less  name  than  National  would  be  taking  one  below 
the  American  Academy,  and  therefore  is  not  desirable.  If  ,we 
were  simply  the  Associated  Artists,  their  name  would  swallow  us 
up ;  therefore,  National  seems  a  proper  one  as  to  the  arts  of  de- 
sign :  these  are  painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  and  engraving, 
while  the  fine  arts  include  poetry,  music,  landscape  gardening,  and 
the  histrionic  arts.  Our  name,  therefore,  expresses  the  entire  char- 
action  of  our  institution,  and  that  only." 

This  arrangement  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  a  list  of 
the  members  of  the  association  was  immediately  furnished  to 
each  member,  who,  from  it,  was  requested  to  select,  by  the  next 
meeting,  fifteen  professional  artists  to  form  his  ticket,  the  fif- 
teen "  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  to  constitute  a  '  Body 
of  Artists,'  who  shall,  before  Wednesday  evening  next,  elect 
not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  fifteen  others,  from  professional 
artists  resident  in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  whole  body  thus 
chosen  to  be  called  the  '  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  De- 
sign.' ':  And,  by  resolution,  those  remaining  in  the  association 
after  such  election,  and  wishing  to  belong  to  the  new  institu- 


154  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

tion,  were  to  be  declared  students  of  the  new  institution,  and  a 
certificate  of  membership  to  be  given  to  them. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  1826,  in  conformity  with  the  resolution, 
the  association  proceeded  to  ballot.  Whereupon  the  following  gen- 
tlemen were  chosen :  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  Henry  Inman,  A.  B.  Durand, 
John  Frazee,  William  Wall,  Charles  C.  Ingham,  William  Dunlap, 
Peter  Maverick,  Ithiel  Town,  Thomas  S.  Cummings,  Edward  Potter, 
Charles  C.  Wright,  Mosley  J.  Danforth,  Hugh  Reinagle,  Gerlando 
Marsiglia. 

And  between  the  15th  and  the  18th  of  the  month  the  above- 
named  artists  assembled  for  the  performance  of  their  part  of 
the  task ;  for,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1826,  the  president  stated 
that  "the  professional  artists  chosen  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
association  had  balloted  for  ten  professional  artists  on  one  ticket, 
and  five  subsequently  on  separate  tickets,  and  that  the  following 
gentlemen  were  those  elected :  Samuel  Waldo,  William  Jewett, 
John  W.  Paradise,  Frederick  S.  Agate,  Rembrandt  Peale,  James 
Coyle,  Nathaniel  Rogers,  J.  Parisen,  William  Main,  John  Evers, 
Martin  E.  Thompson,  Thomas  Cole,  John  Vanderlyn  (who  declined), 
Alexander  Anderson,  D.  W.  Wilson.  By  this  method  was  formed 
the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse 
and  John  L.  Morton  were  chosen  to  act  as  president  and  secretary 
until  the  adoption  of  a  constitution. 

The  National  Academy  of  Design,  thus  ushered  into  the  world, 
was  composed  of  members  and  professional  artists,  and  thus  divided 
in  the  four  arts  of  design  : 

In 'painting:  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Henry  Inman,  Thomas  S. 
Cummings,  William  Dunlap,  Rembrandt  Peale,  Charles  C.  Ingham, 
Thomas  Cole,  John  Evers,  Signor  Marsiglia,  Frederick  S.  Agate, 
Edward  C.  Potter,  Hugh  Reinagle,  James  Coyle,  D.  W.  Wilson,  J. 
Parisen,  John  W.  Paradise,  Nathaniel  Rogers,  William  Wall.  In 
sculpture  :  John  Frazee.  In  architecture :  Ithiel  Town,  Martin  E. 
Thompson.  In  engraving  :  A.  B.  Durand,  William  Main,  Mosley 
J.  Danforth,  Peter  Maverick,  Charles  C.  Wright. 

The  following  were  students  in  the  Antique  School  of  the  first 
grade  :  John  L.  Morton,  amateur ;  Henry  J.  Morton,  amateur ;  John 
J.  Neilson,  amateur  ;  George  W.  Hatch,  Thomas  Grinnell,  Ambrose 
Andrews,  Robert  Norris,  Albert  Durand,  John  W.  Paradise,  Alex- 
ander G.  Davis,  John  R.  Murray,  Jr. 

Mr.  Morse  was  requested  to  prepare  a  short  address  to  the 


THE  SKETCH   CLUB.  I55 

public,  setting  forth  the  views  and  general  intentions  of  the  in- 
stitution, from  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  An  institution  with  this  name  has  recently  been  organized  by 
the  artists  of  this  city,  founded  on  principles  which,  it  is  believed, 
will  elevate  the  character  and  condition  of  the  arts  of  design  in  our 
country. 

"  The  want  of  such  an  institution  has  long  been  felt  by  those 
interested  in  the  advancement  of  the  liberal  arts,  especially  by 
artists  themselves ;  and  to  its  establishment,  accordingly,  almost 
the  whole  body  of  the  profession  in  this  city  have  concentrated 
their  efforts. 

"  The  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design  is  founded  on 
the  common-sense  principle  that  every  profession  in  society  knows 
best  what  measures  are  necessary  for  its  own  improvement.  Its 
success  is  no  more  problematical  than  the  success  of  many  societies 
that  might  be  named  where  the  members  are  exclusively  of  one 
profession.  To  others  shall  be  left  the  discussion  of  the  question 
whether  the  common  method  of  raising  funds  for  the  support  of 
ifistitutions  for  the  encouragement  of  literature  and  the  arts,  by 
connecting  a  large  body  of  stockholders  with  them,  be  on  the  whole 
advisable  or  not. 

"  It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  the  little  experience  had  on 
this  subject  does  not  seem  favorable  to  such  a  mode  of  procedure. 
In  the  permanent  formation  of  this  institution  a  different  course 
will  be  pursued — a  course  sanctioned  by  the  experience  of  acad- 
emies of  arts  in  Europe,  especially  the  Royal  Academy  of  London." 

Almost  coeval  with  the  National  Academy,  was  founded  the 
"  Sketch  Club "— " '  The  Old'  Sketch  Club:  " 

"  The  second  exhibition  of  the  National  Academy  was  held  in 
the  room  over  Tylee's  Baths,  in  Chambers  Street.  After  the  exhi- 
bition the  room  was  fitted  up  with  plaster  casts  and  drawing-boards, 
and  there  the  students  of  the  Antique  School  met  to  receive  instruc- 
tion from  the  founders  of  the  Academy.  One  night  the  teachers 
were  as  usual  assembled.  Previous  to  the  opening  of  the  school, 
seated  in  a  corner,  were  Morse,  Durand,  Cummings,  and  Ingham. 
The  subject  of  conversation  was  the  recent  breaking  up  of  that 
most  agreeable  club,  the  '  Lunch.'  Mr.  Ingham  remarked  that  now 
there  was  an  opportunity  for  the  artists  to  establish  a  club.  All 
agreed  that  such  a  thing  was  feasible.  Mr.  Ingham  proposed  that 
those  present  should  consider  themselves  the  nucleus  of  one,  which, 


156  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

when  established,  should  be  called  the  Sketch  Club — to  consist  of 
artists,  authors,  men  of  science,  and  lovers  of  art ;  and  that  Morse 
should  be  the  first  president.  Mr.  Morse  highly  approved  of  the 
idea,  but  declined  being  the  president,  saying  that  it  was  enough 
for  him  to  be  president  of  the  Academy ;  that  the  person  best  enti- 
tled to  the  honor  of  being  president  of  the  proposed  association 
was  Mr.  Ingham,  who  had  originated  the  scheme.  Mr.  Cummings 
coincided,  and,  after  some  further  conversation  on  the  rules  to  be 
adopted,  it  was  agreed  to  postpone  the  further  consideration  of  the 
subject  to  Wednesday  in  the  following  week,  and  that  a  meeting 
should  be  called  at  Mr.  Ingham's.  A  meeting  of  the  principal 
artists  was  held  there,  and  the  rules  of  the  proposed  club  discussed 
and  adopted. 

"  The  plan  had  been  for  the  members  to  meet  at  an  hotel,  to  be 
entertained  at  thccost  of  the  host  of  the  evening.  This  arrange- 
ment was  supposed  to  have  caused  a  rivalry  in  expense,  which  led 
to  the  breaking  up  of  the  club.  To  avoid  a  like  result,  the  artists 
determined  to  have  their  club  as  inexpensive  as  possible ;  and,  to 
attain  this  end,  it  was  agreed  that  the  '  Sketch  Club '  should  meet 
at  the  houses  of  the  members,  in  rotation,  and  that  the  entertain- 
ment should  be  confined  to  dried  fruit,  crackers,  milk,  and  honey. 
Mr.  Ingham  was  elected  president,  and  Mr.  John  Inman  secretary. 

"  The  first  regular  meeting  took  place  at  the  rooms  of  Thomas 
Cole.  It  was  a  decided  success.  All  the  members  exerted  them- 
selves to  please,  and  every  thing  was  agreeable — even  the  figs, 
milk,  and  honey.  But  on  the  day  after  the  feast,  came  the  pangs 
of  repentance,  and  many  a  vow  was  made  that  the  refreshments  of 
the  club  should  be  changed.  .  .  . 

"  It  may  be  regretted  that  its  early  minutes,  witticisms,  essays, 
drawings,  verses,  papers,  etc.,  have  been  neglected  or  destroyed. 
Not  a  vestige  to  be  found  of  that,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  inter- 
esting of  clubs.  It  was  formed  for  the  promotion  of  mutual  inter- 
course and  improvement  in  impromptu  sketching.  Drawing  for  one 
hour  from  a  subject  proposed  by  the  host,  whose  property  the  draw- 
ings remained,  was  part  of  the  programme  positive ;  the  poets  and 
others  frequently  amusing  themselves  during  that  hour  by  passing 
round  a  subject,  on  which  each,  in  turn,  furnished  four  lines — no 
more,  no  less ;  and  some  truly  amusing  mongrels  were  the  result. 
Its  members  comprised,  in  a  high  degree,  the  talent  of  the  country. 
In  its  organization  over-great  care  had  been  taken  to  guard  against 
destruction  by  extravagance  in  its  entertainments  in  eating,  and 


BILL   OF  FARE.  I57 

'  milk  and  honey,  raisins,  apples,  and  crackers '  were  the  limitation, 
the  prescribed  bill-of-fare.  The  medicinal  qualities  of  the  one  were 
appreciated  on  the  first  dose,  and  the  dryness  of  the  other  was  not 
relished. 

" '  The  rule '  was  more  observed  in  the  breach  than  in  the 
observance.  The  first  great  outbreak,  however,  occurred  at  Mem- 
ber J s  H 's,  at  his  then  up-town  residence,  viz.,  east  side 

Broadway,  between  Broome  and  Spring  Streets.  On  that  evening, 
at  the  appointed  hour  for  refreshments,  the  drawing-room  doors 
were  thrown  open,  and  an  elegant  supper  appeared  before  the 
astonished  guests.  A  general  revolt  took  place.  Protests  were 
entered,  remonstrances  made  ;  a  compromise  finally,  or,  it  rather 
should  be  said,  speedily  ensued.  It  was  decided  that  the  supper 
should  be  eaten,  but  that  it  should  be  done  '  standing? 

" '  Bitting  down  to  supper,'  it  was  said,  was  prohibited  by  '  the 
rules?     The  distinction  was  a  very  nice  one ;  so  was  the  supper. 

"  Members  did  not  long  '  stand  out  / '  chairs  were  in  demand, 
and  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes  the  whole  were  as  comfortably 
seated  as  if  no  such  prohibition  had  ever  in  the  rules  existed,  and 
looked  as  innocently  unconscious  as  if  nothing  had  occurred  con- 
trary thereto.  More  ample  justice  could  not  have  been  done  to  a 
feast.  Milk  and  honey  never  again  appeared  at  the  festive  board. 
Many,  very  many  happy  meetings  had  that  club." 

In  1873,  almost  half  a  century  from  this  date,  a  reunion  of 
the  old  Sketch  Club  was  held  at  the  house  of  Jonathan  Sturgis, 
Esq.,  and  a  splendid  entertainment  in  defiance  of  all  the 
"  rules  "  was  given  by  the  liberal  and  hospitable  host.  Only  two 
of  the  original  members  were  present,  Cummings  and  Durand. 
Morse,  the  founder  and  president,  had  been  laid  with  the  dead 
but  a  few  months  before. 

During  the  years  from  1826  to  1829,  Mr.  Morse  resided  in 
the  city  of  ]STew  York,  pursuing,  with  great  industry,  his  pro- 
fession as  a  painter;  but  oftentimes  discouraged  to  the  very 
last  degree,  by  a  want  of  success  commensurate  with  his  am- 
bition. Poverty,  so  often  the  lot  of  men  of  genius  and  of 
the  highest  desert,  pressed  him  continually ;  preparing  him, 
doubtless,  for  the  still  greater  hardships  which  he  was  to  pass 
through.  Still  struggling  to  accomplish  the  great  work  for 
which  he  was  trained,  he  was  now  both  a  teacher  and  a  pupil. 
A  large  part  of  his  time  was  necessarily  given  to  the  Acad- 


158 


LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 


emy  of  Design,  over  which,  he  was  called  to  preside,  by  reelec- 
tion, from  year  to  year,  from  its  origin  down  to  the  year  1845, 
and  he  would  have  been  continued  in  the  presidency  during 
the  whole  of  his  protracted  life,  had  he  not  considered  it  essen- 
tial to  the  interests  of  the  institution  that  he  should  retire  from 
it  after  he  became  absorbed  in  the  scientific  pursuits  which  his 
invention  of  the  Telegraph  required.  The  industiy  with  which 
he  pursued  his  profession  may  be  inferred  from  the  catalogue  of 
some  of  the  principal  paintings  which  were  exhibited  in  the  an- 
nual expositions  of  the  Academy  of  Design.  But,  in  addition  to 
these,  he  painted  a  great  number  of  portraits  and  other  pictures 
which  were  never  placed  on  public  exhibition.  This  catalogue, 
prepared  by  General  T.  S.  Cummings  (whose  history  of  the  ISTa- 
tional  Academy  of  Design  has  furnished  the  facts  in  regard  to 
Mr.  Morse's  connection  with  that  institution),  is  worthy  of  being 
preserved. 


Ichabod  Crane  discovers  the  Headless  Horseman,  S.  H. 

A  family  picture         ....... 

Portrait  of  the  late  Mayor  W.  Paulding 
Portrait  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford.     New  York  Corporation 
Portrait  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  Governor  State  of  New  York 
Full-length  portrait  of  General  Lafayette.     New  York  Corporation 
Portrait  of  Judge  Mitchell,  Connecticut         .  .  .  . 

House  of  Representatives  in  the  Capitol :  88  portraits    . 

Una  and  the  Dwarf.     Relating  adventure  of  the  Red  Cross  Knight. 

Portrait  of  Fitz-Greene  Halleck 


Portrait  of  F.   G.   King,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  N 

academician  picture    .... 
View  of  Cazenovia  Lake 
View  of  Parapet  Falls,  at  Trenton  Falls  . 
Portrait  of  William  Cullen  Bryant     . 
Landscape  Figures  .  .  .  . 

Review  Exhibition  (Rome)     . 
Portrait  of  the  late  Thomas  Addis  Emmet  , 

Portrait  of  Thorwalsden 

Amalfi,  from  the  Grotto  of  the  Capuchin  Convent 
The  Wetterhorn  and  Falls  of  the  Reichenbach 
The  Brigand  alarmed        .... 
Pifferari,  or  Calabrian  Minstrels 
Full-length  portrait  of  a  lady 
The  Gold-Fish,  etc.     A  family  group 
Portrait  of  Major-General  Stark  .  .  . 

Portrait  of  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague,  of  Albany 


A.  D.,  and  his 


1826 
1826 
1826 
1826 
1826 
1827 
1827 
1827 
1828 
1828 

1828 
1828 
1828 
1829 
1830 
1831 
1831 
1832 
1833 
1833 
1833 
1833 
1834 
1835 
1835 
1835 


GENERAL   CUMMINGS'S   LETTER.  159 

Portrait  of  Rev.  Dr.  Nott,  of  Connecticut  .  .  .  1835 

Portrait  of  Euchee  Billy.     A  sketch  of  an  Indian  chief  taken  in 

1820.     (New  York  University)  ....  1836 

Portrait  of  Dr.  Augustus  Smith         .  .  .  .  .     1836 

Landscape  Composition.     Helicon  and  Aganippe  .  .  1836 

Sunset  View  of  St.  Peter's,  Rome     .....     1836 

Full-length  portrait  of  a  young  lady.     (New  York  University)    .  1837 

Nothing  exhibited      ......        1838-1863 

In  the  second  winter  exhibition  was  exhibited  Mr.  Morse's  Interior  of  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

General  Cummings,  who  has  retired  from  the  city  (where 
he  held  high  rank  as  an  artist  and  teacher  of  art)  to  the  repose 
of  rural  life,  has  kindly  furnished  the  following  sketch  of  Mr. 
Morse's  professional  life  in  New  York,  and  an  estimate  of  his 
ability : 

"Mansfield  Centre,  Tolland  County,  Conn.,  April  21,  1873. 

"My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Morse  commenced  in  the  fall  of 
1824  or  spring  of  1825,  and  continued  until  his  decease.  It  opened 
immediately  on  the  meeting  of  the  artists  after  the  rudeness  I  had 
received  at  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  as  described  by 
Dunlap  and  by  myself  in  my  'Records  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Design.'  In  the  controversy  which  followed,  Mr.  Morse  took  a  very 
deep  and  leading  interest,  the  full  particulars  of  which  are  given  in 
the  Annals.  Ultimately,  and  on  the  formation  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design,  he  became  its  president,  and  so  continued  for 
years,  namely,  from  1827  to  1845,  and,  at  my  especial  invitation 
and  request,  to  serve  the  interests  of  the  institution,  from  1861  to 
1862,  and,  I  may  add,  was  beloved  by  all. 

"  At  the  time  of  our  first  acquaintance  Mr.  Morse  was  in  the  en- 
joyment of  lucrative  and  prosperous  practice,  as  a  portrait-painter, 
in  the  city.  His  studio  was  crowded  with  works  in  progress,  and 
the  demands  on  his  pencil  unceasing  from  the  talent,  wealth,  and 
fashion  of  the  city,  daily  refusing  commissions,  and  sending  the  ap- 
plicants to  other  artists  for  execution.  As  a  portrait-painter  Mr. 
Morse  was  very  unequal ;  yet  many  of  his  works  there  are  which 
will  stand  favorable  competition  with  the  best  produced  to  the 
present  day,  and  none  more  preeminently  so  that  I  can  at  present 
call  to  mind  than  the  portrait  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford — a  half- 
length,  now  on  the  possession  of  the  Commissioners  of  Charities, 
in  the  public  building  in  Third  Avenue,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Twentieth  Street.     Mr.  Morse's  connection  with  the  Academy  was 


160  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

doubtless  unfavorable  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view.  His  interest 
in  it  interfering  with  professional  practice,  and  the  time  taken  to 
enable  him  to  prepare  his  course  of  lectures,  materially  contributed 
to  favor  a  distribution  of  his  labors  in  art  to  other  hands,  and  it 
never  fully  returned  to  him.  His  '  Discourse  on  Academies  of  Art,' 
delivered  in  the  chapel  of  Columbia  College,  May,  1827,  will  long 
stand  as  a  monument  of  his  ability  in  the  line  of  art-literature.  As 
an  historical  painter  Mr.  Morse,  after  Allston,  was  probably  the 
best-prepared  and  most  fully-educated  artist  of  his  day,  and  should 
have  received  the  attention  of  the  Government,  and  a  share  of  its 
distributions  in  art  -  commissions.  There  political  influence  was 
brought  to  bear  against  him ;  and,  on  the  selection  of  the  artists  to 
fill  the  four  panels  in  the  Rotunda  in  the  Capitol,  Mr.  Morse  was 
found  to  be  not  one  of  the  number.  That  was  to  him  a  source  of 
great  unhappiness  and  professional  disappointment.  The  '  Signing 
of  the  First  Compact  by  the  Pilgrims  on  board  the  May  Flower ' 
had  always  been  his  favorite  subject,  and  he  had  spent  years  of 
thought  on  the  then  leading  subject  of  his  heart.  Hence  the  rea- 
sons especially  for  the  artists  coming  to  his  rescue,  to  employ  him 
to  paint  an  historical  picture.  That  picture,  it  was  hoped,  might 
occupy  one  of  the  panels  in  the  Rotunda ;  and,  had  it  been  painted, 
it  probably  would  have  done  so.  Certain  it  is,  the  artist  contribu- 
tors never  intended  to  take  it  from  Mr.  Morse." 

A  brilliant  assembly  was  gathered  in  the  chapel  of  Colum- 
bia College,  May  3,  1827.  The  college  was  then  in  what  is  now 
the  lower  part  of  the  city,  in  College  Place,  below  the  City 
Hall.  The  occasion  that  had  called  together  the  most  cultivated 
and  refined  ladies  and  gentlemen,  was  the  first  anniversary  of 
the  National  Academy  of  Design,  and  the  president,  Samuel  F. 
B.  Morse,  delivered  an  address  which  was  published  in  pamphlet 
form,  at  the  request  of  the  Academy,  through  a  committee,  con- 
sisting of  Dunlap,  Ingham,  and  Wright.  The  address  is  re- 
markable for  the  extent  of  learning  it  displays,  and  the  ripe 
thought  of  the  author. 

The  Academy  being  in  its  infancy,  and  some  eminent  artists 
being  hostile  to  its  establishment  and  its  plans,  this  address  of 
Mr.  Morse  was  honored  by  a  severe  review  in  the  North  Amer- 
ican, which  had  then  reached  its  fifty-eighth  number,  and  had 
justly  acquired  a  national  reputation.     It  was  contended  by  the 


LORD   LTNDHURST'S  LETTER.  161 

reviewer  that  the  new  Academy  was  presumptuous  in  assuming 
the  title  of  "  National,"  as  it  had  no  claim  to  national  recogni- 
tion, or  to  the  countenance  of  the  artists  of  the  whole  country. 
To  this  attack  Mr.  Morse  replied  with  great  ability  in  a  paper 
first  published  in  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  and  afterward  in 
pamphlet  form. 

The  reply  revealed  the  lofty  spirit  of  independence  and  the 
high  sense  of  the  dignity  of  his  profession,  which  then  con- 
trolled the  purposes  of  the  president  of  the  Academy.  Mr. 
Morse  sent  a  copy  of  his  address  to  Lord  Lyndhurst,  son  of  the 
celebrated  painter  Copley,  and  to  some  inquiries  in  his  letter  re- 
ceived the  following  reply : 

"George  Street  (London),  December  28,  1827. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  I  beg  you  will  accept  my  best  thanks  for  your  dis- 
course delivered  before  the  National  Academy  at  New  York,  which 
has  been  handed  to  me  by  Mr.  "Ward.  The  tenor  of  my  father's 
life  was  so  uniform  as  to  afford  fine  materials  for  the  biographer. 
He  was  entirely  devoted  to  his  art,  which  he  pursued  with  unremit- 
ting assiduity  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life.  The  result  is  before  the 
public,  in  his  works,  which  must  speak  for  themselves ;  and  consider- 
ing that  he  was  entirely  self-taught,  and  never  saw  a  decent  pict- 
ure, with  the  exception  of  his  own,  until  he  was  nearly  thirty  years 
of  age,  the  circumstance  is,  I  think,  worthy  of  admiration,  and 
affords  a  striking  proof  of  what  natural  genius,  aided  by  determined 
perseverance,  can  under  almost  any  circumstances  accomplish. 
"  I  remain,  dear  sir,  your  faithful  servant, 

"  Lyndhurst." 

study  or  electro-magnetism. 

We  now  leave  Mr.  Morse's  artistic  pursuits  for  the  present, 
and  find  him  once  more  a  student  of  science,  and  of  that  depart- 
ment which  had  particularly  interested  him  while  in  college 
under  Professors  Day  and  Silliman. 

In  the  year  1827  Mr.  Morse  became  interested  in  the  study 
of  electricity,  and  particularly  in  electro-magnetism.  At  that 
time  he  was  intimately  associated  with  James  Freeman  Dana, 
of  Columbia  College,  who  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on  the 
subject,  before  the  New  York  Athenseum.  Mr.  Morse  attended 
these  lectures,  and  the  lecturer  was  in  the  habit  of  frequently 
visiting  him  at  his  studio,  where  subjects  of  mutual  interest 
11 


162  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

were  freely  discussed.  Professor  Dana  was  an  enthusiast  in  the 
science  of  electro-magnetism,  and  his  wife  relates  that  it  so  pos- 
sessed his  mind  that  she  frequently  heard  him  talk  of  it  in  his 
sleep.  Subsequently,  when  it  became  important  for  Mr.  Morse  to 
establish  by  positive  evidence  the  simple  fact  that  he  was  taught 
by  Professor  Dana  at  this  time,  that  promising  scholar  was  dead. 
His  wife  survived  him,  and,  on  being  applied  to  for  her  recol- 
lections, she  testified  as  follows : 

Deposition  of  Matilda  W.  Dana,  of  Boston,  in  the  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, taken  at  the  Office  of  George  8.  BZillard. 

"  I  am  the  widow  of  Professor  James  Freeman  Dana;  my  hus- 
band and  myself  resided  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  the  years  1826- 
1827 ;  my  husband  died  on  the  15th  day  of  April,  1827,  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  In  the  year  1827  he  delivered  a  course  of  lectures 
upon  the  subject  of  electro-magnetism,  and  also  upon  the  subject 
of  electricity,  before  the  New  York  Athenasum,  in  the  chapel  of 
Columbia  College.  I  attended  several  of  these  lectures ;  his  mind 
was  most  intensely  interested  in  the  subject  of  electro-magnetism 
— so  much  so,  indeed,  that  I  frequently  heard  him  talk  of  it  in  his 
sleep.  I  know  that  my  husband,  in  the  years  1826-1827,  and  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death,  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  Professor 
Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  frequently  visiting  in 
Professor  Morse's  painting-room,  which,  at  that  time,  was  at  the 
corner  of  Broadway  and  Pine  Street,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  I 
have  a  distinct  recollection  of  visiting  Professor  Morse's  room  in 
1827,  in  company  with  my  husband,  and  of  examining  some  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse's  paintings.  My  husband  had  a  very  keen  perception 
of  the  beautiful,  and  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  fine  arts,  and  took 
particular  delight  and  interest  in  the  art  in  which  Professor  Morse 
was  at  that  time  engaged.  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  circumstance 
led  him  to  cultivate  an  intimacy  and  friendship  with  Professor 
Morse,  and  I  know  that  such  intimacy  and  friendship  did  exist  up 
to  the  time  of  my  husband's  death.  I  frequently  heard  my  husband 
speak  of  his  having  been  on  visits  to  Professor  Morse's  rooms,  and 
he  frequently  told  me  he  had  been  on  such  visits.  From  what  he 
said  to  me,  and  from  what  I  saw,  I  know  that  he  must  have  spent 
much  time  at  Professor  Morse's  rooms.  I  frequently  heard  him 
speak  of  Professor  Morse's  pictures ;  there  was  one  I  know,  he 
much  admired,  that  was  the  picture  entitled  '  Una,  the  Dwarf,  and 


MRS.   DANA'S  TESTIMONY.  163 

Arthur,'  from  Spenser's  '  Faerie  Queene.'  My  husband  took  me  with 
him  to  Professor  Morse's  room,  to  see  that  picture,  and  I  recollect 
seeing  it  at  his  room,  and  it  was  much  admired  both  by  me  and  by 
my  husband ;  and  my  husband  was  so  much  interested  at  that  time 
with  electro-magnetism,  that  it  was  a  favorite  theme  in  his  conver- 
sations with  all  his  associates  and  friends.  He  was  in  the  habit 
of  dwelling  much  upon  it,  and  of  explaining  to  his  friends  the 
results  of  his  experiments  in  that  science.  From  the  terms  of  inti- 
macy existing  between  him  and  Professor  Morse,  I  can  scarcely  con- 
ceive it  possible  that  he  and  Professor  Morse  should  not  have  had 
frequent  and  repeated  conversations  on  the  subject  of  electro-mag- 
netism. I  knew  that  my  husband  at  that  time  was  in  the  constant 
habit  of  stating  to  his  friends  and  associates  his  views  of  that 
wonderful  science,  which  then  was  regarded  as,  in  a  great  measure, 
new  in  this  country,  and  little  understood.  He  was  unusually  frank 
and  communicative  in  his  social  intercourse  with  his  friends ;  that 
was  a  distinguishing  trait  in  his  character.  He  seemed  anxious  to 
induce,  in  the  minds  of  others,  an  interest  in  the  science  of  electro- 
magnetism,  as  he  entertained  the  idea  that,  ultimately,  it  would  be 
an  instrument  of  wonderful  and  highly-beneficial  results  to  the 
world,  when  it  should  be  more  fully  understood,  its  principles  devel- 
oped and  applied  to  practical  purposes.  On  the  death  of  my  hus- 
band I  received  from  Professor  Morse  a  very  kind  note  of  condo- 
lence, to  which  I  have  often  recurred  with  grateful  remembrance, 
as  a  token  of  kind  regard  from  an  intimate  friend  and  associate  of 
my  deceased  husband.  I  have  often  spoken  of  it,  and  shown  it  to 
my  daughter,  as  coming  from  an  intimate  friend  of  her  father.  I 
cannot  now  state  positively  that  I  saw  Professor  Morse  at  these 
lectures  before  the  Athenaeum ;  but  from  the  intimacy  that  existed 
between  them,  and  the  professional  relations  to  each  other,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  he  did  attend  those  lectures.  I  should  have  thought 
it  very  singular  if  he  had  not,  and  presume  that  his  absence  would 
have  been  a  subject  of  remark  if  he  were  absent.  I  recollect  Pro- 
fessor Morse  at  that  time  delivered  lectures  before  the  Athenaeum 
upon  the  fine  arts,  and  that  my  husband  and  myself  attended  them. 
I  am  very  sure  that  Professor  Morse,  in  his  letter  of  condolence, 
expressed  the  pleasure  he  had  had  in  attending  my  husband's  lect- 
ures. And  I  further  depose  and  say  that  the  two  papers  now  pro- 
duced and  made  an  exhibit  in  this  cause,  and  upon  the  first  page 
of  which  I  have  written  my  name,  and  the  date  of  taking  of  this 
deposition — one  headed  '  1st,  2d.     On  Electro-Magnetism  before 


164:  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  New  York  Athenaeum ; '  the  other  headed  '  2d,  3d,  4th.  On 
Electro-Magnetism,  before  the  New  York  Athenaeum' — are  the  ori- 
ginal lectures  delivered  by  my  husband  James  Freeman  Dana,  be- 
fore the  New  York  Athenaeum,  in  the  year  1827 ;  that  said  original 
lectures  and  the  drawings  therein,  as  well  as  the  heading  to  each, 
above  quoted,  are  in  the  handwriting  of  my  said  husband,  and 
the  same  have  been  in  my  possession  since  the  death  of  my  said 
husband ;  and  that  my  husband,  at  the  time  of  the  delivery,  exhib- 
ited to  his  audience  various  experiments  with  an  electro-magnet, 
illustrative  of  the  subject-matter  of  said  lectures,  and  then  had  and 
exhibited  to  his  audience  an  electro-magnet  in  a  horseshoe  form. 
After  his  death  that  identical  magnet  was  sold  to  his  successor, 
Professor  John  Torrey.  Since  the  funeral  of  my  husband  I  have 
not  seen  Mr.  Morse,  until  the  19  th  of  September,  instant.  He 
then,  before  seeing  said  lectures,  or  before  I  told  him  what  they 
contained,  stated,  to  me  several  of  the  experiments  which  were 
exhibited  by  my  husband  at  the  time  he  delivered  the  same  before 
the  Athenaeum. 

(Signed)  ■       "Matilda  W.  Dana. 

"  Sworn  to  before  me,  the  24th  day  of  September,  a.  d.  1849. 

"  Geoege  S.  Hillaed, 
"  Commissioner,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." 

The  first  words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Professor  Dana  in 
his  course  of  lectures,  and  which  reached  the  ear  of  Mr.  Morse, 
were  these,  and  the  last  lines  of  the  first  paragraph  have  wonder- 
ful significance  in  connection  with  the  results : 

"  The  discovery  of  the  voltaic  pile  by  the  illustrious  philosopher 
whose  name  the  instrument  bears,  is  emphatically  the  most  impor- 
tant discovery  of  the  age.  It  will  ever  render  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  science  the  first  year  of  the  present  century.  Its  influ- 
ence on  the  progress  of  philosophy  has  been  viewed  with  astonish- 
ment, even  by  the  most  ardent  and  sanguine  imaginations.  It  has 
multiplied  discoveries  with  a  rapidity  and  to  an  extent  without  par- 
allel in  the  history  of  physics.  It  has  given  to  us  new  powers  over 
the  material  world,  and  has  presented  us  with  new  substances  pos- 
sessing almost  magical  properties.  The  tide  of  discovery  has  rolled 
over  us  like  a  flood,  and  yet  new  results  are  daily  offered,  and  new 
relations  and  connections  of  its  influence  are  hourly  developed. 

"  The  year  1819  witnessed  the  discovery,  by  means  of  the  voltaic 


PROFESSOR  DANA'S   LECTURES.  165 

apparatus,  of  a  mysterious  connection  between  the  electric  power 
and  the  magnetic  influence,  which  has  afforded  phenomena  of  a  most 
engaging-  and  unexpected  nature ;  has  presented  experiments  and 
results  which  have  been  witnessed  but  with  admiration,  and  laid 
the  foundation  upon  'which  a  new  science,  electro-magnetism,  has 
been  erected. 

"  The  principles  of  this  new  science  have  been  subjected  to  a 
rigorous  mathematical  analysis,  which  place  them  on  a  basis  no  less 
firm  than  that  of  the  theory  of  gravitation,  and  gives  them  a  charm 
which  renders  the  subject  highly  attractive  from  the  perfect  coinci- 
dence of  geometrical  deductions  with  physical  facts ;  but,  divesting 
them  of  mathematical  considerations,  I  shall  attempt,  in  a  popular 
manner,  to  elucidate  the  laws  of  electro-magnetism,  by  experiments, 
in  the  lectures  which  I  have  the  honor  this  season  to  offer  to  the 
Athenaeum." 

And  lie  closed  the  lecture  by  saying : 

".Conductors  of  electricity  receive  and  transmit  the  electric  in- 
fluence instantly  to  every  part  of  their  substance ;  metals,  alloys, 
well-burnt  charcoal :  non-conductors  receive  the  influence  only  at 
the  point  of  contact,  but  do  not  transmit  it;  glass,  resin,  silk,  etc. 
There  are  many  bodies  which  hold  an  intermediate  station  be- 
tween conductors  and  non-conductors;  they  are  called  imperfect 
conductors. 

"  When  a  connection  is  made  between  the  positive  and  nega- 
tive poles  of  a  voltaic  apparatus  by  means  of  conductors,  the  bat- 
tery is  discharged  ;  the  electric  tension  is  destroyed;  that  is,  the 
instruments  which  indicate  the  presence  of  electricity  cease  to  be 
affected.  But  the  apparatus  possesses  within  itself  the  power  of 
renewing  its  first  state  of  electric  tension  in  imperceptible  intervals 
of  time,  and  consequently  the  connecting  substance  between  the 
two  poles  is  continually  performing  the  same  office  during  its  whole 
time  of  contact  that  it  did  at  the  first  moment.  While  the  connect- 
ing wire  is  performing  this  function,  it  is  evident  that  it  must  be  in 
a  state  different  from  that  in  which  it  exists  when  separated  from  the 
instrument.  Now,  since  a  small  wire  may  be  employed  to  dis- 
charge a  powerful  apparatus,  it  follows  that  the  principle  which  is 
active  in  it  is  condensed  and  concentrated  into  a  very  small  space. 
A  wire,  while  it  is  performing  this  function,  we  shall  call  the  con- 
junctive wire. 

"  In  the  hypothetical  language  of  electricians,  a  current  of  elec- 


166  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   P.   B.   MORSE. 

tricity  flows  through  the  conjunctive  wire,  but  whether  a  material 
substance  be  conceived  to  pass  through  the  wire  or  not,  it  certainly 
suffers  some  peculiar  changes,  and  acquires  some  peculiar  proper- 
ties which  it  retains  while  it  is  made  the  medium  of  communication 
between  the  poles  of  the  voltaic  instruments  in  a  state  of  activity. 
If  the  wire  be  small,  it  is  heated,  and  it  produces  effects  on  the 
magnetic  needle  which  are  constant  and  invariable." 

In  bis  second  lecture  Professor  Dana  said  : 

"  The  effect  of  the  conjunctive  wire  in  impressing  the  magnetic 
state  is  uniform  and  constant,  and  we  can  infer  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty the  kind  of  magnetism  which  will  be  exhibited  by  either  end 
of  a  needle,  by  reference  to  its  position  with  regard  to  the  wire. 
We  are  led  to  this  by  our  previous  knowledge  of  the  positions 
assumed  by  a  magnetic  needle  under  the  influence  of  the  wire. 
Thus,  if  the  electric  current  flow  from  the  right  hand  to  the  left, 
and  the  needle  to  be  magnetized  be  placed  over  the  wire,  the  end 
pointing  from  us  will  acquire  the  austral  magnetism,  or  a  north 
polarity,  etc.  We  have  seen  that  the  pole  of  the  magnetic  needle, 
over  which  the  positive  electricity  enters,  turns  to  the  east,  but  the 
pole  under  which  it  enters,  turns  to  the  west.  If,  therefore,  a 
needle  be  placed  between  two  conjunctive  wires  situated  in  the 
same  vertical  plane,  and  transmitting  the  electric  current  in  oppo- 
site directions,  it  is  evident  that  both  will  conspire  to  produce  the 
same  effect,  which  will,  consequently,  be  much  more  considerable 
than  that  produced  by  either  of  them  alone ;  but  a  wire  bent  so  as 
to  have  its  ends  connected  with  the  opposite  poles  of  the  voltaic 
instrument,  will  evidently  have  the  electric  current,  passing  in  op- 
posite directions  in  its  upper  and  lower  portions,  and  consequently 
it  will  produce  on  a  needle  between  them  an  effect  similar  to  that 
produced  by  the  two  wires.  Wires  thus  situated  produce  a  more 
prompt  development  of  magnetism  in  steel  than  a  single  wire  does, 
because  both  tend  to  turn  the  same  kind  of  magrtetism  in  the  same 
direction,  and  the  opposite  magnetisms  in  opposite  directions,  and 
hence  we  have  one  method  of  measuring  the  action  of  a  battery  on 
steel  bars.  Again,  two  parallel  wires,  having  the  electric  current 
moving  through  them,  in  the  same  direction,  will  evidently  pro- 
duce a  greater  effect  on  a  steel  bar  than  either  of  them  alone,  for 
the  effect  of  the  whole  must  be  greater  than  that  of  a  part. 

"  Where  several  conjunctive  wires  are  placed  together,  side  by 
side,  the  power  is  apparently  diminished  in  the  central  wires,  and 


THE   HORSESHOE   MAGNET.  167 

concentrated  in  the  extreme  portion ;  the  magnetic  state  of  the  lat- 
ter seems  to  be  augmented  by  induction  or  by  position. 

"  When  such  an  assemblage  of  wires  acts  on  the  magnetism  of 
a  piece  of  steel,  they  decompose  it,  and  each  individual  wire  acts 
with  most  force  on  the  magnetism  nearest  to  it.  Each  conspires  in 
its  action  to  produce  the  same  effect  as  the  others ;  and  hence,  in 
addition,  to  the  effects  of  currents  in  opposite  directions,  we  have 
another  method  of  increasing  the  power  of  a  battery  in  magnetizing 
needles.  "We  shall  probably  render  steel  strongly  magnetic,  if  we 
combine  these  two  methods  of  increasing  the  effect.  This  is 
effected  by  forming  the  conjunctive  wire  into  a  spiral  around  the 
steel  bar  to  be  magnetized  ;  for,  at  the  opposite  extremities  of  any 
diameter  of  this  spiral,  it  is  evident  that  the  electric  current  moves 
in  opposite  directions.  Suppose  the  spiral  to  be  placed  horizontally, 
east  and  west,  the  current  on  its  upper  part  to  move  from  north  to 
south,  it  will  at  its  lower  part  move  from  south  to  north ;  and  the 
spiral  thus  gives  us  the  combined  influence  of  currents  in  opposite 
directions.  Moreover,  the  different  coils  of  the  spiral  are  nearly  at 
right  angles  with  the  axis  of  the  included  bar  y  and  they  are  paral- 
lel to  each  other.  Hence,  at  any  given  portion  of  the  bar  the  effect 
of  many  currents  passing  in  the  same  direction  is  produced,  and 
the  included  bar  becomes  strongly  magnetic  ;  and  a  spiral  placed 
round  a  piece  of  soft  iron  bent  into  the  form  of  a  horseshoe  mag- 
net,  renders  it  strongly  and  powerfully  magnetic  lohen  the  elec- 
tric current  is  passing  through  it"  .  .  .  [And  this,  be  it  remem- 
bered, was  said  in  1827.]  "The  opposite  sides  of  a  conjunctive 
wire  exhibit  the  opposite  magnetisms ;  and  we  have  seen  that,  bv 
placing  the  wires  parallel  to  each  other,  and  connecting  them  with 
a  battery  so  that  they  may  transmit  the  current  in  the  same  di- 
rection, the  magnetisms  seem  to  be  concentrated  in  the  extreme 
wires,  and  that  we  can  thus  separate  them  in  a  degree  from  each 
other.  Now,  when  we  consider  that  the  direction  of  the  magnetic 
power  is  at  right  angles  to  the  conjunctive  wire  it  is  evident  that  in 
a  helix  this  direction  must  nearly  coincide  with  that  of  the  axis  of 
the  helix,  and  the  one  kind  of  magnetism  be  found  concentrated  at 
one  extremity,  and  the  other  kind  at  the  opposite  end.  .  .  .  Iron 
filings  adhering  to  dissimilarly  electro-magnetic  wires,  repel  each 
other ;  and  to  similarly  electro-magnetic  wires,  attract  each  other. 

"  In  the  course  of  our  reasoning,  by  which  we  were  led  from 
step  to  step  to  the  adoption  of  a  spiral  or  helix  in  powerfully  de- 
veloping magnetism  in  bars,  Ave  inferred  that  two  or  more  parallel 


168  LIFE   0F   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  similarly  electro-magnetic  wires  acted  with  greater  energy  than 
one,  and  that  the  magnetisms  were  accumulated  in  the  extreme 
wires  by  a  species  of  induction  between  them  all.  A  ribbon  of 
metal  substituted  for  these  wires  exerts  a  stronger  influence  on  the 
needle  at  its  edges  than  at  its  sides,  for  a  similar  reason.  So,  also, 
if  a  series  of  concentric  wires  be  used,  and  the  electric  current 
sent  through  them  in  the  same  direction,  we  infer  that  they  will 
have  the  power  of  the  corresponding  sides  of  the  different  rings  con- 
centrated and  accumulated  in  their  common  centre,  and  will,  on  the 
same  side  of  their  centre,  act  as  parallel  similarly  electro-magnetic 
wires.  A  flat  spiral  or  volute,  having  two  ends  connected  with  the 
opposite  poles  of  a  battery,  will  correctly  represent  concentric  rings 
under  the  condition  we  have  proposed ;  and  the  great  quantity  of 
iron  filings  which  such  a  spiral  or  volute  takes  up,  and  the  accumu- 
lation of  them  in  the  centre,  fully  evinces  the  concentration  of 
power  there,  aud  the  correctness  of  the  reasoning  by  which  we 
have  been  led  to  this  modification  of  the  conjunctive  wire." 

This  was  the  second  step  which  Morse  took  toward  the  great 
invention.  The  first  was  in  Yale  College.  The  second  was 
under  a  professor  of  Columbia  College. 

He  learned  from  Professor  Dana,  in  1827,  the  elementary 
facts  that  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  electro-magnet,  to  wit : 

The  effect  of  a  single  straight  conjunctive  wire  in  producing 
magnetism.     (Oersted's  discovery.) 

The  effect  of  a  conjunctive  wire,  lent  into  the  form  of  a  ring, 
for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  magnetism.  (Schweigger's  ex- 
periment.) 

The  effect  of  a  series  of  these  conjunctive  wire  rings,  forming 
a  spiral,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  still  further  the  magnet- 
ism.    (Arago's  experiment,  at  the  suggestion  of  Ampere.) 

The  effect  of  a  flat  spiral  or  volute,  the  conjunctive  wire 
superposed  upon  itself,  for  still  further  increasing  the  magnetism. 
Schweigger  discovered  the  principle  of  this  modification,  and 
embodied  it  in  his  multiplier,  while  Dana  applied  it  to  the  mag- 
netizing of  iron  filings  in  demonstrating  its  magnetic  power,  and 
suggested  it  for  the  electro-magnet. 

He  learned  from  Professor  Dana,  in  1827,  the  rationale  of 
the  electro-magnet,  which  latter  was  exhibited  in  action.  He 
witnessed  the  effects  of  the  conjunctive  wire  in  the  different 


TRIBUTE   TO  PROFESSOR  DANA.  169 

forms  described  by  him  in  bis  lectures,  and  exhibited  to  bis  audi- 
ence. Tbe  electro-magnet  was  put  in  action  by  an  intensity  lat- 
tery •  it  was  made  to  sustain  tbe  weigbt  of  its  armature,  wben 
tbe  conjunctive  wire  was  connected  witb  tbe  poles  of  tbe  battery 
or  tbe  circuit  was  closed ;  and  it  was  made  "  to  drop  its  load" 
upon  opening  tbe  circuit.  Tbese,  witb  many  other  principles  of 
electro-magnetism,  were  all  illustrated,  experimentally,  to  bis 
audience.  Mr.  Morse  afterward,  in  writing  on  tbe  subject,  pays 
a  noble  tribute  to  his  teacher,  Professor  Dana,  of  whom  he  said  : 

"  The  volute  modification  of  the  helix,  to  show  the  concentration 
of  magnetism  at  its  centre,  adapted  to  the  electro-magnet,  the  modi- 
fication since  universally  adopted  in  the  construction  of  the  elec- 
tro-magnet, is  justly  due,  I  think,  to  the  inventive  mind  of  Professor 
James  Freeman  Dana.  Death,  in  striking  him  down  at  the  thresh- 
old of  his  fame,  not  only  extinguished  a  brilliant  light  in  science, 
one  which  gave  the  highest  promise  of  future  distinction,  but,  by 
the  suddenness  of  the  stroke,  put  to  peril  the  just  credit  due  to  him 
for  discoveries  he  had  already  made.  Dana  had  not  only  mastered 
all  of  the  science  of  electro-magnetism  then  given  to  the  world — a 
science  in  which  he  was  an  enthusiast ;  but,  standing  on  the  confines 
that  separate  the  known  from  the  unknown,  was,  at  the  time  of  his 
decease,  preparing  for  new  explorations  and  new  discoveries.  I 
could  not  mention  his  name,  in  this  connection,  without  at  least  ren- 
dering this  slight  but  inadequate  homage  to  one  of  the  most  liberal 
of  men  and  amiable  of  friends,  as  well  as  promising  philosophers  of 
his  age.  Dana,  in  1827,  publicly*  exhibited  the  electro-magnet,  with 
its  spiral  conjunctive  wire.  He  also  exhibited,  at  the  same  time, 
and  directly  in  the  same  connection  with  the  electro-magnet,  the  '  flat 
spiral,'  or  '  volute  modification  of  the  conjunctive  wire ; '  showing 
its  increased  power  over  the  single  spiral,  demonstrating  this  effect 
with  iron  filings,  and  directly  suggesting  its  application  to  the  soft- 
iron  horseshoe  bar." 

Tbe  year  following  Mr.  Morse  devoted  to  bis  profession,  in 
which  he  was  now  eminently  successful.  His  sitters  were  so 
numerous  that  he  was  unable  to  meet  the  demands  of  all  who 
sought  him,  and  his  brother  artists  remember  with  gratitude  his 
kindness  in  sending  to  them  many  persons  whom  he  could  not 
find  time  to  paint. 

He  employed  his  evenings  in  preparing  a  series  of  lectures 


170  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.    B.    MORSE. 

on  "  Tlie  Fine  Arts,"  which  he  delivered  before  the  New  York 
Athenaeum.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  series  of  lectures 
on  the  subject  ever  delivered  in  the  United  States.  Writing  to 
his  mother,  March  1st,  he  says :  "  My  lectures  at  the  Athenaeum 
closed  on  Thursday  evening  to  a  '  most  fashionable  and  crowded 
house/  as  the  phrase  is."  Yisiting  his  relatives  at  Utica,  in  the 
summer,  he  wrote  to  his  brother : 

"  In  coming  from  Whitesboro',  on  Friday,  I  met  with  an  accident, 
and  a  most  narrow  escape  with  my  life :  the  horse  which  had  been 
tackled  into  the  wagon  was  a  vicious  horse,  and  had  several  times 
run  away,  to  the  danger  of  Mr.  Dexter's  life  and  others  of  the  fam- 
ily. I  was  not  aware  of  this,  or  I  should  not  have  consented  to  go 
with  him,  much  less  to  drive  him  myself.  I  was  alone  in  the  wagon, 
with  my  baggage,  and  the  horse  went  very  well  for  about  a  mile ; 
when  he  gradually  quickened  his  pace,  and  then  set  out,  in  spite  of 
all  check,  on  the  full  run.  I  kept  him  in  the  road,  determined  to  let 
him  run  himself  tired,  as  the  only  safe  alternative ;  but,  just  as  I 
came  in  sight  of  a  piece  of  the  road  which  had  been  concealed  by 
an  angle,  there  was  a  heavy  wagon,  which  I  must  meet  so  soon  that, 
in  order  to  avoid  it,  I  must  give  it  the  whole  road ;  this  being  very 
narrow,  and  the  ditches  and  banks  on  each  side  very  rough,  I  in- 
stantly made  up  my  mind  to  a  serious  accident.  As  well  as  the 
velocity  of  the  horse  would  allow  me,  however,  I  kept  him  on  the 
side,  rough  as  it  was,  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  pretty  steadily, 
expecting,  however,  to  be  upset  every  minute,  when  all  at  once  I 
saw  before  me  an  abrupt,  narrow,  deep  gully,  into  which  the  wheels 
on  one  side  were  just  upon  the  point  of  going  down,  when  it 
flashed  across  me  in  an  instant  that  if  I  could  throw  the  horse  down 
into  the  ditch,  the  wheels  of  the  wagon  might  perhaps  rest  equi- 
poised on  each  side,  and  perhaps  break  the  horse  loose  from  the 
wagon.  I  pulled  the  rein  and  accomplished  the  object  in  part ;  the 
sudden  plunge  of  the  horse  into  the  gully  broke  him  loose  from 
the  wagon,  but  it  at  the  same  time  turned  one  of  the  fore-wheels 
into  the  gully,  which  upset  the  wagon,  and  threw  me  forward  at  the 
moment  when  the  horse  threw  up  his  neck,  just  taking  off  my  hat, 
and  leaving  me  in  the  bottom  of  the  gully.  I  fell  on  my  left  shoul- 
der, and,  although  muddied  from  head  to  foot,  I  escaped  without 
any  injury  whatever  ;  I  was  not  even  jarred  painfully.  I  found  my 
shoulder  a  little  bruised,  my  wrist  very  slightly  scratched,  and  yes- 
terday was  a  little,  and  but  very  little,  stiffened  in  my  limbs,  and  to- 


ESCAPE  FROM   DEATH.  171 

day  have  not  the  slightest  feeling  of  bruise  about  me,  but  think  I 
feel  better  than  I  have  for  a  long  time.  Indeed,  my  health  is  en- 
tirely restored ;  the  riding  and  country  air  have  been  the  means  of 
restoring  me.  I  have  great  cause  of  thankfulness  for  so  much 
mercy,  and  for  such  special  preserving  care." 

Returning  to  the  city  of  New  York,  his  children  being  scat- 
tered among  his  relatives  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  Mr. 
Morse  resumed  his  labors.  Business  increased.  The  most  emi- 
nent citizens  became  his  personal  friends  and  gave  him'  commis- 
sions. Success,  however,  served  only  to  stimulate  him  to  higher 
efforts ;  and  he  resolved  that  he  would  seek,  by  study  in  Italy, 
to  perfect  himself  in  the  art  to  which  he  had  now  fully  devoted 
his  life. 


CHAPTEE  YI. 

1829-1832. 

COMMISSIONS     TO     PAINT     IN     ITALY  —  JOUENEY     TO     EOME  —  LETTEE     TO    HIS 
COUSIN  —  ENGLAND  —  PAEIS  — A VIGNON  —  MAESEILLES — NICE  — THE    COB- 

NIOE    EOAD — GENEVA PISA — EOME — THE    VATICAN — GALLEEIES    OF   AET 

NOTES  —  THOEWALDSEN  — POETEAIT — JAMES      FENLMOEE     COOPEE  —  H. 

GEEENOUGH— LETTEES — EETTTBN  TO  PAEIS — FEIENDSHIP  WITH  LAFAY- 
ETTE— SYMPATHY   WITH    POLAND — IMPEISONMENT     OF    DE.    HOWE — FALL 

OF   WAESAW LETTEES     TO     HIS     BEOTHEE SUGGESTS     LIGHTNLNG-TELE- 

GEAPH — HUMBOLDT — PEESIDES  AT  FOUETH-OF-JULY  DLNNEE  —  LETTEES 
OF  LAFAYETTE — INTEEIOE  OF  THE  LOUVEE — HUMBOLDT  AND  MOESE — 
DUNLAP'S    NOTICES   OF   MOESE   LN   PAEIS   AND   LONDON. 

PBESIDEJSTT  of  the  National  Academy,  and  among  the  first 
in  his  profession  in  the  United  States,  Mr.  Morse  had  never 
been  in  Italy.  He  had  a  profound  consciousness  that  whatever 
attainments  in  art  he  had  already  made,  or  could  yet  make,  until 
he  had  studied  under  the  old  masters,  who  being  dead  yet  speak, 
there  was  much  to  be  learned,  and  he  must  sit  as  a  learner  in  the 
presence  of  their  works.  Having  received  the  following  com- 
missions for  pictures,  he  resolved  to  go  abroad  again : 

"  We,  the  subscribers,  having  learned  that  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse 
is  about  to  embark  for  Europe,  for  the  purpose  of  study  and  prac- 
tice in  his  profession,  in  Borne,  Paris,  and  London,  do  commission 
said  Morse  to  execute  the  orders  severally  placed  against  our 
names,  and  do  agree  to  advance  the  money  for  the  same,  at  such 
time  and  in  such  proportions  as  shall  be  specified  in  a  written  order 
from  the  said  Morse,  the  holder  of  such  order  to  be  considered  as 
duly  authorized  to  receive  the  same,  and  the  money  to  be  paid  to 
him,  and  his  receipt  taken  in  discharge  of  said  subscription,  or  the 
several  parts  thereof. 

"New  York,  September  25,  1829. 


COMMISSIONS  FOR  PICTURES.  173 

Philip  Hone,  $100 — to  be  disposed  of  in  such  way  as  may  be  most  agreeable  to  Mr. 
Morse.     A  picture  not  larger  than  Newton's  or  Leslie's — say  twenty-five  by 
thirty. 
M.  Van  Schaick,  $200 — paid  for  two  cabinet  pictures,  copies  or  originals — twenty. 

four  by  eighteen.     Either  landscapes  or  heads. 
Chas.  Carvill,  $100.     Like  A.  P.  &  Slender,  belonging  to  Haggerty.  ' 
DeWitt  Bloodgood,  $100  (copy  or  copies).   Some  small,  high-finished  picture ;  heads 

from  Titian. 
Dr.  David  Hosack — two  cabinet  pictures,  not  over  twenty-five  by  thirty  inches,  at 

$150  each— $300. 
Jona.  Goodhue,  $100 — to  be  at  the  disposal  of  Mr.  Morse.     Wishes  two  pictures  at 

$50  each. 
Benj.  L.  Swan,  $100.     To  be  one  picture,  as  Mr.  Morse  may  select,  twenty-five  by 

thirty  inches,  as  a  companion  to  one  painting  in  Rome,  by  Mr.  Peale.  '' 
John  B.  Yan  Schaick,  $50 — d  la  discretion. 

R.  V.  DeWitt,  $100.     One  or  two  pictures ;  if  one,  a  landscape  ;  if  two,  one  land- 
scape and  one  figure. 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  Albany.     Two   or  more  pictures.     (See  accompanying 

letter.) 
Robert  Donaldson  (15  State  Street,  New  York) — school  of  Athens — $100 ;  size,  say 

thirty  inches  by  thirty-eight  or  forty. 
Frederick  Sheldon,  $100.     To  be  at  the  disposal  of  Mr.  Morse ;  say  a  landscape  of 

Claude  or  Poussin,  twenty-five  by  thirty. 
G.  G.'Howland,  $150 — two  landscapes — Mr.  Morse's  taste — good  size,  twenty-five 

by  thirty  inches,  or  thereabout,  of  Poussin  or  Claude. 
Moss  Kent,  $100 — at  my  discretion.     2 
Charles  Walker,  $500 :  '  Miracolo  del  Servo '  of  Tintoretto,  or  some  picture  of  that 

class.  ■ 
Moses  H.  Grinnell,  $100.     His  brother  thinks  of  the  picture  by  Carlo  Dolce  in  the 

Borghese  Palace. 
P.  and  C,  a  picture  each,  for  $60  each. 
J.  L.  Morton,  $30. 
Mr.  Donaldson's  subscription  is  only  in  part  payment  for  the  copy  to  be  painted  for 

him. 
S.  Salisbury,  a  view  of  the  Fountain  of  Egeria,  with  figures  antique,  for  $200,  twen- 
ty-five by  thirty  inches. 
Wm.  H.  Russell,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  copy  of  '  The  Fine  Arts,'  by  Alessandro  Turchi, 
in  the  Colonna  Palace.     Fifty-four  by  thirty-six  inches, 


Leaving  his  children  in  the  care  of  his  relatives,  Mr.  Morse 
sailed  from  New  York  November  8,  1829,  and  landed  in  Liver- 
pool on  the  4th  day  of  December.  He  was  lodged  at  the  Liver- 
pool Arms  Hotel,  where  he  put  up  eighteen  years  before,  when 
he  arrived  as  a  student  in  England.  He  came  on  the  same  errand 
now,  though  he  had  long  since  become  a  teacher  and  master. 
The  few  days  that  he  passed  in  England  are  recalled  by  a  letter 
he  wrote  in  Dover  to  a  favorite  cousin,  on  Christmas-day,  1829  : 


174  LIFE  OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  When  I  left  Liverpool,  I  took  my  seat  upon  the  outside  of  the 
coach,  in  order  to  see  as  much  as  possible  of  the  country  through 
which  I  was  to  pass.  Unfortunately,  the  fog  and  smoke  were  so 
dense  that  I  could  see  objects  but  a  few  yards  from  the  road.  Oc- 
casionally, indeed,  the  fog  would  become  less  dense,  and  we  could 
see  the  fine  lawns  of  the  seats  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  which 
were  scattered  on  our  route,  and  which  still  retained  their  verdure. 
Now  and  then  the  spire  and  towers  of  some  ancient  village  church 
rose  out  of  the  leafless  trees,  beautifully  simple  in  their  forms,  and 
sometimes  clothed  to  the  very  tops  with  the  evergreen  ivy.  It  was 
severely  cold ;  my  eyebrows,  hair,  cap,  and  the  fur  of  my  cloak, 
were  soon  coated  with  frost,  but  I  determined  to  keep  my  seat, 
though  I  suffered  some  from  the  cold.  Their  fine  natural  health,  or 
the  frosty  weather,  gave  to  the  complexions  of  the  peasantry,  particu- 
larly the  females  and  children,  a  beautiful  rosy  bloom.  Through  all 
the  villages  there  was  the  appearance  of  great  comfort  and  neat- 
ness— a  neatness,  however,  very  different  from  ours.  Their  nicely- 
thatched  cottages  bore  all  the  marks  of  great  antiquity,  covered 
with  brilliant  green  moss  like  velvet,  and  round  the  doors  and  win- 
dows were  trained  some  of  the  many  kinds  of  evergreen,  vines 
which  abound  here.  Most  of  them,  also,  had  a  trim  court-yard  be- 
fore their  doors,  planted  with  laurel,  and  holly,  and  box,  and  some- 
times a  yew,  cut  into  some  fantastic  shape.  The  streets  of  all  the 
villages  were  uniformly  clean.  The  whole  appearance  of  the  vil- 
lages was  neat  and  venerable,  like  some  aged  matron,  who,  with  all 
her  wrinkles,  her  stooping  form,  and  gray  locks,  preserves  the  dig- 
nity of  cleanliness  in  her  ancient  but  becoming  costume.  At 
Trentham,  we  passed  one  of  the  seats  of  the  Marquis  of  Stafford, 

*  Trentham  Sail.''  Here  the  marquis  has  a  fine  gallery  of  pictures, 
and  among  them  Allstorts  famous  picture  of  '  Uriel  in  the  Sun?  I 
slept  the  first  night  in  Birmingham,  which  I  had  no  time  to  see,  on 
account  of  darkness,  smoke,  and  fog,  three  most  inveterate  enemies 
to  the  seekers  of  the  picturesque  and  of  antiquities.  In  the  morn- 
ing, before  daylight,  I  resumed  my  journey  toward  London.     At 

*  Stratford  on  Avon,''  I  breakfasted,  but  in  such  haste,  as  not  to  be 
able  to  visit  again  the  house  of  Shakespeare's  birth,  or  his  tomb ; 
this  house,  however,  I  visited  when  in  England  before.  At  Oxford, 
the  city  of  so  man}'  classical  recollections,  I  stopped  but  a  few  mo- 
ments to  dine.  I  was  here,  also,  when  before  in  England.  It  is  a 
most  splendid  city ;  its  spires,  and  domes,  and  towers,  and  pinna- 
cles, rising  from  amid  the  trees,  give  it  a  magnificent  appearance  as  ■ 


VISIT  WITH  LESLIE.  175 

you  approach  it.  Before  we  reached  Oxford,  we  passed  through 
Woodstock  and  Blenheim,  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough, 
whose  splendid  estates  are  at  present  suffering  from  the  embarrass- 
ment of  the  present  duke,  who  has  ruined  his  fortunes  by  his  fond- 
ness for  play.  Darkness  came  on  after  leaving  Oxford.  I  saw 
nothing  until  arriving  in  the  vicinity  of  the  great  metropolis,  which 
has,  for  many  miles  before  you  enter  it,  the  appearance  of  a  contin- 
uous village.  We  saw  the  brilliant  gas-lights  of  its  streets,  and  our 
coach  soon  joined  the  throng  of  vehicles  that  rattled  over  its  pave- 
ments. I  could  scarcely  realize  that  I  was  once  more  in  London, 
after  fourteen  years'  absence. 

"  My  first  visit  was  to  my  old  friend  and  fellow-pupil  Leslie, 
who  seemed  overjoyed  to  see  me,  and  has  been  unremitting  in  his 
attentions  during  my  stay  in  London.  Leslie  I  found,  as  I  expected, 
in  high  favor  with  the  highest  classes  of  England's  noblemen  and 
literary  characters.  His  reputation  is  well  deserved,  and  will  not 
be  ephemeral.  I  received  an  invitation  to  breakfast  from  Samuel 
Rogers,  Esq.,  the  celebrated  poet,  which  I  accepted  with  my  friend 
Leslie.  Mr.  Rogers  is  the  author  of  '  Pleasures  of  Memory,'  of 
'Italy,'  and  other  poems.  He  has  not  the  proverbial  lot  of  the 
poet — that  of  being  poor — for  he  is  one  of  the  wealthiest  bankers, 
and  lives  in  splendid  style.  His  collection  of  pictures  is  very  select, 
chosen  by  himself,  with  great  taste. 

"  I  attended,  a  few  evenings  since,  the  lecture  on  anatomy  at 
the  Royal  Academy,  where  I  was  introduced  to  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  artists ;  to  Mr.  Shee,  the  poet  and  author  as  well  as 
painter ;  to  Mr.  Howard,  the  secretary  of  the  Academy ;  to  Mr. 
Hilton,  the  keeper ;  to  Mr.  Stothard,  the  librarian,  and  several 
others.  I  expected  to  have  met  and  been  introduced  to  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence,  the  president,  but  he  was  absent,  and  I  have  not  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  him.  I  was  invited  to  a  seat  with  the  academi- 
cians, as  was  also  Mr.  Cole,  a  member  of  our  Academy  in  New 
York.  I  was  gratified  in  seeing  America  so  well  represented  in  the 
painters  Leslie  and  Newton.  The  lecturer  also  paid,  in  his  lecture, 
a  high  compliment  to  Allston,  by  a  deserved  panegyric,  and  by 
several  quotations  from  his  poems,  illustrative  of  principles  which 
he  advanced. 

"After  the  lecture  I  went  home  to  tea  with  Newton,  accom- 
panied by  Leslie,  where  I  found  our  distinguished  countryman, 
Washington  Irving,  our  secretary  of  legation,  and  W.  E.  West, 
another  American  painter,  whose  portrait  of  Lord  Byron  gave  him 


176  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MOESE. 

much  celebrity.  I  passed  a  very  pleasant  evening,  of  course.  The 
next  day  I  visited  the  National  Gallery  of  Pictures,  as  yet  but 
small,  but  containing  some  of  the  finest  paintings  in  England. 
Among  them  is  the  celebrated  '  Raising  of  Lazarus,'  by  Sebastian 
del  Piombo,  for  which  a  nobleman  of  this  country  offered  to  the 
late  proprietor  sixteen  thousand  pounds  sterling,  which  sum  was 
refused.  I  visited  also  Mr.  Turner,  the  best  landscape-painter  liv- 
ing, and  was  introduced  to  him.  I  went  also,  a  few  days  since,  to 
the  British  Museum,  which  has  undergone  many  improvements 
since  I  was  last  in  England,  particularly  in  the  addition  of  a 
splendid  wing,  nearly  five  hundred  feet  long,  containing  a  noble 
addition  of  books — the  late  king's  library  of  seventy  thousand  vol- 
umes. This  museum  now  contains  all  the  royal  libraries,  from 
Henry  VIII.  down  to  the  present  time.  The  whole  number  of  vol- 
umes, I  was  told  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Home,  the  librarian  (who  politely 
accompanied  me  through  the  rooms),  was  over  three  hundred  thou- 
sand. I  asked  him  whether  it  was  accessible  to  any  who  wished  to 
consult  it,  and  I  learned  that  the  utmost  liberality,  consistent  with 
the  preservation  of  the  books  and  manuscripts,  is  observed.  He 
generously  offered  to  procure  me  admission  at  all  times,  when  I 
returned  to  reside  for  some  time  in  London.  In  one  part  of  the 
museum  is  the  place  for  consulting  books.  Here  perfect  silence  is 
preserved,  not  a  whisper  being  allowed.  If  a  book  is  wanted,  the 
name  is  written  on  a  piece  of  paper,  and  handed  to  one  of  the  libra- 
rians or  his  assistants,  of  which  there  are  a  great  many  in  attend- 
ance, who  procures  it.  There  were,  perhaps,  thirty  individuals  thus 
seated  in  the  midst  of  books  piled  up  around  them,  and,  with  their 
eyebrows  knit  intently  searching  for  some  desired  information,  they 
looked  like  so  many  school-boys  hard  at  work  at  their  lessons.  The 
room  containing  the  king's  library  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  I 
ever  saw.  The  columns  are  of  polished  granite  and  marble,  and 
the  floors,  inlaid  with  oak  and  mahogany,  were  kept  as  highly 
polished  with  wax  and  are  as  carefully  rubbed  as  our  mahogany 
furniture.  In  the  room  for  antiquities  are  many  brought  from  Egypt 
by  Belzoni,  sphinxes,  sarcophagi,  portions  of  obelisks,  and  many 
inscribed  stones.  Here  also  is  the  celebrated  '  Rosetta  stone,'  with 
the  triple  inscription  on  it,  which  was  captured  in  Egypt  by  the  Eng- 
lish from  the  French,  and  is  the  source  of  the  discovery  of  a  key 
to  the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt,  which  is  now  used  to  such  advantage 
by  Champollion.  I  did  not  see  so  much  of  London  or  its  curiosities 
as  I  should  have  done  at  another  season  of  the  year.     The  greater 


CANTERBURY  CATHEDRAL.  177 

part  of  the  time  was  night — literally  night;  for,  besides  being  the 
shortest  days  of  the  year  (it  not  being  light  until  eight  o'clock  and 
dark  again  at  four),  the  smoke  and  fog  have  been  most  of  the  time 
so  dense  that  darkness  has  for  many  days  occupied  the  hours  of 
daylight.  On  one  day  in  particular  I  was  writing  at  the  window  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  day,  and  was  obliged  to  desist,  not  being  able  to 
see,  while  in  houses  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  candles  were 
seen  in  various  rooms. 

"  On  the  22d  inst.,  Tuesday,  I  left  London,  after  having  obtained 
in  due  form  my  passports  for  the  Continent,  in  company  with  J. 
Town,  Esq.,  and  N.  Joceryn,  Esq.  (American  friends),  intending  to 
pass  the  night  at  Canterbury,  thirty-six  miles  from  London.  The 
day  was  very  unpleasant,  very  cold,  and  snowing  most  of  the  time. 
At  Blackheath  we  saw  the  palace  at  which  the  late  unfortunate 
queen  of  George  IV.  resided.  On  the  heath,  among  the  bushes,  is  a 
low  furze,  with  which  it  is  in  part  covered ;  there  were  encamped  in 
their  miserable  blanket-huts  a  gang  of  gypsies ;  no  wigwams  of  the 
Oneidas  ever  looked  so  comfortless.  On  the  road  we  overtook  a 
gypsy  girl  with  a  child  in  her  arms,  both  having  the  stamp  of  that 
singular  race  strongly  marked  upon  their  features :  black  hair  and 
sparkling  black  eyes,  with  a  nut-brown  complexion,  and  cheeks  of 
russet  red,  and  not  without  a  shrewd  intelligence  in  their  expres- 
sion. At  night  about  nine  o'clock  we  arrived  at  the  Guildhall  Tav- 
ern in  the  celebrated  and  ancient  city  of  Canterbury.  Early  in  the 
morning,  as  soon  as  wre  had  breakfasted,  we  visited  the  superb  ca- 
thedral. This  stupendous  pile  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
Gothic  structures  in  the  world ;  it  is  not  only  interesting  from  its 
imposing  style  of  architecture,  but  from  its  numerous  historical 
associations.  The  first  glimpse  we  caught  of  it  was  through  and 
over  a  rich  decayed  gate-way  to  the  inclosure  of  the  cathedral- 
grounds.  After  passing  the  gate,  the  vast  pile — with  its  three  great 
towers,  and  innumerable  turrets,  and  pinnacles,  and  buttresses,  and 
arches,  and  painted  windows — rose  in  majesty  before  us  ;  the  grand 
centre  tower,  covered  with  a  gray  moss,  seemed  like  an  immense  mass 
of  the  Palisades,  struck  out  with  all  its  regular  irregularity,  and  placed 
above  the  surrounding  masses  of  the  same  gray  rocks.  The  bell  of  the 
great  tower  was  tolling  for  morning  service,  and  yet  so  distant,  from 
its  height,  that  it  was  scarcely  heard  upon  the  pavement  below  ;  we 
entered  the  door  of  one  of  the  towers  and  came  immediately  into, 
the  nave  of  the  church.  The  effect  of  the  long  aisles  and  towering 
clustered  pillars  and  richly -carved  screens  of  a  Gothic  church  upon 
12 


178  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MOESE. 

the  imagination  can  scarely  be  described — the  emotion  is  that  of 
awe.  A  short  procession  was  quickly  passing  up  the  steps  of  the 
choir,  consisting  of  the  beadle,  or  some  such  officer,  with  his  wand 
of  office,  followed  by  ten  boys  in  white  surplices ;  behind  these  were 
the  prebends  and  other  officers  of  the  church  ;  the  one  thin  and  pale, 
the  other  portly  and  round,  with  powdered  hair,  and  sleepy,  dull, 
heavy  expression  of  face,  much  like  the  face  that  Hogarth  has 
chosen  for  the  '  Preacher  to  his  Sleepy  Congregation.'  This  per- 
sonage we  afterward  heard  was  Lord  Nelson,  the  brother  of  the 
celebrated  Nelson,  and  the  heir  to  his  title.  The  service  was  read 
in  a  hurried  and  commonplace  manner  to  about  thirty  individuals, 
most  of  whom  seemed  to  be  the  necessary  assistants  at  the  cere- 
monies. 

"  The  effect  of  the  voices  in  the  responses,  and  the  chanting  of  the 
boys,  reverberating  through  the  aisles  and  arches  and  recesses  of  the 
church,  was  peculiarly  imposing,  but,  when  the  great  organ  struck 
in,  the  emotion  of  grandeur  was  carried  to  its  height — I  say  nothing 
of  devotion ;  I  did  not  pretend  on  this  occasion  to  join  in  it.  I  own 
that  my  thoughts  as  well  as  my  eyes  were  roaming  to  other  objects, 
and  gathering '  around  me  the  thousand  recollections  of  scenes  of 
splendor,  and  of  terror,  of  bigotry  and  superstition,  which  were  acted 
in  sight  of  the  very  walls  by  which  I  was  surrounded.  Here  the 
murder  of  Thomas  a  Becket  was  perpetrated,  there  was  his  miracle- 
working  shrine,  visited  by  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  Christendom, 
and  enriched  with  the  most  costly  jewels  that  the  wealth  of  princes 
could  purchase  and  lavish  upon  it ;  the  very  steps  worn  into  deep 
cavities  by  the  knees  of  the  devotees,  as  they  approached  the 
shrine,  were  ascended  by  us.  There  stood  the  tomb  of  Henry  IV. 
and  his  queen,  and  here  was  the  tomb  of  Edward,  the  Black  Prince, 
with  a  bronze  figure  of  the  prince  richly  embossed  and  enameled 
reclining  upon  the  top,  and  over  the  canopy  were  suspended  the 
surcoat  and  casque,  the  gloves  of  mail  and  shield  with  which  he 
was  accoutred  when  he  fought  the  famous  battle  of  Cressy ;  there 
also  stood  the  marble  chair  in  which  the  Saxon  kings  were  crowned, 
and  in  which,  with  the  natural  desire  that  all  seemed  to  have  in 
such^cases,  I  could  not  avoid  seating  myself;  from  this  chair,  placed 
at  one  end  of  the  nave,  is  seen  to  the  best  advantage  the  length  of 
the  church,  five  hundred  feet  in  extent.  After  the  service  I  visit- 
ed more  at  leisure  the  tombs  and  other  curiosities  of  the  church. 
The  precise  spot  on  which  Archbishop  Becket  was  murdered  is 
shown,  for  the  spot  upon  which  his  head  fell  on  the  pavement  was 


DOVER  CASTLE.  179 

cut  out  as  a  relic  and  sent  to  Rome,  and  the  placed  filled  in  with  a 
fresh  piece  of  stone  about  four  inches  square.  The  cloisters  of  the 
church,  in  ruins,  are  very  splendid  in  their  architecture.  The  crypt, 
under  the  church,  is  a  fine  specimen  of  Saxon  architecture,  and  con- 
tains the  ruins  of  the  Virgin  Mary's  chapel,  which  once  was  enriched 
with  a  silver  image  of  the  Virgin,  constantly  lighted  with  silver 
lamps  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  which  was  profusely  studded  with 
jewels  and  enameled. 

"  After  leaving  the  cathedral  we  visited  a  part  of  the  ancient 
walls  (Roman  remains)  of  the  city ;  they  are  very  high,  with  round 
and  square  towers  at  intervals  of  perhaps  two  hundred  feet ;  they 
were  coated  with  a  cement  filled  with  flints  of  all  sizes,  from  the 
smallest  to  the  bigness  of  a  cocoa-nut.  We  next  visited  the  remains 
of  the  monastery  of  St.  Augustin;  here  stood  till  within  a  few 
years  'Ethelbert's  Tower,'  a  beautiful  Saxon  ruin,  which  fell  by 
natural  decay,  and  is  entirely  gone;  the  north  gate  of  the  monastery 
is  an  exquisite  piece  of  Gothic  architecture,  fast  going  to  decay ;  a 
large  and  annually  widening  crack  in  each  of  the  towers  gives  omi- 
nous notice  of  a  fall,  and,  unless  some  public  spirit  is  manifested  to 
preserve  it,  this  beautiful  gate  will  speedily  share  the  fate  of  Ethel-, 
bert's  Tower.  But  it  is  idle  to  talk  of  public  spirit,  as  you  will 
agree,  when  I  tell  you  that  the  gate  is  now  '  Beer's  Brewery,'  the 
room  over  the  gate-way  a  '  cockpit,'  over  the  door  leading  into  the 
church  is  seen  the  sign  of  '  Fives  and  Tennis  Court ' — the  great  court- 
yard is  now  a  '  bowling-green.' 

"  In  the  afternoon  we  left  Canterbury  and  proceeded  to  Dover, 
intending  to  embark  the  next  morning  (Thursday,  December  24th) 
for  Calais  or  Boulogne  in  the  steamer.  The  weather,  however,  was 
very  unpromising  in  the  morning,  being  thick  and  foggy  and  ap- 
parently preparing  for  a  storm ;  we  therefore  made  up  our  minds  to 
stay,  hoping  the  next  day  would  be  more  favorable — but  Friday, 
Christmas-day  came  with  a  most  violent  northeast  gale  and  snow- 
storm— Saturday  the  26th,  Sunday  the  27th,  and  at  this  moment, 
Monday  28th,  the  storm  is  more  violent  than  ever,  the  streets  are 
clogged  with  snow,  and  we  are  thus  embargoed  completely  for  we 
know  not  how  long  a  time  to  come. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  weather  on  Thursday,  we 
all  ventured  out  through  the  wind  and  snow  to  visit  Dover  Castle, 
situated  upon  the  bleak  cliffs  to  the  north  of  the  town.  After  as? 
cending  the  hill  by  numerous  flights  of  steps,  we  crossed  the  moat 
which  encircles  the  castle,  upon  a  modern  drawbridge.     Here,  we 


180  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MOKSE. 

were  accosted  by  the  warder  of  the  castle,  a  veteran  soldier,  who 
with  great  garrulousness  offered  his  services  to  conduct  us  through 
the  works,  which  cover  more  than  thirty  acres.  We  acccepted  his 
offer  and  commenced  the  circuit.  '  Queen  Elizabeth's  Pocket-pistol ' 
was  the  first  object  that  was  showai  us — it  is  a  beautiful  piece  of 
ordnance  of  brass,  a  present  to  that  queen  from  Holland.  It  has 
erroneously  been  called  '  Queen  Anne's  Pocket-pistol,'  and  the  fol- 
lowing motto  was  said  to  be  upon  it : 

'  Keep  me  bright  and  rub  me  clean, 
I'll  carry  a  ball  to  Calais  Green.' 

This  is  not  the  motto ;  I  copied  the  following  true  motto  from  it  on 
the  spot,  which  some  of  our  Dutch  friends  must  translate  for  you : 

'  Breck  scuret  al  muer  ende  wal. 
Bin  ic  geheten 

Doer  berch  en  dal  boert  minen  bal. 
Yan  mi  gesmeten.' 

It  is  twenty-four  feet  long,  and  has  date  of  1544  upon  it ;  it  has 
latety  been  mounted  upon  a  splendid  bronze  carriage,  by  the  order 
of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  The  castle,  with  its  various  towers 
and  walls,  and  outworks,  has  been  the  constant  care  of  the  govern- 
ment for  ages.  Here  are  the  remains  of  every  age,  from  the  time  of 
the  Romans  to  the  present.  About  the  centre  of  the  inclosure  stand 
two  ancient  ruins — the  one,  a  tower  built  by  the  Romans,  thirty-six 
years  after  Christ ;  and  the  other,  a  rude  church  built  by  the  Saxons 
in  the  sixth  century.  Other  remains  of  towers  and  walls  indicate 
the  various  kinds  of  defensive  and  offensive  war  in  different 
ages,  from  the  time  when  the  round  or  square  tower  with  its  loop- 
holes for  the  archers  and  cross-bowmen,  and  gates  secured  by  heavy 
portcullis,  were  a  substantial  defense,  down  to  the  present  time, 
when  the  bastion  of  regular  sides  advances  from  the  glacis,  mounted 
with  modern  ordnance,  keeping  at  a  greater  distance  the  hostile 
besiegers.  Through  the  glacis  in  various  parts  are  sally-ports,  from 
one  of  which,  opening  toward  the  road  to  Ramsgate,  I  well  remem- 
ber seeing  a  corporal's  guard  issue,  about  fifteen  years  ago,  to  take 
possession  of  me  and  my  sketch-book,  as  I  sat  under  a  hedge  at 
some  distance  to  sketch  the  picturesque  towers  of  this  castle. 
Somewhat  suspicious  of  their  intentions,  I  left  my  retreat,  and,  by  a 
circuitous  route  into  the  town,  made  my  escape,  not,  however,  with- 
out ascertaining  from  behind  a  distant  hedge  that  I  was  actually 
the  object  of  their  expedition.     They  went  to  the  spot  wThere  I  had 


A   CHANNEL   STEAMER.  181 

been  sitting-,  made  a  short  search,  and  then  returned  to  the  castle 
through  the  same  sally-port.  At  that  time  (a  time  of  war  not 
only  with  France,  but  America  also),  the  strictest  watch  was  kept, 
and  to  have  been  caught  making  the  slightest  sketch  of  a  fortifica- 
tion would  have  subjected  me  to  much  trouble.  Times  are  now 
changed,  and,  had  '  Jack  Frost '  (the  only  commander  of  rigor  now 
at  the  castle)  permitted,  I  might  have  sketched  any  part  of  the 
interior  or  exterior.  In  the  interior  of  the  inclosure  ris-es  the 
donjon-keep,  higher  than  any  other  part  of  the  buildings  or  forti- 
fications. It  is  now  a  magazine  of  powder.  We  did  not  go  into  any 
of  the  excavations  underneath  the  castle,  which  are  very  extensive ; 
they  are  now  filled  with  military  stores.  After  leaving  the  castle, 
we  visited  the  shaft  which  is  on  the  hill  back  of  the  tower,  and  is  a 
passage  for  facilitating  the  forming  of  troops  upon  the  top  of  the 
hill ;  it  is  a  kind  of  well  sunk  upon  the  top  of  the  heights,  and 
met  at  the  bottom  by  a  horizontal  tunnel  on  a  level  with  the 
streets  of  the  town. 

"  Boulogne-sur-Mer,  France,  December  29,  1829. 
"  This  morning  at  ten  o'clock,  after  our  tedious  detention,  we 
embarked  from  Dover  in  a  steamer  for  this  place,  instead  of  Calais. 
I  mentioned  the  steamer;  but,  cousin,  if  you  have  formed  any  idea 
of  elegance,  or  comfort,  or  speed,  in  connection  with  the  name  of 
steamer,  from  seeing  our  fine  steamboats,  and  have  imagined  that 
English  or  French  boats  are  superior  to  ours,  you  may  as  well  be  un- 
deceived— I  know  of  no  description  of  packet-boats  in  our  waters 
bad  enough  to  convey  the  idea.  They  are  small,  black,  dirty,  con- 
fined things,  which  would  be  suffered  to  rot  at  the  wharves  for 
want  of  the  least  custom  from  the  lowest  in  our  country.  You  may 
judge  of  the  extent  of  the  accommodations,  when  I  tell  you  that 
there  is  in  them  but  one  cabin — six  feet  six  inches  high,  fourteen 
feet  long,  eleven  feet  wide,  containing  eight  berths.  Our  passage 
was  fortunately  short,  and  we  arrived  in  the  dominions  of  '  His 
most  Christian  Majesty '  Charles  X..  at  five  o'clock.  The  transi- 
tion from  a  country  where  one's  own  language  is  spoken,  to  one 
where  the  accents  are  strange — from  a  country  where  the  manners 
and  habits  are  somewhat  allied  to  our  own,  to  one  where  every 
thing  is  different,  even  to  the  most  trifling  article  of  dress — is  very 
striking  on  landing,  after  so  short  an  interval  from  England  to 
France.  The  pier-head  at  our  landing  was  filled  with  human  beings 
in  strange  costume,  from  the  gray  surtout  and  belt  of  the  gen- 
darmes, to  the  broad  twilled  and  curiously  plaited  caps  of  the  mas- 


182  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

culine  women,  which  latter  beings,  by-the-by,  are  the  licensed  porters 
of  baggage  to  the  custom-house. 

"Paris,  January  V,  1830. 

"  Here  have  I  been,  in  this  great  capital  of  the  Continent,  since 
the  first  day  of  the  year.  I  shall  remember  my  first  visit  to  Paris 
from  the  circumstance  that,  at  the  dawn  of  day  of  the  new  year,  we 
passed  the  '  Porte  St.-Denis '  into  the  narrow  and  dirty  streets  of 
this  great  metropolis. 

"  The  Louvre  was  the  first  object  we  visited.  Our  passports 
obtained  us  ready  admittance ;  and,  although  our  fingers  and  feet 
were  almost  frozen,  we  yet  lingered  three  hours  in  the  grand  i  gal- 
lery of  pictures.'  Indeed,  it  is  a  long  walk  simply  to  pass  up  and 
down  the  long  hall,  the  end  of  which,  from  the  opposite  end,  is 
scarcely  visible,  but  is  lost  in  the  mist  of  distance.  On  the  walls 
are  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  of  some  of  the  chefs-cVoeuvre  of  paint- 
ing. Here  I  have  marked  out  several  which  I  shall  copy  on  my 
return  from  Italy.  I  have  my  residence  at  present  at  the  Hotel  de 
Lille,  which  is  situated  very  commodiously  in  the  midst  of  all  the 
most  interesting  objects  of  curiosity  to  a  stranger  in  Paris — the 
palace  of  the  Tuileries,  the  Palais  Royal,  the  Bibliotheque  Royale, 
or  royal  library,  and  numerous  other  places,  all  within  a  few  paces 
of  us.  On  New- Year's  day  the  equipages  of  the  nobility  and  for- 
eign ambassadors,  etc.,  who  paid  their  respects  to  the  king  and  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  made  considerable  display  in  the  Place  du  Carrou- 
sel and  in  the  court  of  the  Tuileries. 

"  At  an  exhibition  of  manufactures  of  porcelain,  tapestry,  etc.,  in 
the  Louvre,  where  were  some  of  the  most  superb  specimens  of  art 
in  the  world  in  these  articles,  we  also  saw  the  Duchesse  de  Berri. 
She  is  the  mother  of  the  little  Due  de  Bordeaux,  who,  you  know,  is 
the  heir-apparent  to  the  crown  of  France.  She  was  simply  habited 
in  a  blue  pelisse  and  blue  bonnet,  and  would  not  be  distinguished 
in  her  appearance  from  the  crowd  except  by  her  attendants  in  liv- 
ery. I  cannot  close,  however,  without  telling  }^ou  what  a  delight- 
ful evening  I  passed  evening  before  last  at  General  Lafayette's.  He 
had  a  soir'ee  on  that  night,  at  which  there  were  a  number  of  Amer- 
icans. When  I  went  in,  he  instantly  recognized  me,  took  me  by 
both  hands,  said  he  was  expecting  to  see  me  in  France,  having 
read  in  the  American  papers  that  I  had  embarked.  He  met  me 
apparently  with  great  cordiality,  then  introduced  me  to  each  of  his 
family,  to  his  daughters,  to  Madame  Lasterie  and  her  two  daughters 
(verj'-  pretty  girls),  and  to  Madame  Ramousal,  and  two  daughters 


LYONS  AND   AVIGNON.  183 

of  his  son,  G.  W.  Lafayette,  also  very  accomplished  and  beautiful 
girls.  The  General  inquired  how  long  I  intended  to  stay  in  France, 
and  pressed  me  to  come  and  pass  some  time  at  La  Grange,  when  I 
return  from  Italy.  General  Lafayette  looks  very  well,  and  seems 
to  have  the  respect  of  all  the  best  men  in  France.  At  his  soiree  I 
saw  the  celebrated  Benjamin  Constant,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished of  the  liberal  party  in  France.  He  is  tall  and  thin,  with  a 
very  fair,  white  complexion,  and  long  white  silken  hair,  moving  with 
all  the  vigor  of  a  young  man." 

The  three  years  that  Mr.  Morse  passed  in  Europe  at  this  time 
are  reflected  in  such  letters  to  his  friends,  and  in  fragments  of 
diaries  kept  in  tiny  "  scratch-books."  These  little  books,  which 
he  made  and  could  easily  carry  in  his  vest  pocket,  he  filled 
with  drawings  of  objects  that  met  his  eye — often  pictures  of 
peculiar  people,  and  added  brief  notes  with  pencil.  Before  he 
left  New  York,  he  was  offered  pecuniary  inducements  to  be- 
come the  foreign  correspondent  of  newspapers,  but  he  made  no 
positive  engagements,  and  he  says  in  an  early  letter  :  "  I  fear  it 
will  consume  more  of  my  time  than  the  thing  is  worth ;  my 
time  here  is  worth  a  guinea  a  minute  in  the  way  of  my  pro- 
fession. I  find  my  pen  and  pencil  are  enemies  to  each  other.  I 
must  write  less  and  paint  more." 

Leaving  Paris,  on  his  journey  to  Italy,  he  rested  a  few  days 
at  Lyons,  in  the  study  of  the  antiquities  and  architecture  of  that 
interesting  city.  His  note-book  has  a  pencil-drawing  of  a  "  Sis- 
ter of  Charity  "  whom  he  met  in  a  hospital,  and  whose  face 
suggests  to  him  a  picture  of  Mercy.  The  gold-works  and  the 
silver-factories  being  explored,  he  continues  his  course  south- 
ward, mentioning  a  "  telegraph  making  signals  "  on  a  hill  which 
he  passed.  The  olive  and  orange  trees  soon  tell  him  that  he  is 
in  a  warmer  clime.  He  spent  Sunday,  January  24,  1830,  in 
Avignon,  the  ancient  city  of  the  popes  in  the  time  of  the  exile, 
and  worshiped  in  the  cathedral-church  of  St.-Agricol,  as  there 
was  not  a  Protestant  place  of  worship  in  the  city.  Here,  for 
the  first  time  in  his  life,  he  saw  a  military  pageant  contribute 
to  the  effect  of  divine  service.  "A  superb  military  band  of 
music,  followed  by  troops,  entered  the  church ;  the  nave  was 
filled  with  people,  principally  women  ;  drums  were  beating  and 
fifes  playing ;  the  troops  formed  two  lines  from  the  altar  to  the 


184     '  LIFE  OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

great  door,  and  their  officers  marched  up  through  the  lines  and 
took  seats  within  the  railing  of  the  altar.  On  each  side  of  the 
altar  fierce-looking  soldiers  stood,  with  long  beards,  and  armed 
with  battle-axes,  their  high,  cylindrical,  bear-skin  caps  giving 
them  a  height  almost  gigantic.  The  church  seemed  to  be  a 
military  garrison.  At  the  word  of  command  drums  and  trum- 
pets were  sounded,  and  a  little  bell  announced  the  priest,  a 
venerable  man,  in  a  green,  embroidered  dress,  who  performed 
the  service.  The  band  of  twenty-seven  performers  in  the  tran- 
sept on  the  left  commenced  playing,  and  produced  the  most 
thrilling  music."  He  did  not  enjoy  the  service,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  music,  of  which  he  heard  more  in  the  evening, 
and  expressed  himself  "  enchanted  "  with  it.  The  beauty  of 
the  women  draws  from  him  this  remark  :  "  We  have  observed 
more  beautiful  faces  among  the  women  in  a  single  day  at  Avi- 
gnon, than  we  saw  during  two  weeks  at  Paris." 

"  Monday,  January  2oth. — We  ascended  the  hill  of  the  Dons, 
upon  which  the  palace  of  the  popes  is  built.  The  hill  is  terraced,  and 
is  ascended  in  many  places  by  flights  of  rude  stone  steps.  The  stair- 
case to  the  terrace  of*  the  palace  is  peculiarly  grand.  The  interior 
of  the  chapel,  which  we  entered,  has  been  much  abused,  but  had 
evidently  been  splendidly  decorated.  The  paintings  and  statuary 
are  not  of  a  high  order.  The  altars,  of  variously-colored  marbles, 
are  very  rich.  The  votive  offerings  were  amusing — execrable  paint- 
ings, representing  scenes  of  deliverance  :  a  man  has  a  stone  falling 
on  his  head,  another  jumping  from  a  tower,  waxen  legs  and  arms — 
a  curious  assemblage.  From  the  top  of  the  great  tower  we  had  a 
magnificent  prospect — the  mountains  in  the  far  distance,  and  the 
Rhone  winding  through  an  immense  plain  studded  with  hamlets, 
and  dividing  into  two  branches,  uniting  again.  To  the  west  rose 
the  picturesque  castle  and  towers  of  Villeneuve,  having  for  a  back- 
ground the  mountains  toward  Nismes.  To  the  south  a  river  is 
seen  sparkling  through  the  plain,  and  rushing  to  meet  the  Durance. 
From  the  hill  I  made  several  sketches.  The  museum,  where  are 
some  fine  pictures,  was,  unfortunately,  closed.  Our  landlord  told 
me  that  Napoleon  I.  often  stopped  with  him,  and  his  officers  said 
that  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  his  fare,  that  he  was  accustomed 
to  say,  when  his  fare  was  bad  in  distant  places,  '  This  is  not  so 
comfortable  as  at  Madame  Pierrori's,  in  Avignon.'  " 


INCIDENT  AT   TOULON.  185 

"  January  26th. — At  six  o'clock  last  evening  left  Avignon  on 
the  diligence.  At  precisely  twelve  o'clock  to-day  the  Mediterranean 
opened,  with  its  blue  expanse,  before  us  ;  the  castellated  islands  in 
the  harbor  of  Marseilles,  and  the  lug-sailed  boats,  like  birds,  rest- 
ing on  the  bosom  of  the  waters ;  the  high,  fortified  mountain  beyond 
the  harbor — made  a  scene  of  exceeding  beauty  as  we  approached  the 
town.  Halting  to  be  searched  for  wine,  we  entered  and  found  com- 
fortable quarters  at  the  Hotel  Beauvan.  One  or  two  days  in  the 
city  and  he  went  to  Toulon,  the  gates  of  which  had  to  be  opened 
before  the  diligence  could  enter ;  and  then  we  passed  through  a 
row  of  sentinels  and  over  a  drawbridge,  again  through  files  of  sen- 
tinels, and  the  arched  passages  of  the  walls  into  the  streets  of  the 
city." 

Having  explored  this  great  naval  station,  and  critically  ex- 
amined the  vessels-of-war,  and  noticed  the  five  hundred  galley- 
slaves,  with  dresses  to  mark  the  degree  of  crime  for  which  they 
were  condemned  to  this  service,  Mr.  Morse  remarks : 

"  The  stone-houses  for  covering  the  ships  while  they  are  build- 
ing, are  substantial,  having  a  Gothic  arched  roof,  supported  by 
stone  arches,  resting  upon  eight  solid  piers  of  stone,  about  twenty 
feet  apart,  and  perhaps  fifty  feet  high.  In  the  model-room  are 
models  of  vessels  of  all  classes,  methods  of  drawing  up  ships  on 
railways,  plans  of  dry-docks,  and  other  marine  machinery,  exceed- 
ingly beautiful.  The  city  is  just  now  agitated  by  a  most  melan- 
choly incident.  A  sergeant  had  formed  the  intention  of  killing  his 
captain,  in  resentment  for  some  supposed  injury.  The  colonel  of 
the  regiment,  universally  popular  with  his  troops  and  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  city,  ignorant  altogether  of  the  feelings  of  this 
man  toward  him,  beckoned  him  to  come  to  him  after  the  parade. 
The  sergeant,  supposing  that  by  some  means  the  colonel  had  ob- 
tained knowledge  of  his  intentions,  leveled  his  gun  and  shot  him 
dead  upon  the  spot.  The  colonel  is  lying  in  his  house,  which  I 
passed,  and  the  wretched  culprit  I  saw  under  guard  marched  to 
prison.     He  will  be  shot  in  a  few  days." 

Mr.  Morse  pursued  his  journey,  by  private  carriage,  with  a 
pleasant  party  of  friends,  stopping  at  every  place  of  interest  on 
the  road.  Nice,  at  that  time,  was  in  the  territory  of  Italy,  and 
the  King  of  Sardinia,  Charles  Felix,  was  making  a  royal  visit  in 
the  city  when  Mr.  Morse  arrived :  ' 


186  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  Entering  the  cathedral,  we  saw  the  king  seated  on  a  throne, 
under  a  splendid  canopy  of  crimson  and  gold,  on  the  right  of  the 
altar.  Mass  was  celebrated,  and  the  king  then  rose,  bowed  toward 
the  altar,  crossed  himself,  and  retired." 

Mr.  Morse  delayed  a  day  or  two  in  this  delightful  city, 
which  has  become  the  great  winter  resort  of  invalids  and  pleas- 
ure-seekers, and  then,  by  the  famous  Cornice  road,  went  on  to 
Genoa.  The  railway  now  carries  the  traveler  through  moun- 
tains that  were  then  slowly  traversed  by  coach  and  horses ;  the 
romantic  passes  that  were  then  the  marvel  and  delight  of 
passengers  with  steady  nerves,  are  only  matters  of  history.  He 
says: 

"  At  eleven  we  had  attained  a  height  of  at  least  two  thousand 
feet,  and  the  precipices  became  frightful,  sweeping  down  into  long 
ravines  to  the  very  edge  of  the  sea,  and  then  the  road  would 
wind  at  the  vety  edge  of  the  precipice  two  or  three  thousand  feet 
deep.  Such  scenes  pass  so  rapidly  it  is  impossible  to  make  note  of 
them.  From  the  heights  on  which  La  Turbia  stands,  with  its 
dilapidated  walls,  we  see  the  beautiful  city  of  Monaco,  on  a  tongue 
of  land  extending  into  the  sea." 

ISTow  the  road  began  to  descend  along  the  most  frightful 
precipices  and  ravines;  the  slopes' of  the  mountains  were  ter- 
raced and  covered  with  vines,  where  it  would  seem  almost  impos- 
sible to  climb.  Mr.  Morse  rested  at  Mentone, "  a  beautiful  place 
for  an  artist,"  and  then  went  to  San  Remo,  where  he  spent  the 
night.  Porto  Maurice  and  Oniglia,  familiar  names  to  travelers, 
he  mentions,  and  he  makes  a  sketch  of  the  cupola  of  a  little 
church  in  Oniglia,  and  of  some  ruins  in  the  rear  of  the  inn  at 
which  he  dined.  His  path  lay  along  rugged  precipices,  dizzy 
heights,  lofty  arches,  and  dangerous  passes ;  he  lodged  at  Alben- 
za,  and  the  next  day  passed  over  some  of  the  most  stupendous 
parts  of  the  road,  admiring  the  engineering  skill  that  accom- 
plished it,  and  the  enterprise  that  attempted  it.  Having  spent 
the  next  night  at  Savona,  he  reached  Genoa  on  the  6th  of  Feb- 
ruary, and  was  permitted  to  enter,  after  being  searched  for 
"  powder  and  tobacco."  Its  palaces  and  churches  astonished  and 
delighted  him,  and,  after  a  few  days  of  sight-seeing,  he  posted 


SETTLED  IN  ROME.  187 

to  Pisa,  where  lie  studied  and  sketched  the  Duomo,  the  Bap- 
tistry, the  Leaning  Tower,  and  the  Campo  Santo.  He  did  not 
linger  in  Florence,  as  he  would  return  to  study  the  treasures  of 
art  in  that  city  at  his  leisure.  He  arrived  in  Rome,  February  20, 
1830.  Taking  lodgings  at  No.  17  Via  de  Prefetti,  he  entered 
at  once  upon  the  work  for  which  he  had  come.  He  writes, 
March  7th : 

"  I  have  begun  to  copy  the  '  School  of  Athens,'  from  Raffaelle, 
for  Mr.  R.  Donaldson.  The  original  is  on  the  walls  of  one  of  the 
celebrated  Camera  of  Raffaelle  in  the  Vatican ;  it  is  in  fresco,  and 
occupies  one  entire  side  of  the  room.  It  is  a  difficult  picture  to 
copy,  and  will  occupy  five  or  six  weeks,  certainly.  Every  moment 
of  my  time,  from  early  in  the  morning  until  late  at  night,  when  not 
in  the  Vatican,  is  occupied  in  seeing  the  exhaustless  stores  of 
curiosities  in  art  and  antiquities  with  which  this  wonderful  city 
abounds.  I  find  I  can  endure  great  fatigue,  and  my  spirits  are 
good,  and  I  /eel  strong  for  the  pleasant  duties  of  my  profession.  I 
feel  particularly  anxious  that  every  gentleman  who  has  given  me  a 
commission  shall  be  more  than  satisfied  that  he  has  received  an 
equivalent  for  the  sum  generously  advanced  to  me.  But  I  find  that 
to  accomplish  this,  I  shall  need  all  my  strength  and  time  for  more 
than  a  year  to  come,  and  that  will  be  little  enough  to  do  myself  and 
them  justice.  I  am  delighted  with  my  situation,  and  more  than 
ever  convinced  of  the  wisdom  of  my  course  in  coming  to  Italy. 

"  March  Vlth. — Mr.  Fenimore  Cooper  and  family  are  here.  I 
have  passed  many  pleasant  hours  with  them,  particularly  one 
beautiful  moonlight  evening,  visiting  the  Coliseum.  After  the 
Holy  Week,  I  shall  visit  Naples,  probably  with  Mr.  Theodore 
Woolsey,  who  is  now  in  Rome. 

"March  l&th. — Ceremonies  at  the  Consistory;  delivery  of  the 
cardinals'  hats ;  at  nine  o'clock  went  to  the  Vatican."  (Here  is  a 
picture  of  what  he  saw.)  "  Two  large  fantails,  with  ostrich- 
feathers  ;  ladies  penned  up ;  pope ;  cardinals  kiss  his  hand  in  rota- 
tion ;  address  in  Latin,  tinkling,  like  water  gurgling  from  a  bottle ; 
the  English  cardinal  first  appeared,  went  up,  and  was  embraced 
and  kissed  on  each  cheek  by  the  pope ;  then  followed  the  others  in 
the  same  manner;  then  each  new  cardinal  embraced  in  succession 
all  the  other  cardinals ;  after  this,  beginning  with  the  English  car- 
dinal, each  went  to  the  pope,  and  he,  putting  on  their  heads  the 
cardinal's  hat,  blessed  them  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.    They  then 


188  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 

kissed  the  ring  on  his  hand,  and  his  toe,  and  retired  from  the 
throne.  The  pope  then  rose,  blessed  the  assembly,  by  making  the 
sign  of  the  cross  three  times  in  the  air,  with  his  two  fingers,  and 
left  the  room.  His  dress  was  a  plain  mitre  of  gold  tissue,  a  rich 
garment  of  gold  and  crimson,  embroidered,  a  splendid  clasp  of  gold, 
about  six  inches  long  by  four  wide,  set  with  precious  stones,  upon 
his  breast.  He  is  very  decrepit,  limping  or  tottering  along,  has  a 
defect  in  one  eye,  and  his  countenance  has  an  expression  of  pain, 
especially  as  the  new  cardinals  approached  his  toe.  The  cardinals 
followed  the  pope,  two  and  two,  with  their  train-bearers.  After  a 
few  minutes  the  doors  opened  again,  and  a  procession  headed  by 
singers  entered,  chanting  as  they  went;  the  cardinals  followed 
them  with  their  train-bearers.  They  passed  through  the  Consistory, 
and  thus  closed  the  ceremony  of  presenting  the  cardinals'  hats.  A 
multitude  of  attendants,  in  various  costumes,  surrounded  the  pon- 
tiff's throne,  during  the  ceremony,  among  whom  was  Bishop  Du- 
bois, of  New  York." 

Mr.  Morse's  note-books  are  filled  with  mere  mention  of  pict- 
ures in  the  several  rooms  of  the  various  palaces  and  galleries 
that  he  explored,  and  of  incidents  that  marked  his  daily  life  in 
Rome.  A  few  days — in  the  abrupt  and  abbreviated  terms  of  his 
diary — will  show  the  habit  of  the  man : 

"  Thursday,  March  18,  1830. — Colonna  Palace  ;  Earl  Shrews- 
bury occupies  it.  First  Room. — '  Death  of  Cleopatra,'  by  Mura- 
tori,  pupil  of  Guido,  well  composed  ;  head  of  Cleopatra,  good.  '  Re- 
becca at  the  Well,'  by  the  same;  good  parts,  but  much  mannered. 
Second  Room.  — '  The  Colonna  Family  rising  from  the  Tomb,'  by 
Pietro  da  Cortona ;  sky,  good.  A  beautiful  piece  of  still-life,  by 
Castigiione;  spoils.  Third  Room.  —  'The  Audience  Chambers,' 
exceedingly  splendid  in  tapestry,  etc.  Fourth  Room. — '  Calvin 
and  Luther,'  by  Titian.  Portrait  of  one  of  the  Colonna  family, 
called  the  '  Green  Picture,'  by  Paul  Veronese,  proves  that  harmony 
may  be  produced  in  one  color ;  curtain  in  the  background,  hot  green, 
middle  tint;  sleeves  of  the  arms,  cool /  vest,  which  is  in  the  mass 
of  light,  as  well  as  the  lights  of  the  curtain,  warm  ;  white  collar, 
which  is  the  highest  light,  cool ! ! !  '  Holy  Family,  etc.,  resting  on 
their  Flight  to  Egypt,'  by  Bonifacio,  fine  for  color,  supports  my 
theory.  Fifth  Room. — A  most  splendid  hall.  '  St.  John  preach- 
ing in  the  Wilderness,'  by  M.  Angelo  Battaglia ;  splendid  for  color, 
and  light  and  shade ;  the  dove  over  the  head  of  John  is  full  of  light. 


PROCESSION   OF  CARDINALS.  189 

It  is  a  picture  that  bears  examination ;  it  has  a  fine  depth  of  chiaro- 
oscuro.  Four  pictures  by  Orizonti,  good,  but  mannered.  Several 
good  landscapes,  in  temper,  by  Gaspar  Poussin.  A  strange  picture 
by  Nicolo  Lunno,  the  master  of  Pietro  Perugino,  '  The  Devil  seizing 
a  Child,'  the  mother  praying  to  the  Madonna,  who  with  a  club  is 
beating  off  the  devil.  '  St.  Sebastian,'  by  Guido ;  fine  for  chiaro- 
oscuro.  A  grand  full-length  of  '  Lucretia  Colonna,'  by  Vandyck ; 
shining  like  a  diamond.  ' Holy  Family,'  etc.,  by  Titian;  splendid 
for  color. 

ACADEMY   OF   ST.   LUKE'S. 

"  'Raphael's  Skull ; '  Harlow's  picture  of  the  making  of  a  cardinal. 
Said  to  have  been  painted  in  twelve  days.  I  don't  believe  it.  '  The 
Angels  appearing  to  the  Shepherds,'  by  Bassan ;  good  for  color — 
much  trash  in  the  way  of  portraits.  Lower  rooms  contain  the  pict- 
ures for  the  premiums ;  some  good,  all  badly  colored.  Third  Room. 
— Bass-reliefs  for  the  premiums.  Fourth  Room. — Smaller  premium 
pictures ;  bad.  Fifth  Room. — Drawings ;  the  oldest  best,  modern 
bad. 

"  Church  of  St.  Peter,  interior  of  the  prison,  etc.  St.  Andrew's 
Church,  too  dark  when  we  went  in  to  see  the  famous  frescos  of 
Domenichino. 

"  Friday,  March  19th. — We  went  to  St.  Peter's  to  see  the  pro- 
cession of  cardinals  ;  singing  in  the  capella.  Cardinals  walked  two 
and  two  through  St.  Peter's,  knelt  on  purple-velvet  cushions  before 
the  capella  in  prayer,  then  successively  kissed  the  toe  of  the  bronze 
image  of  St.  Peter,  as  they  walked  past  it.  This  statue  of  St.  Peter 
as  a  work  of  art  is  as  execrable  as  possible ;  part  of  the  toe  and  foot 
is  worn  away  and  polished,  not  by  the  kisses,  but  by  the  wiping  of 
the  foot  after  the  kisses  by  the  next  comer,  preparatory  to  kissing  it, 
sometimes  with  the  coat-sleeve  by  a  beggar,  with  the  corner  of  the 
cloak  by  the  gentlemen,  the  shawl  by  the  females,  and  with  a  nice 
cambric  handkerchief  by  the  attendant  at  the  ceremony,  who  wiped 
the  toe  alter  each  cardinal's  performance.  This  ceremony  is  vari- 
ously performed ;  some  give  it  a  single  kiss  and  go  away,  others  kiss 
the  toe  and  then  touch  the  forehead  to  it,  others  again  kiss  the  toe, 
touch  the  forehead  to  it,  and  kiss  the  toe  again,  repeating  the  opera- 
tion sometimes  three  times.  This  day  is  one  of  the  numerous  festi- 
vals of  the  Church ;  it  is  St.  Joseph's  day ;  the  shops  are  shut,  and 
before  many  of  them,  on  the  side  pavement,  are  tables  decorated  with 
evergreens  and  flowers,  on  which  are  large  pans  of  fried  cakes,  hot 


190  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

from  the  kettle  of  oil  in  which  they  are  fried,  and  which  is  in  the 
centre  of  a  group  of  cooks  busily  engaged  in  preparing  these  cakes 
for  their  customers,  who  perform  a  meritorious  act  doubtless  in  eat- 
ing them  this  day — St.  Joseph  being  very  fond  of  these  doughnuts, 
as  we  should  call  them  in  New  England.  Women  with  enormous 
buckles. 

"  Saturday ',  March  20th. —  Giustiniani  Palazzo. — Bass-reliefs  in 
the  yard,  stucco ;  nothing  good.  JBraschi  Palace. — A  most  splendid 
staircase ;  the  richest  in  Rome  that  I  have  seen  in  the  palaces.  An 
assortment  of  St.  Sebastians  by  the  dozen ;  two  in  the  hall,  one  in 
the  second  room.  Third  Room. — A  Titian, '  Woman  taken  in  Adul- 
tery ; '  fine  for  arrangement  of  color.  A  Murillo,  l  The  Assumption 
of  the  Virgin.'  '  Angel  Boys'  Heads ; '  good.  '  Marriage  of  Cana,' 
by  Garofalo ;  some  of  the  costumes,  fine.  In  the  large  hall  is  a  very 
fine  statue  of  '  Antinous,'  colossal  in  size  and  of  the  purest  form. 
A  sweet  portrait  in  Lely's  style  of  a  female  like  N.  R. 

"  Palazzo  Massino. — An  exquisite  statue  of  a  Discobolus,  and 
some  good  pictures. 

" Palazzo  Mattel. — Fine  bass-reliefs  in  the  court-yard  and  exqui- 
sitely sculptured  ornaments  exposed  to  the  weather.  On  the  box, 
*  Scritture  par  la  Sacra  Pota?  Ancient  seats  in  the  stairway. 
View  from  the  top  of  the  Campidoglio :  to  the  east,  Albano,  Fras- 
cato,  and,  more  toward  the  north,  Preneste,  and  in  the  valley,  at  a 
great  distance,  Cercello ;  went  to  the  very  top  and  stood  by  the 
statue  on  the  pinnacle. 

"  Sunday,  March  21st. —  Chiesa  e?' Orsoline. — Nun  taking  the 
veil.  Illustrissima  Signori  Anna  Mazzetti,  to  assume  the  name  of 
S.  Maria  Clementina  di  S.  Camillo.  Church  small,  altar  rich ;  cardi- 
nal enters ;  nun  enters  splendidly  dressed,  lace  over  blue ;  kneels 
before  the  cardinal ;  a  companion ;  dress  of  cardinal,  a  gold-tissue  k 
mitre,  robes  of  white,  fringed  with  gold  lace ;  two  attendants  hold 
up  the  skirts  of  his  robe  while  he  addresses  them ;  nun's  hair  much 
dressed  with  curls  and  silver  and  diamond  ornaments  of  wheat-ears, 
necklace,  and  ear-rings ;  attendant  of  nun  in  rich  blue,  silk  turban 
embroidered  with  gold ;  address  long ;  music ;  cardinal  puts  on  a 
splendid  mitre  and  takes  the  rood  or  crozier.  First  act  closes  by  a 
procession  out  of  the  church,  headed  by  the  cardinal  and  nun.  Mu- 
sic as  an  interlude.  Cardinal  enters  without  nun  for  a  few  minutes, 
during  which  music  plays  rapid  airs ;  nuns'  voices  in  another  room ; 
kissing  the  other  nuns.    Could  not  see  for  a  large  pillar  and  bonnet. 

"  Chiesa  Nuova,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening ;  a  sacred  opera 


IN   THE  VATICAN.  191 

called '  The  Death  of  Aaron ; '  church  dark,  women  not  admitted ;  bell 
rings,  and  a  priest  before  the  altar  chants  a  prayer,  after  which  a 
boy  about  twelve  years  old  apparently  addresses  the  assembly  from 
the  pulpit ;  I  know  not  the  drift  of  his  discourse,  but  his  utterance 
was  like  the  same  gurgling  process  which  I  noticed  in  the  orator 
who  addressed  the  pope ;  it  was  precisely  like  the  fitful  tone  of  the 
Oneida  interpreter. 

"  Tuesday,  March  23<i — At  the  Vatican  all  the  morning. 
While  preparing  my  palette,  a  monk,  decently  habited  for  a  monk, 
who  seemed  to  have  come  to  the  Vatican  for  the  purpose  of  view- 
ing the  pictures,  after  a  little  time  approached  me,  and,  with  a  very 
polite  bow,  offered  me  a  pinch  of  snuff,  which  of  course  I  took, 
bowing  in  return,  when  he  instantly  asked  me  alms.  I  gave  him  a 
bajocco,  for  which  he  seemed  very  grateful.  Truly  this  is  a  nation 
of  beggars. 

"  Wednesday,  March  %kth. — Vatican  all  the  morning ;  saw  in 
returning  a  great  number  of  priests,  with  a  white  bag  over  the  left 
shoulder,  and  begging  of  the  persons  they  met.  This  is  another  in- 
stance of  begging  and  robbing  confined  to  one  class. 

"  Thursday,  March  25th. — Festa  of  the  Annunciation,  Vatican 
shut.  Doors  open  at  eight  of  the  Chiesa  di  Minerva ;  obtained  a 
good  place  for  seeing  the  ceremony ;  at  half-past  nine  the  cardinals 
began  to  assemble ;  Cardinal  Barberini  officiated  in  robes,  white, 
embroidered  with  gold  ;  singing ;  taking  off  and  putting  on  mitres, 
etc. ;  jumping  up  and  bowing,  kissing  the  ring  on  the  finger  of  the 
cardinal ;  putting  incense  into  censers ;  monotonous  reading  or 
rather  whining  of  a  few  lines  of  prayer  in  Latin ;  flirting  censers  at 
each  cardinal  in  succession ;  cardinals  bowing  to  one  another ;  many 
attendants  at  the  altar  ;  cardinals  embrace  one  another.  After  mass 
a  contribution  among  the  cardinals  in  rich  silver  plate.  Enter  the 
virgins  in  white,  with  crowns,  two  and  two,  and  candles ;  they 
kiss  the  hem  of  the  garment  of  one  of  the  cardinals ;  they  are  ac- 
companied by  three  officers,  and  exit.  Cardinals'  dresses  exquisitely 
plaited  (sixty-two  cardinals  in  attendance). 

"  CAMPIDOGLIO  EXPOSITION"  OF   THE   WORKS   OF  THE   LIVING  ARTISTS 

EST  ROME. 

"  First  Room. — Portrait  of  female  at  the  toilet,  by  Geddes, 
English ;  for  effect,  chiaro-oscuro,  and  coloring,  good.  Deluge  by 
Schnelz,  French ;  faults  of  the  French  school.  Large  picture  of  a 
sick  child  brought  to  the  Virgin  by  her  relative,  by  the  same  artist ; 


192  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

parts  full  of  feeling,  particularly  the  boy  himself,  and  the  sister  of 
the  boy ;  parts  well  painted,  but  bad  in  general  effect,  and  badly 
colored.  A  great  picture  of  the  assassination  of  Vitellius,  by 
Quecy,  a  Roman  artist ;  bad  throughout.  A  sweet  picture  of  Italian 
peasant  at  a  fountain,  by  Weller  of  Mannheim ;  the  'costumes  and 
indeed  all  beautifully  painted.  Two  flower-pieces,  by  Senff,  a 
Prussian  ;  good.  Statuary — a  fine  bass-relief  of  Christians  about 
to  be  torn  in  pieces  by  a  tiger,  by  Tenerrani,  of  Carrara.  Statue, 
female  playing  on  a  guitar,  by  Scolari ;  good. 

"  Palazzo  Sinibaldi. — At  half-past  eight,  the  company  began 
to  assemble  in  the  splendid  saloon  of  this  palace,  to  which  I  was 
invited ;  the  singers,  about  forty  in  number,  were  upon  a  stage 
erected  at  the  end  of  the  room ;  white  drapery  hung  behind  fes- 
toons with  laurel-wreaths  (the  walls  were  painted  in  fresco) ;  four 
female  statues  standing  on  globes  upheld  seven  long  wax-lights ; 
the  instrumental  musicians,  about  forty,  were  arranged  at  the 
foot  of  these  statues.  Sala  was  lighted  principally  by  six  glass 
chandeliers.  Much  female  beauty  in  the  room,  dresses  very  va- 
rious. Signora  Luigia  Tardi  sung  with  much  judgment,  and  was 
received  with  great  applause.  A  little  girl,  apparently  about  twelve 
years  old,  played  upon  the  harp  in  a  most  exquisite  manner,  and 
called  forth  bravas  of  the  Italians,  and  of  the  foreigners  bountifully. 
The  manners  of  the  audience  were  the  same  as  those  of  fashion- 
able society  in  our  own  country,  and  indeed  in  any  other  country. 
The  display  in  dress,  however,  less  tasteful  than  I  have  seen  in 
New  York ;  but,  in  truth,  I  have  not  seen  more  beauty  and  taste  in 
any  country,  combined  with  cultivation  of  mind  and  delicacy  of 
manner,  than  in  our  own.  At  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  or  half- 
past  six,  Italian  time,  the  concert  was  over. 

"  Friday,  March  26th. — I  have  observed  almost  every  morning 
at  the  caffle  beggars  of  some  description,  and  different  every  morn- 
ing. This  morning,  a  tall  priest  with  a  tin  box ;  a  few  mornings  ago, 
friar  with  white  mask,  and  his  hat  hung  on  his  back.  While  wait- 
ing to  enter  the  Sinibaldi  Palace  last  evening,  being  too  early,  I 
walked  with  Mr.  S.  in  a  direction  where  we  heard  some  chanting  in 
the  street.  Proceeding  down  a  back  street  or  two,  we  came  to  the 
portico  of  a  church  illuminated  by  a  multitude  of  wax-candles 
burning  before  the  Virgin ;  a  crowd  filled  the  portico,  and  had  as- 
sembled in  great  numbers  about  the  railing.  We  stood  at  a  little 
distance  looking  on.  The  officiating  priest  in  the  proper  time  held 
up  the  Host,  at  which  all  the  people  knelt,  far  and  near. 


ART   CRITICISMS.  193 

"  Saturday,  March  2*th.  —  Sciarra  Palace,  First  Room. — 
Copy  '  Transfiguration,'  by  Carlo  Napolitano,  not  G.  Romana,  as  er- 
roneously said ;  two  deep-toned  pictures,  by  Valentin  ;  an  exquisite 
little  picture,  '  Mother  and  Child,'  by  Titian ;  mother's  dress,  warm 
crimson,  warm  flesh,  principal  light ;  deep-blue  ultra  under  the 
child  and  back  of  the  mother ;  green  curtain  in  background. 

"  Second  Room. — Two  small  Claudes — one  '  Lake  of  Bracino,' 
on  silver — the  other,  '  Flight  into  Egypt,'  on  copper  ;  landscapes  by 
Both,  very  good ;  '  Castle  Nuovo,'  in  Naples,  by  Canelletti. 

"  Third  Room. — Voucts's  picture  of  the  'Present,  Past,  and 
Future.' 

"  Fourth  Room. — '  The  Minstrels '  of  Titian ;  Raphael's  portrait 
of  himself;-  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  'Modesty  and  Vanity;'  'The 
Three  Card-Players,'  by  Caravaggio. 

EXPOSITION  AT  THE   CAMPIDOGLIO    (CONTINUED). 

"  Second  Room. — Wyatt's  statue  of  a  female  entering  the  bath, 
an  exquisite  work. 

"  Third  Room. — Gibson's  statue  of  a  female  untying  her  sandal; 
'Judith  and  Holofernes,'  by  Cav.  Vernet;  finely  conceived,  espe- 
cially the  character  and  figure  of  Judith ;  the  color  is  generally  bad, 
but  the  lower  part  is  well  painted  and  well  toned ;  there  is  a  mas- 
terly precision  throughout,  every  thing  is  firmly  and  correctly  ex- 
pressed ;  the  head  of  Holofernes  is  French,  too  strongly  charged, 
but  well  meant.  Portrait  of  the  Pope,  by  Vernet ;  very  rich,  and 
parts  well  painted,  but  is  too  much  cut  up.  '  Nun  taking  the  Veil,' 
by  Roger,  French  painter;  good  in  parts,  especially  the  back- 
ground. '  Greek  Girl,'  by  Adkins,  English,  and  a  female  portrait 
by  the  same  artist ;  both  rich  for  color.  '  Warrior  preparing  for 
Battle,  taking  Leave  of  his  Mistress.'  by  Levern,  English ;  sweet, 
rich-toned  little  picture  'Albanese  Female,'  nearly  full  length,  by 
Vernet;  parts  well  expressed,  but  chalky  in  color.  'Friar  in  the 
Catacombs,  frightened  to  Death,'  a  story  well  told,  but  too  brown, 
by  Diofabi,  a  Russian.  Portraits,  full  length,  in  St.  Peter's,  by 
Cavalleri,  of  Turin,  well  drawn  in  the  architecture.  A  'Mountebank 
Exhibition,'  by  Weller,  of  Mannheim,  contains  great  variety  of 
character  and  costume,  and  is  carefully  and  beautifully  finished; 
the  Amphitheatre  Marcellus  forms  the  greater  part  of  the  back- 
ground. A  landscape  by  Kareze wski,  a  Pole ;  parts,  good.  '  The 
Vintage,'  by  Levern,  English ;  an  exquisite  picture,  golden  in  tone, 
13 


194  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  well  composed.  A  good  landscape,  by  Desoulavy,  English.  A 
fine  landscape,  well  colored,  and  in  fine  keeping,  by  Wilson,  a 
Scotch  painter.     '  Interior  of  an  Italian  Kitchen,'  by  Bravo,  a  Dane. 

"  Went  to  the  Coliseum.  Cross  in  the  centre  of  the  arena  has 
upon  it  this  inscription,  on  a  little  white  board  nailed  on  it :  '  Baci- 
ando  la  Santa  Croce  si  acouistono  due  cente  geomo  d'indulgenza.' 
The  rooks  were  chattering  about  the  tops  of  the  ruined  arches,  and 
the  smaller  birds  were  singing  in  the  bushes  that  covered  the  dilap- 
idated walls.  Went  to  the  baths  of  Titus,  which  are  near  the  Coli- 
seum. Here  are  the  fine  arabesques,  from  which  it  is  said  Raphael 
copied  his  '  Logge.'  It  is  a  mistake ;  he  may  have  taken  some  few  de- 
tached parts,  but  his  '  Logge '  are  original.  He  has  caught,  indeed, 
the  spirit  of  those  arabesques,  all  which  is  perfectly  fair.  They  are 
exquisitely  beautiful,  but  going  fast  to  decay. 

"  Monday,  March  29th. — Early  this  morning  was  introduced  to 
the  cavalier  Horace  Vernet,  Principal  of  the  French  Academy.  Found 
him  in  the  beautiful  gardens  of  the  Academy.  He  came  in  a  ne- 
glige dress — a  cap,  or  rather  turban,  of  various  colors,  a  party-colored 
belt,  and  a  cloak.  He  received  me  kindly ;  walked  through  the  an- 
tique gallery  of  casts,  a  long  room,  and  a  splendid  collection, 
selected  with  great  judgment ;  the  collection,  also,  of  architectural 
casts  was  splendid. 

"  Visited  Mr.  Gibson's  studio,  and  Mr.  Wyatt's.  Mr.  Gibson  is 
a  man  of  real  genius.  He  is  not  far  behind  Thorwaldsen.  His 
groups  of  the  '  Seizure  of  Hylas,'  and  of  '  Psyche  borne  by  Zephyrs,' 
are  quite  antique  in  their  character  and  feeling.  Mr.  Wyatt's  are 
also  excellent.  His  '  Nymph  entering  the  Bath '  is  as  chaste  in 
sentiment,  and  as  beautiful  for  character,  as  I  have  ever  seen  of  a 
nude  figure. 

"  Tuesday,  March  30th. — Went  to  the  Vatican  in  the  morning. 
While  recreating,  took  a  lounge  in  the  upper  logge  of  the  Vatican, 
which  contain  some  curious  maps  of  the  world,  and  its  various 
parts,  painted  in  fresco  on  the  walls.  The  first  map  has  on  it  the 
Island  of  S.  Brandani,  mentioned  by  Irving  in  his  '  Columbus ; '  the 
second  is  New  Spain,  on  which  North  America  is  represented,  the 
whole  northern  part,  from  a  parallel  about  Cape  Hatteras,  as  '  Terra 
sive  Mare  Incognitum ; '  the  third  is  Japan ;  the  fourth,  America, 
or  Peru;  the  fifth,  'Tartarorum  regiones;'  sixth,  India  beyond  the 
Ganges,  or  China;  seventh,  India  this  side  the  Ganges;  eighth, 
Persia;  ninth,  Turkey  beyond  Europe;  tenth,  Africa;  eleventh,  Af- 
rica, eastern  part ;  twelfth  and  thirteenth,  the  world,  on  the  first  of 


CHEVALIER  VERNET.  195 

which  is  America,  Terra  Labrador,  and  0.  del  Labrado ;  and  from 
them  to  C.  della  Florida,  nearly  all  the  way  high  ridges  of  moun- 
tains are  made  to  extend  from  the  coast  far  into  the  interior.  A 
little  south  of  Labrador  is  '  Terra  de  Baccalaos ; '  Canada  is  down, 
and  but  one  of  the  lakes,  which  is  not  named ;  all  beyond  is  '  terra 
incognita ; '  fourteenth,  is  Greenland,  and  congelations,  with  houses 
and  Indians  on  the  ice,  and  reindeer ;  fifteenth,  much  injured,  ap- 
pears to  be  Russia;  sixteenth,  Moscovia;  seventeenth,  Finland, 
Lapland,  etc. ;  eighteenth,  Hungary,  and  Poland,  etc. ;  nineteenth, 
Denmark,  Holland,  Germany ;  twentieth,  India,  Canaan,  and  Pales- 
tine, more  beautifully  executed  than  the  rest,  the  Holy  Land  in 
gold ;  twenty-first,  Asia  Minor ;  twenty-second,  Greece ;  twenty- 
third,  Italy;  twenty-fourth,  France;  twenty-fifth,  Spain;  twenty- 
sixth,  Great  Britain. 

"  Wednesday ,  March  31st. — Early  this  morning  was  waked  by 
the  roar  of  cannon.  Learned  that  it  was  the  anniversary  of  the 
present  pope's  election.  Went  to  the  Vatican  ;  the  colonnade  was 
filled  with  the  carriages  of  the  cardinals ;  that  of  the  new  English 
cardinal,  Weld,  was  the  most  showy. 

"There  is  a  corporal's  guard  of  soldiers  stationed  before  the 
Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  another  at  the  entrance  of  the  colonnade 
to  St.  Peter's.  Their  principal  duty  seems  to  be  to  shoulder  arms 
at  a  certain  signal,  and  present  arms  when  a  cardinaVs  carriage 
passes. 

"  Thursday  Morning,  Aprillst. — At  the  Vatican  all  day.  Open 
to  the  public.  Went  with  Mr.  Cooper  into  the  room  of  the  mo- 
saics, which  I  had  never  visited  before.  There  are  ten  thousand 
three  hundred  and  sixteen  different  tints  in  glass,  each  in  separate 
boxes,  occupying  a  hall  of  great  length.  The  street  leading  to  the 
Vatican  is  very  narrow,  and  filled  with  the  meanest  shops. 

"Went  in  the  evening  to  the  soire'e  of  the  Chevalier  Ver net, 
Director  of  the  French  Academy.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  elegant 
manners,  and  sees,  at  his  soirees,  the  first  society  in  Rome.  His 
wife  is  highly  accomplished,  and  his  daughter  is  a  beautiful  girl,  full 
of  vivacity,  and  speaks  English  fluently.  Books  of  plates  were  on 
the  table,  among  them  an  interesting  work  by  Williman,  published 
in  Paris,  on  costume,  eta  During  the  evening  there  was  music. 
His  daughter  played  on  the  piano,  and  others  sang.  There  was 
chess,  and,  at  a  sideboard,  a  few  played  cards.  The  style  was  sim- 
ple ;  every  one  at  ease,  like  our  soirees  in  America.  Several  noble- 
men and  dignitaries  of  the  Church  were  present. 


196  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  Friday,  April  2d. — Vatican  all  day.  In  the  evening  went  to 
the  Church  of  the  Trinita  di  Monte,  and  heard  the  exquisite  singing 
of  the  nuns.  After  vespers  witnessed  a  ceremony  in  which  two 
boys,  of  eight  and  ten  years  of  age,  were  brought  to  the  altar  before 
the  officiating  cardinal.  They  knelt  before  him  while  he  read  from 
a  book  held  by  an  attendant.  Assistants  were  on  either  side ;  some 
held  lighted  wax-candles,  others  held  up  the  robes  of  the  cardinal, 
and  others  prompted  the  boys  in  the  parts  they  were  to  act.  During 
the  ceremony  a  white  band  was  tied  round  the  heads  of  each  of  the 
boys.  In  conclusion,  the  cardinal  and  attendants  retired  and  the 
boys  knelt  on  each  side  of  a  man  at  the  altar,  who  appeared  to  be 
their  parent. 

"  Sunday,  April  Mh. — Palm  Sunday.  Sistine  Chapel,  half-past 
nine  o'clock.  Cardinals ;  rich  dresses,  purple  and  gold ;  Cardinal 
Weld's  the  most  splendid.  Pass  through  files  of  guards ;  ladies  out- 
side the  bar ;  ambassadors'  boxes ;  royal  box ;  cardinal,  attendants 
in  white,  gentlemen  of  the  cardinal.  Ten  o'clock,  commence.  Car- 
dinals put  on  mitre  and  received  palms,  which  are  of  straw,  with 
crosses,  etc.,  upon  them.  They  retire  to  their  seats,  give  palms  to 
attendants,  who,  at  a  signal,  prostrate  them  on  the  floor,  like  ground 
arms.  (Cardinal  Barberini  officiated  instead  of  the  pope.)  In  re- 
ceiving the  palm  from  the  cardinal,  each  recipient  kisses  the  two 
hands  of  the  cardinal.  Procession  commences  at  half-past  ten.  A 
cross,  with  two  candles  on  each  side.  Cardinals  return  during 
chanting  from  the  choir.  Cardinals  divested  of  their  finery,  and  ap- 
pear as  ordinary,  in  purple  and  ermine.  Putting  incense  into  cen- 
sers. Prayer-book.  Many  attendants  to  assist  in  the  ceremony  of 
opening  a  book.  Cardinal  says  three  or  four  words  in  a  drawling 
tone.  One,  in  a  drawling,  school-boy  tone,  reads  from  a  book  in  the 
middle  of  the  room.  Great  work  made  in  bringing  back  the  book. 
Chanting;  which,  for  the  most  part,  is  a  monotonous  brawling. 
Some  good  singing,  and  then  a  long,  tedious  tone  of  recitation  in 
Latin.  History  of  the  crucifixion  from  the  Testament,  of  more  than 
three-quarters  of  an  hour.  (Attendants  of  the  cardinals  have  olive- 
Branches  instead  of  palms.) .  A  pause,  and  all  the  cardinals  kneel. 
One  next  takes  the  book,  shows  it  to  cardinal,  bows,  turns  round, 
bows  each  side,  advances  one  side  of  the  altar,  and  kneels ;  advances 
to  the  altar,  bows,  and  kneels  again ;  lays  the  book  on  the  altar, 
bows,  and  kneels  again.  It  remains  a  few  seconds,  and  is  removed 
again  in  the  same  manner.  A  few  words  are  again  read  from  it ; 
the  cardinals  stand,  and  all  together  appear  talking  in  the  most  rapid 


ST.   PETER'S.  197 

manner  to  each  other.  They  all  sit,  and  chanting  commences, 
which  lasts  a  few  minutes.  Twenty-two  cardinals  present.  Robing 
and  disrobing  officiating  cardinals.  Incense  is  now  puffed  four 
times  before,  each  cardinal ;  the  attendant  bows,  puffs  four  times, 
and  goes  to  the  next,  and  so  on.  A  little  reading  by  the  officiating 
cardinal  at  the  altar.  Count  Ferroneye  among  the  spectators,  with 
the  three  highest  orders  in  Europe  on  his  breast — the  Golden  Fleece, 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Grand  Cross  of  St.-Louis.  Cardinal  Giulio 
Maria  della  Somaglia  in  state,  on  an  elevated  bed  of  cloth-of-gold 
and  black,  embroidered  with  gold ;  his  head  on  a  black-velvet  cush- 
ion, embroided  with  gold ;  dressed  in  his  robes  as  when  alive.  He 
officiated,  I  was  told,  on  Ash  "Wednesday.  Four  wax-lights,  two 
on  each  side  of  the  bed ;  room,  crimson  and  gold ;  three  guards  at 
the  foot  of  the  bed ;  great  throng  of  people  of  all  grades  through 
the  suite  of  apartments — the  Cancellerie — in  which  he  lived.  They 
were  very  splendid,  chiefly  of  crimson  velvet,  and  damask,  and 
gold.  The  cardinal  has  died  unpopular,  for  he  has  left  nothing  to 
his  servants  by  his  will;  he  directed,  however,  that  no  expense 
should  be  spared  in  his  funeral,  wishing  that  it  might  be  splendid ; 
but,  unfortunately  for  him,  he  has  died  precisely  at  that  season  of 
the  year  (the  Holy  Week)  when  alone  it  is  impossible,  according  to 
the  Church  customs,  to  give  him  a  splendid  burial. 

"  Monday,  April  5th. — Visited  the  Sapienza ;  the  museum  is  very 
creditable ;  the  collection  of  butterflies  very  complete ;  the  skele- 
tons of  horse,  cow,  ram,  etc.,  beautifully  prepared  ;  also  the  birds  ; 
a  lusus  naturae,  two  children  preserved  in  spirits,  united  somewhat 
similar  to  the  Siamese  boys. 

"  Cabinets  of  mineralogy  and  chemistry  very  good ;  the  pro- 
fessor exceedingly  polite  and  attentive.  Campidoglio ;  part  of  it  a 
prison ;  prisoners  with  little  bags  on  the  end  of  rod,  like  fishing- 
lines  from  the  windows.  Palatine  Hill.  Gardens  of  the  Villa  Spada, 
which  are  built  upon  the  ruins  of  the  palace  of  the  Cassars ;  the  gar- 
dens are  now  neatly  laid  out  in  walks,  arched  over  with  trees  and 
flowering  shrubs. 

"  Tuesday,  April  6th. — I  amused  myself  before  going  into  the 
Vatican  by  a  walk  in  St.  Peter's ;  the  various  and  strange  actions 
and  scenes  that  are  here  witnessed  strike  a  stranger  with  wonder. 
In  one  of  the  chapels  there  is  the  monotonous  chanting  of  the 
priests  at  their  prayers ;  all  kinds  of  costumes  were  seen  in  various 
parts  of  the  church,  kneeling  in  acts  of  devotion,  or  in  conversation 
in  groups ;  boys  were  carrying  candlesticks  larger  than  themselves 


198  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

to  furnish  some  of  the  numerous  altars ;  and  at  the  confessionals 
were  motley  groups,  some  in  the  act  of  confession,  others  waiting 
their  turn ;  there  were  ragged  beggars  and  gentlemen,  the  simply- 
dressed  nun,  with  her  white-muslin  veil,  and  the  gay-colored  dames 
of  the  villages  of  the  Sabine  Hills. 

"  Went  to  the  Vatican,  and  learned  that  it  is  shut  for  ten  days. 
Took  my  picture  to  my  room. 

"  Wednesday,  April  "7th. — This  morning  the  beggar  at  the  cafe 
.was  an  old,  gray-bearded  man,  with  a  brass  box  about  as  large  as  a 
pocket-lantern,  and  which  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  one ;  it  was 
battered  and  bright,  with  the  crucifix  embossed  in  front.  The  old 
man  sat  on  one  of  the  seats  of  the  cafe  for  a  moment,  opened  his 
box  and  counted  his  receipts ;  the  largest  piece  was  a  one-half 
biocchi,  and  these  were  few ;  he  muttered  a  prayer  over  them  as  he 
put  them  back,  and  tottered  out  of  the  house.  Went  to  the  Piazza 
Navone,  being  market-day,  in  search  of  prints ;  the  scene  here  is 
very  amusing,  from  the  variety  of  wares  exposed,  and  the  confusion 
of  noises  and  tongues,  and  now  and  then  a  jackass  swelling  the 
chorus  with  his  most  exquisite  tones. 

"  At  three  o'clock  went  to  St.  Peter's  to  see  ceremonies  at  the 
Sistine  Chapel.  Cardinal  asleep ;  monotonous  bawling,  long  and 
tedious ;  candles  put  out  one  by  one,  fourteen  in  number ;  no  cere- 
monies at  the  altar ;  cardinals  present,  nineteen ;  seven  yawns  from 
the  cardinals  ;  tiresome  and  monotonous  beyond  description.  After 
three  hours  of  this  most  tiresome  chant,  all  the  candles  having  been 
extinguished,  the  celebrated  '  Miserere '  commenced.  It  is  indeed 
sublime,  but  I  think  loses  much  of  its  effect  from  the  fatigue  of 
body,  and  mind,  too,  in  which  it  is  heard  by  the  auditors ;  the  '  Mi- 
serere '  is  the  composition  of  the  celebrated  Allegri,  and,  for  giving 
the  effect  of  wailing  and  lamentation,  without  injury  to  harmony,  is 
one  of  the  most  perfect  of  compositions.  The  manner  of  sustaining 
a  strain  of  concord  by  new  voices,  now  swelling  high,  now  gradually 
decaying  away,  now  sliding  imperceptibly  into  discord,  and  sud- 
denly breaking  into  harmony,  is  admirable ;  the  imagination  is  alive, 
and  fancies  thousands  of  people  in  the  deepest  contrition ;  it  closed 
by  the  cardinals  clapping  their  hands  for  the  earthquake. 

"  Thursday  Morning,  April  8th. — Holy  Thursday;  rose  early, 
and  at  eight  o'clock  rode  to  St.  Peter's  and  ascended  the  long  flight 
of  steps  to  the  Vatican  ;  placed  ourselves  in  the  crowd  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  ready  to  rush  into  the  Sistine  Chapel  the  moment  it 
should  open.   The  Swiss  Guards  were  this  day  dressed  in  bright  hel- 


THE   SISTINE   CHAPEL.  199 

mets  of  steel,  with  breastplates  of  the  same  material,  and  some  of 
their  officers  with  the  ancient  armor  upon  their  shoulders  and  arms. 
After  waiting  some  time,  the  door  of  the  chapel  was  opened,  and, 
after  a  few  privileged  persons  were  admitted,  all  were  allowed  to  pass, 
that  is  to  say,  if  they  had  on  a  black  coat  and  white  cravat  and 
black  pantaloons ;  a  brown  coat  or  a  frock  coat  found  very  little 
favor ;  sometimes  they  passed,  if  it  was  accompanied  with  a  Ger- 
man voice,  that  language  being  the  language  of  the  Swiss  Guards. 
A  few  gentlemen  were  allowed  to  go  into  the  strangers'  box,  within 
the  grating,  where,  on  former  occasions,  I  fortunately  got,  but  to- 
day was  too  late.     I  therefore,  with  Mr.  C ,  of  Alexandria,  and 

Mr.  Salisbury,  took  my  stand  in  that  part  of  the  chapel  which  is 
nearest  the  door ;  here,  on  the  right  where  you  enter,  the  ladies  are 
permitted  to  see  the  ceremonies.  We  waited  long,  and  at  length 
ascertained  there  would  be  a  tedious  chant,  after  which  there  would 
be  a  procession  of  the  Host  into  the  Pauline  Chapel  to  be  buried. 
We  left  the  crowded  Sistine  Chapel  and  took  our  places  behind  the 
line  of  guards  extending  through  the  hall  between  two  doors — one 
of  the  Pauline  Chapel,  the  other  leading  into  apartments  along  the 
front  of  St.  Peter's.  Here,  having  waited  a  long  time — it  being  after 
eleven  o'clock — a  bustle  was  made  in  the  hall,  and  the  head  of  a  pro- 
cession made  its  appearance  from  one  of  the  doors  of  the  great 
hall;  a  cross  and  candles  were  borne  before,  and,  soon  after,  a  rich 
crimson-damask  sedan-chair,  borne  by  bearers  dressed  in  the  same 
materials  and  colors,  in  which  his  Holiness  the  Pope  was  seated  ;  he 
passed  close  to  us,  and  as  he  passed  moved  his  hand  as  usual  in  the 
act  of  blessing.  Finding  some  who  were  near  us  had  got  between 
the  guards  into  the  procession  of  ambassadors,  etc.,  and  who  were 
suffering  no  obstruction,  Mr.  Cooper  and  I  successfully  attempted 
the  same  manoeuvre  and  mounted  the  staircase  directly  after  the 
pope,  and  as  far  as  the  crimson-and-velvet  and  gold-furnished  cham 
ber,  temporarily  built  for  the  ceremony  of  the  benediction ;  here  we 
were  stopped  by  the  guards,  but  were  permitted  to  stand  without 
the  line,  or  be  in  the  balcony  with  the  ambassadors,  etc.,  which  was 
next  to  and  on  the  left  of  that  at  which  the  pope  was  to  appear. 
Having  examined  the  splendid  chair  on  which  he  was  to  be  borne, 
and  while  he  was  robing  in  another  apartment,  we  found  that,  al- 
though we  might  have  a  complete  view  of  the  pope  and  the  cere- 
monies before  and  after  the  benediction,  yet  the  principal  effect 
was  to  be  seen  below ;  we  therefore  left  our  place  at  the  balcony, 
where  we  could  see  nothing  but,  the  crowd,  and  hastened  below. 


200  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

On  passing  into  the  hall  we  were  so  fortunate  as  just  to  be  in  sea- 
son for  the  procession  from  the  Sistine  Chapel  to  the  Pauline ;  the 
cardinals  walked  in  procession  two  and  two,  and  one  bore  the  Host, 
while  eight  bearers  held  over  him  a  rich  canopy  of  silver  tissue 
embroidered  with  gold.  Thence  we  hastened  to  the  front  of  St. 
Peter's,  where  in  the  centre,  upon  the  highest  step,  we  had  an 
excellent  view  of  the  balcony,  and,  turning  round,  could  see  the  im- 
mense crowd  which  had  assembled  in  the  piazza,  and  the  splendid 
square  of  troops  which  were  drawn  up  before  the  steps  of  the  church. 
Here  I  had  scarcely  time  to  make  a  hasty  sketch,  in  the  broiling  sun, 
of  the  window  and  its  decorations,  before  the  precursors  of  the  pope, 
the  two  large  feather  fans,  made  their  appearance  on  each  side  of  the 
balcony,  which  was  decorated  with  crimson  and  gold ;  and  immedi- 
ately after  the  Pope,  with  his  mitre  of  gold  tissue  and  his  splendid 
robes  of  gold  and  jewels,  was  borne  forward,  relieving  finely  from 
the  deep  crimson  darkness  behind  him.  He  made  the  usual  sign  of 
blessing  with  his  two  fingers  raised  ;  a  book  was  then  held  before 
him,  in  which  he  read,  with  much  motion  of  his  head,  for  a  minute. 
He  then  rose,  extending  both  his  arms — this  was  the  benediction — 
while  at  the  same  moment  the  soldiers  and  crowd  all  knelt,  the  can- 
non from  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo  was  discharged,  and  the  bells  in 
all  the  churches  rung  a  simultaneous  peal ;  the  effect  was  exceed- 
ingly grand,  the  most  imposing  of  all  the  ceremonies  I  have  wit- 
nessed. The  pope  was  then  borne  back  again.  Two  papers  were 
thrown  from  the  balcony,  for  which  there  was  a  great  scramble 
among  the  crowd. 

"  From  this  ceremony  we  went  into  the  chapel  to  witness  the 
washing  of  feet  of  the  pilgrims.  Thirteen  persons  dressed  in  white, 
with  white  caps,  some  with  long  beards,  were  seated  upon  a  high 
seat  on  one  side  of  the  chapel.  After  the  usual  pushing  and  squeez- 
ing for  places  I  got  near  enough  to  see  the  ceremony.  A  chant 
commenced,  during  which  the  pope  (or  it  might  have  been  a  cardi- 
nal, for  his  face  being  in  profile  I  could  not  discern  accurately)  be-  ' 
gan  by  washing,  or  rather  touching  with  water,  the  foot  of  the  first 
pilgrim,  wiping  it  with  the  towel  which  an  attendant  bore,  and  then, 
kissing  the  foot,  presented  a  large  bouquet  of  flowers  to  that  pil- ' 
grim,  and  so  on  through  the  whole ;  it  lasted  but  a  few  minutes. 
From  this  place,  which  was  opposite  the  Sistine  Chapel,  we  went 
into  the  Pauline  Chapel  to  see  the  Holy  Sepulchre ;  this  was  splen- 
didly illuminated  with  hundreds  of  wax-candles  disposed  in  a  most 
effective  manner.      Thence  we  came  down  into  St.  Peter's,  and 


FEET-WASHING.  201 

upon  the  steps  found  a  procession  of  pilgrims,  male  and  female,  of 
all  ranks,  and  kinds,  and  countries,  about  to  enter  the  church ;  we 
looked  into  the  church ;  the  great  altar  was  dismantled,  and  all  the 
lamps  out  before  it ;  most  if  not  all  the  candles  of  the  other  altars, 
being  collected  in  one  of  the  side  chapels,  were  brilliantly  illumi- 
nating a  dark  part  of  the  church. 

"From  these  ceremonies  we  took  some  rest  by  walking  through 
the  splendid  galleries  of  the  Vatican,  which  are  thrown  open  to  the 
public  throughout,  into  the  garden  of  the  Vatican,  rich  with  flowers 
and  orange-trees,  and  lemon-trees,  and  other  tropical  fruits;  a  large 
copper  pineapple,  upon  a  pedestal  in  front  of  a  high,  deep  niche, 
makes  a  distinguished  figure,  and  an  ancient  ship  as  a  fountain  is  a 
large  toy  on  the  other  side  of  the  Vatican. 

"  After  dinner  went  again  to  St.  Peter's  to  hear  the  music  ;  the 
'  Miserere '  was  exquisitely  performed  in  the  side-chapel,'  quite  equal, 
I  thought,  to  that  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  the  evening  before. 

"  We  next  went  to  the  Convent  of  the  Trinita  di  Pellegrini  to 
see  the  pilgrims  having  their  feet  washed  and  eating  their  supper. 
A  long  hall,  perhaps  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  was  set  out  on 
each  side  with  a  row  of  tables,  which  were  to  be  served  by  cardinals 
and  nobles,  who  were  to  wait  on  the  pilgrims.  In  another  apart- 
ment, into  which  we  were  too  late  to  enter,  there  were  about  three 
hundred  pilgrims,  who  had  their  feet  washed  and  were  waiting  for 
their  supper.  They  were  soon  after  ushered  into  the  supper-room ; 
they  were  a  most  strange  company,  ragged,  and  dirty,  and  unshaven  ; 
their  food  was  plentifully  and  indeed  I  may  say  luxuriously  pre- 
pared for  them — a  thick,  apparently  nice  soup,  fish  and  salad,  wine, 
figs,  apples,  etc.  Before  eating  they  all  rose,  and  a  blessing  appeared 
to  be  asked  by  some  one  of  the  cardinals,  and  while  they  .were  eat- 
ing a  man  from  a  box  at  one  side  of  the  room,  like  an  orchestra-box, 
read  what  seemed  to  be  a  sermon.  Each  end  of  the  table  was  dec-, 
orated  with  flowers.  I  asked  one  from  one  of  the  princely  waiters, 
and  he  politely  gave  me  two,  which  I  preserved. 

"  We  went  into  the  church ;  an  altar  was  splendidly  illuminated, 
and  at  a  side-altar  the  crucifix  was  laid  upon  the  ground  on  cushions. 
Before  it  hundreds  knelt  to  kiss  it,  and  there  was  a  plate  to  receive 
money.  In  returning  home,  visited  the  Pantheon  and  the  Church 
of  St.  Andrea  de  la  Valle,  where  were  similar  ceremonies.  Saw  also 
the  shops  of  the  bacon  and  cheese  venders  illuminated ;  in  one  was 
a  small  fountain  playing.  The  bacon  was  tastily  arranged,  the  flitdhes 
looking  like  large  leaves  of  books  and  gilt.     A  recess,  with  looking- 


202  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

glasses  at  the  end,  gave  the  appearance  of  an  almost  endless  vista 
of  lights. 

"  In  the  Via  Portugese  is  a  house  which  always  has  at  night  a 
lamp  in  the  corner  of  the  eves,  from  the  following  occurrence :  A 
gentleman,  who  lived  in  the  house  some  years  ago,  had  an  orang- 
outang, which  one  day  got  loose,  and,  finding  the  child  of  the  gentle- 
man, seized  it  and  rushed  to  the  top  of  the  house  with  it  before  he 
was  discovered  ;  when  first  seen  he  was  with  the  child  on  the  corner 
of  the  house,  and  threatening  every  moment  to  throw  the  child  into 
the  street.  He  was,  however,  arrested  in  his  intention,  and  the  child 
was  saved.  In  commemoration  of  the  event  he  during  his  life  kept 
a  light  burning  on  the  corner,  and  left  by  his  will  a  sufficient  sum  to 
maintain  it  after  his  decease. 

"  Friday,  April  9th. — All  the  morning  was  spent  in  endeavor- 
ing to  find  places  where  we  had  been  informed  were  the  most  in- 
teresting ceremonies  of  the  day,  but  we  were  disappointed.  At 
one  o'clock  we  went  to  the  church  of  St.  Sylvestro  in  Capite,  to 
witness  the  service  of  the  tre  ore  of  agony.  As  its  name  indicates, 
it  was  three  hours  in  length  ;  the  church  was  hung  with  black.  A 
temporary  pulpit  was  erected  at  one  side,  from  which  a  fleshy  friar 
harangued  the  people  with  much  gesticulation ;  opposite  him  was 
the  orchestra,  which  at  intervals  gave  good  music,  but  the  harangue 
of  the  priest  in  the  intermission  was  so  long  and  monotonous,  re- 
lieved by  a  priest  in  another  pulpit,  who  read  in  a  dull,  school-boy 
tone,  that  I  was  glad  to  make  my  retreat — I  had  seen  enough.  The 
priest's  eloquence  was  of  the  same  kind  I  had  before  heard,  his 
words  coming  forth  like  water  from  a  narrow-necked  flask.  We 
went  in  search  of  the  Greek  church ;  finding  no  service,  went  to 
St.  Peter's,  passing  a  long  procession  of  monks,  in  black  hoods,  with 
staves  surmounted  by  death's  heads,  and  a  girdle  of  beads  and  a 
cross,  also  surmounted  with  death's  heads  ;  they  had  on  the  hood, 
or  mask,  having  all  the  face  covered  but  the  eyes ;  they  sang  or 
rather  croaked  as  they  went,  '  with  solemn  step  and  slow.'  When 
we  arrived  at  St.  Peter's,  the  ceremonies  were  performing  in  the 
choir ;  the  tiresome  chant,  which  had  been  in  continuation  for  nearly 
the  three  hours,  rightly  called  the  three  hours  of  agony,  was  nearly 
drawing  to  a  conclusion,  three  lights,  of  the  fifteen,  alone  remain- 
ing unextinguished.  These  fifteen  lights,  by-the-by,  represent  the 
twelve  Apostles  and  the  three  Marys  (in  brown  wax-candles,  to 
signify  mourning)  ;  their  extinguishment,  the  desertion  of  all,  one 
after  another,  but  Mary  the  Virgin ;  this  is  the  centre  candle,  and, 


LYING  IN   STATE.  203 

when  all  are  extinguished  but  this,  it  is  removed,  still  burning, 
behind  the  altar ;  the  'Miserere '  then  commences.  We  heard  the  ex- 
quisite 'Miserere,'  and  afterward  went  toward  the  high  altar,  with 
the  crowd,  to  witness  the  showing  of  the  sacred  relics,  from  a 
balcony  some  sixty  or  seventy  feet  above  the  crowd.  A  priest  with 
two  attendants  made  his  appearance ;  a  row  of  seven  or  eight  wax- 
candles  was  upon  the  balustrade,  and  presently  he  held  up  a  glit- 
tering mass  of  something  that  looked  like  a  jeweled  cap  or  crown. 
This  was  the  spear,  the  very  spear  which  pierced  the  side  of  our 
Saviour ;  the  priest  walked  backward  and  forward  in  the  balcony 
with  it,  for  a  moment,  and  then  retired ;  he  then  came  forth  with  a 
small  cross  also  jeweled,  and  paced  up  and  down  in  the  same  man- 
ner ;  this  was  a  piece  of  the  genuine  cross.  Next  he  brought  out 
a  splendidly  jeweled  frame  containing  the  portrait  of  a  head ;  this 
was  St.  Veronica's  handkerchief  with  which  she  wiped  the  Saviour's 
face  in  going  to  the  cross,  and  which  received  the  impression  of  his 
features  upon  it.  The  distance,  from  any  one  in  the  crowd,  of  these 
relics  of  course  prevented  any  examination  or  inquiry.  This  being 
ended,  we  returned  home,  and,  after  dinner,  went  again  to  the  Trinita 
di  Pelligrini  to  see  what  I  omitted  seeing  last  evening — the  washing 
of  the  pilgrims'  feet.  This  was  in  a  room  near  the  supper-hall.  We 
arrived  in  season,  and  found  that  this  was  a  bona-fide  washing  of 
feet,  tubs  being  provided  for  each  pilgrim,  and  cardinals  and  others 
were  literally  performing  the  ceremony  of  washing  their  feet  for 
them.  On  our  way  to  St.  Peter's  I  ought  to  have  noticed  our  visit 
to  a  palace  in  which  another  cardinal  (the  third  who  has  died 
within  a  few  days)  was  lying  in  state — Cardinal  Bertazzoli.  The 
apartments  of  this  cardinal  seemed  to  be  very  bare  of  furniture — 
whether  usually  so,  or  stripped  for  the  occasion,  I  know  not.  The 
room  in  which  he  lay  was  very  splendid — of  crimson  and  gold — as 
were  also  the  other  rooms  ;  he  was  upon  a  high  bed  of  cloth-of-gold 
tissue,  under  a  rich  canopy  of  crimson  velvet  embroidered  with 
flowers  of  gold,  and  with  gold  lace  at  the  side ;  candles  of  wax  were 
in  high  candlesticks,  at  his  feet  a  crucifix,  and  basin  of  holy  water 
with  a  little  brush  to  sprinkle  it.  Priests  were  just  about  to  en- 
gage in  chanting  a  requiem  when  we  left.  Ever  since  the  benedic- 
tion, all  the  bells  in  the  city  have  been  silent,  and  all  the  guards 
have  their  muskets  reversed.  In  returning  from  the  Trinita  di  Pel- 
legrini, the  shops  of  those  that  sell  bacon,  cheese,  and  lard,  struck 
us  with  the  splendor  and  ingenuity  of  their  decorations ;  besides 
innumerable  lamps,  and  candles,  and  tinsel  and  gilding  of  the  bacon 


204  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 

and  hams,  there  was  in  the  Piazza  Pallarola  a  shop,  which  had  in 
the  window  a  group  of  sculpture,  made  entirely  of  lard,  and  of 
the  size  of  life,  representing  a  child  riding  upon  a  goat,  while  an- 
other child  is  pulling  back  the  goat  by  the  tail.  The  action  of  the 
whole  was  very  spirited,  and  the  figures,  and  animal,  and  all  things 
considered,  exceedingly  well  done,  especially  the  struggling  of  the 
goat  to  go  forward,  and  the  determined  effort  of  the  child  to  pre- 
vent him. 

"  Friday ',  April  16th. — At  the  Vatican  all  day.  I  went  to  the 
soiree  of  the  sister  Persianis  in  the  evening.  There  I  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  meeting,  for  the  first  time,  with  Thoewaldsen,  the  great 
Danish  sculptor,  the  first  now  living.  He  is  an  old  man  in  ap- 
pearance, having  a  profusion  of  gray  hair,  wildly  hanging  over  his 
forehead  and  ears.  His  face  has  a  strong  northern  character,  his 
eyes  are  light  gray,  and  his  complexion  sandy.  He  is  a  large  man, 
of  perfectly  unassuming  manners  and  of  most  amiable  deportment. 
Daily  receiving  homage  from  all  the  potentates  of  Europe,  he  is 
still  without  the  least  appearance  of  ostentation.  He  readily  as- 
sented to  a  request  to  sit  for  his  portrait,  which  I  hope  soon  to  take. 
The  soiree  this  evening  had  several  other  distinguished  persons 
from  various  countries  present.  From  Sweden,  from  England,  from 
France,  from  Switzerland,  and  from  America,  there  were  represent- 
atives. The  young  ladies  sang  and  played  beautifully  on  the  harp 
and  piano ;  the  older  people  of  the  party  played  cards,  as  stupidly 
as  card-players  in  all  other  countries. 

"  Monday,  April  19th. — "Went  to  the  Vatican.  In  passing 
through  the  Via  del'  Orso,  near  the  Ponte  St.  Angelo,  I  saw  quite  a 
romantic  scene,  if  it  had  been  at  a  more  romantic  hour.  A  young 
man  with  his  guitar  was  sitting  near  a  window  playing,  while  a 
very  pretty  girl  was  with  the  greatest  vivacity  singing  to  him.  The 
old  people  were  listening,  while  they  were  employed  in  their  do- 
mestic engagements,  spinning  and  ironing. 

"  Visited  Thorwaldsen  at  his  house,  in  the  Via  Sistina,  on  the 
Pincian  Hill.  He  was  at  home,  and  showed  me  his  private  collec- 
tion of  pictures,  some  ancient,  but  mostly  modern,  and  very  fine,  in 
landscape  particularly,  for  I  was  unprepared  to  find  so  good  land- 
scape-painters among  the  moderns  in  Italy — they  were  not  Italians, 
however.  I  was  shown  three  rooms ;  the  last  was  the  private  study 
of  Thorwaldsen,  where  I  found  a  bass-relief  in  progress  in  the  clay. 

"  Tuesday,  April  27th. — My  birthday.  How  time  flies,  and  to 
how  little  purpose  have  I  lived  !     Engaged  at  home  in  painting. 


TH1  ©1WAL©§ER! 


New  York,  D.  Applet,: 


i 


NewTbvk,  D  Apple!  on  &.C0. 


PORTRAIT   OF   THORWALSDEN.  205 

In  going  to  dinner,  observed  what  I  have  often  before  seen,  a  group 
of  men  playing  at  moro,  which  consists  in  two  persons  striking 
down  the  hand  together,  with  any  number  of  the  fingers  extended, 
and  each  calling  out  in  the  same  breath  the  number  they  suppose 
to  make  the  whole  number  of  fingers  of  both  their  hands  added 
together;  he  that  guesses  right  is  the  winner. 

*'  Friday,  April  30th. — A  funeral  procession  passed  the  house 
tc-day.  On  the  bier,  exposed,  as  is  customary  here,  was  a  beautiful 
young  girl,  apparently  of  fifteen,  dressed  in  rich  laces  and  satins, 
embroidered  with  gold,  and  silver,  and  flowers,  tastefully  arranged, 
and  sprinkled  also  with  real  flowers,  and  at  her  head  was  placed  a 
coronet  of  flowers.  She  had  more  the  appearance  of  sleep  than  of 
death.  No  relative  appeared  near  her ;  the  whole  seemed  to  be 
conducted  by  the  priests  and  monks,  and  those  hideous  objects  in 
white  hoods,  with  faces  covered,  except  two  holes  for  the  eyes. 

"Monday,  September  20th. — Began  the  portrait  of  the  cele- 
brated sculptor,  Thorwaldsen.  He  is  a  most  amiable  man,  and  is 
universally  respected.  He  is  the  greatest  sculptor  of  the  age.  I 
have  studied  his  works;  they  are  distinguished  for  simple  dignity, 
just  expression,  and  truth  in  character  and  design ;  the  composition 
is  also  characterized  by  simplicity.  These  qualities  combined  en- 
dow them  with  that  beauty  which  we  so  much  admire  in  the  works 
of  Greece,  whether  in  literature  or  art.  Thorwaldsen  cannot  be 
said  to  imitate  the  antique ;  he  rather  seems  to  be  one  born  in  the 
best  age  of  Grecian  art,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  that  age,  and 
producing  from  his  own  resources  kindred  works.  One  of  his  prin- 
cipal works  is  a  bass-relief  of  '  The  Triumph  of  Alexander,'  executed 
for  a  nobleman,  who  intended  it  for  his  splendid  mansion  on  the 
Lago  di  Como.  Before  the  work  was  completed,  however,  the 
marquis  died,  and  his  son,  the  present  marquis,  not  inheriting  the 
taste  or  disposition  of  his  father,  has  offered  it  for  sale. 

"  Thorwaldsen  has  just  completed  the  monument  of  Pope  Pius 
VII.,  which  is  now  erecting  in  St.  Peter's.  It  consists  of  a  mauso- 
leum in  the  Egyptian  order,  on  the  top  of  which  is  a  colossal  figure 
of  the  pope,  seated  in  the  papal  chair,  and  with  his  right  hand 
raised  in  the  attitude  of  giving  the  benediction ;  on  each  side  of 
the  great  door  of  the  tomb  is  a  colossal  female  figure,  the  one  For- 
titude and  the  other  Wisdom.  His  studios  are  in  the  Palazzo  Bar- 
berini ;  they  are  very  extensive,  and  are  literally  filled  with  the 
works  of  this  great  man.  He  has  executed  many  colossal  works : 
a  statue  of  Copernicus,  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  of  Russia,  sev- 


206  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

eral  colossal  horses.  Next  to  his  '  Triumph  of  Alexander,'  which  is, 
perhaps,  his  most  colossal  work,  his  '  St.  John  preaching,'  which  is  a 
series  of  nine  statues  and  groups,  is  the  most  beautiful.  The  dig- 
nity and  earnest  zeal  of  the  preacher,  the  various  listeners,  admira- 
bly selected  from  nature,  the  group  of  children  observing  a  dog, 
alone  inattentive  among  the  audience,  are  all  well  conceived,  and 
make  the  series  one  of  the  most  interesting  pieces  of  sculpture  in 
the  world." 

This  portrait  of  Thorwaldsen  was  completed  by  Morse,  and 
sent  by  the  painter  to  Philip  Hone,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  who 
had  commissioned  him  to  paint  him  a  picture  for  one  hundred 
dollars.  It  remained  in  Mr.  Hone's  gallery  until  the  sale  of  his 
pictures,  after  his  death.  Mr.  Wright  then  became  its  owner, 
and,  on  the  sale  of  his  pictures,  in  1868,  John  Taylor  Johnston, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  bought  it  for 
four  hundred  dollars.  When  he  learned  that  Mr.  Morse  was 
very  desirous  of  possessing  it  again,  that  he  might  present  it  to 
the  King  of  Denmark,  Mr.  Johnston  with  great  cheerfulness 
and  generosity  begged  Mr.  Morse  to  accept  it.  Mr.  Morse  was 
exceedingly  grateful,  and  immediately  forwarded  it  to  the  Dan- 
ish monarch,  in  whose  gallery  it  now  hangs.  To  Mr.  Johnston, 
on  hearing  of  his  great  generosity,  Mr.  Morse  wrote  the  follow- 
ing letter : 

"Dresden,  Saxony,  January  23,  1868. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  of  the  6  th  instant  is  this  moment 
received,  in  which  I  have  been  startled  by  your  most  generous 
offer,  presenting  me  with  my  portrait  of  the  renowned  Thorwald- 
sen, for  which  he  sat  to  me  in  Rome  in  1831.  I  know  not  in  what 
terms,  my  dear  sir,  to  express  to  you  my  thanks  for  this  most  accept- 
able gift.  I  made  an  excursion  to  Copenhagen  in  the  summer  of 
1856,  as  a  sort  of  devout  pilgrimage  to  the  tombs  of  two  renowned 
Danes,  whose  labors  in  their  respective  departments — the  one,  Oer- 
sted, of  Science,  the  other,  Thorwaldsen,  of  Art — have  so  greatly 
enriched  the  world.  The  personal  kindness  of  the  late  King 
Frederick  VII.,  who  courteously  received  me  at  his  castle  of  Fred- 
ericksborg,  through  the  special  presentation  of  Colonel  Rastoff, 
more  recently  the  Danish  minister  at  Washington;  the  hospitalities 
of  many  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Copenhagen ;  the  visits  to  the 
tomb  and  museum  of  the  works  of  Thorwaldsen,  and  to  the  room 


GIFT   TO   THE  KING.  207 

in  which  the  immortal  Oersted  made  his  brilliant  electro-magnetic 
discovery;  the  casual  and  accidental  introduction  and  interview 
with  a  daughter  of  Oersted — all  created  a  train  of  reflections  which 
prompted  me  to  devise  some  suitable  mode  of  showing  to  these 
hospitable  people  my  appreciation  of  their  friendly  attentions,  and  I 
proposed  to  myself  the  presentation  to  his  majesty  the  King  of 
Denmark  of  this  portrait  of  Thorwaldsen,  for  which  he  sat  to  me  in 
Rome,  and  with  which  I  knew  he  was  specially  pleased.  My  desire 
to  accomplish  this  purpose  was  further  strengthened  by  the  addi- 
tional attention  of  the  king,  at  a  later  period,  in  sending  me  the 
decoration  of  his  order  of  the  Danebrog.  From  the  moment  this 
purpose  was  formed,  twelve  years  ago,  I  have  been  desirous  of  ob- 
taining this  portrait,  and  watching  for  the  opportunity  of  possess- 
ing it  again. 

"  Its  history,  in  brief,  is  this  :  Among  the  commissions  given  me 
on  my  professional  visit  of  study  to  Europe,  in  1829,  prolonged  to 
the  autumn  of  1832,  was  one  from  the  then  Mayor  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  the  late  liberal-minded  Philip  Hone.  He  put  into  my 
hands  one  hundred  dollars,  with  the  request  to  paint  him  a  picture 
for  his  gallery,  leaving  to  me  the  choice  of  the  subject.  In  Rome, 
I  became  personally  acquainted  with  Thorwaldsen,  who  not  merely 
treated  me  with  his  usual  kindness,  but  seemed  to  take  unusual 
pains  to  show  me  little  attentions,  and  specially  to  seek  my  com- 
panionship in  his  evening  walks  for  recreation  on  the  Pincian  Hill. 
I  ventured  to  ask  him  to  give  me  sittings  for  his  portrait,  a  request 
which  he  promptly  granted.  The  portrait  in  question  is  the  result. 
It  was  sent  to  Mr.  Hone,  and  occupied  a  place  in  his  gallery  during 
his  life.  When  the  gallery,  in  consequence  of  his  decease,  was  dis- 
persed, I  was  absent  from  the  city,  and  ignorant  of  the  fact,  and 
the  time  of  sale,  or  I  should  then  have  competed  for  its  possession. 

"  For  some  time  I  was  unable  even  to  ascertain  its  new  possessor. 
But  at  length,  from  my  worthy  friend  and  pupil,  D.  Huntington, 
Esq.,  I  learned  that  it  was  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Wright,  and  that 
he  valued  it  too  highly  for  the  indulgence  of  any  hope  that  he  would 
part  with  it.  When,  in  March  of  last  year,  Mr.  Wright's  collection 
was  brought  to  the  hammer,  I  was  here  in  Europe,  but  was  ap- 
prised by  my  brother,  after  the  sale,  that  the  portrait  of  Thorwald- 
sen was  sold  for  over  four  hundred  dollars,  but  the  name  of  the 
purchaser  was  not  mentioned.  In  my  reply  to  my  brother,  I  find 
this  passage :  '  I  don't  know  whether  to  be  glad  or  sorry  that  my 
portrait  of  Thorwaldsen  brought  so  much,  for  I  was  watching  an 


208  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

opportunity  of  possessing  it  for  myself,  and,  although  rejoiced  to 
find  my  picture  valued  so  highly,  yet  it  would  seem  hard  that  a 
picture  for  which  I  received  but  one  hundred  dollars  could  not  be 
possessed  again  by  its  author  without  paying  more  than  three  times 
the  sum  he  received  for  it.' 

"  This  brief  history  will  show  you,  my  dear  sir,  what  a  boon 
you  have  conferred  upon  me.  Indeed,  it  seems  like  a  dream.  And 
if  my  most  cordial  thanks,  not  merely  for  the  gift,  but  for  the 
graceful  and  generous  manner  in  which  it  has  been  offered,  is  any 
compensation,  you  may  be  sure  they  are  yours.  These  are  no  con- 
ventional words,  but  they  come  from  a  heart  that  can  gratefully 
appreciate  the  noble  sentiments  which  have  prompted  your  gen- 
erous act.  I  have  written  my  brother  Sidney  E.  Morse,  and  re- 
quested him  to  receive  for  me  the  portrait.  Again  thanking  you, 
my  dear  sir,  I  am  with  gratitude  and  esteem  your  friend  and 
servant,  • 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Moese. 
"To  John  Taylor  Johnston,  Esq." 

When  Mr.  Morse  writes  to  his  brothers  from  Italy,  we  find 
him  occasionally  breaking  away  from  the  charmed  circle  of  art : 

"Rome,  January  5,  1831. 
"  My  dear  Beothees  :  A  short  time  ago,  I  asked  an  Italian 
friend  of  mine  to  get  for  me  some  cuttings  of  two  kinds  of  grapes 
which  are  celebrated  here,  that  I  might  send  them  to  the  United 
States.  He  has  been  so  obliging  as  to  present  me  with  six  vines, 
with  their  roots  carefully  packed  in  their  natural  earth  (which,  by- 
the-by  is  the  Vale  of  Tempe,  Adrian's  Villa,  Tivoli),  and  they  are 
in  such  fine  order,  and  the  season  so  favorable  to  send  them,  that  I 
have  ventured  to  incur  the  expense  of  transmission  as  they  are,  to 
such  of  my  horticultural  friends  as  I  know  will  take  good  care  of 
them,  and  distribute  cuttings  (if  they  should  be  successful  in  cul- 
tivating them)  to  others,  so  that  these  two  fine  varieties  of  grapes 
may  be  introduced  into  the  country.  They  are  packed  in  one  par- 
cel, all  their  roots  being  in  a  tub  with  earth,  moss,  etc.  But  you 
will  find,  after  unwinding  the  cloth  which  envelops  them,  the  two 
kinds  separated  by  being  tied  round,  each  thi'ee  of  a  kind,  with  a 
separate  band.  One  is  the  Pergolese  grape,  the  other  the  Pizzu- 
tello.  I  know  not  which  of  each  parcel  is  the  Pergolese,  or  which 
is  the  Pizzutello,  but,  in  separating  them,  take  one  from  each  bunch, 
making  three  pairs,  and  oblige  me  by  delivering  to  each  of  the  fol- 


IN   THE   COLISEUM.  209 

lowing  persons  one  pair :  one  to  Dr.  Ives,  of  New  Haven ;  one  to 
Dr.  Hosack ;  and  one  to  R.  V.  De  Witt,  Esq.,  of  Albany." 

"April  15,  1831. 

"  We  have  recently  heard  of  the  disasters  of  the  Poles.  What 
noble  people ;  how  deserving  of  their  freedom !  I  must  tell  you 
of  an  interesting  circumstance  that  occurred  to  me  in  relation 
to  Poland.  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  June  of  last  year,  just  as 
I  was  completing  my  arrangements  for  my  journey  to  Naples, 
that  I  was  tempted  by  one  of  those  splendid  moonlight  even- 
ings, so  common  in  Italy,  to  visit  once  more  the  ruins  of  the  Co- 
liseum. I  had  frequently  been  to  the  Coliseum  in  company,  but 
now  I  had  the  curiosity  to  go  alone — I  wished  to  enjoy,  if  pos- 
sible, its  solitude,  and  its  solemn  grandeur,  unannoyed  by  the  pres- 
ence of  any  one.  It  was  eleven  o'clock  when  I  left  my  lodgings, 
and  no  one  was  walking  at  that  hour  in  the  solitary  streets  of 
Rome.  From  the  Corso  to  the  Forum,  all  was  as  still  as  in  a 
deserted  city.  The  ruins  of  the  Forum,  the  temples  and  pillars, 
the  Arch  of  Titus,  and  the  gigantic  arcade  of  the  Temple  of  Peace, 
seemed  to  sleep  in  the  grave-like  stillness  of  the  air.  The  only 
sound  that  reached  my  ears  was  that  of  my  own  footsteps.  I 
slowly  proceeded,  stopping  occasionally  and  listening,  and  enjoying 
the  profound  repose,  and  the  solemn,  pure  light,  so  suited  to  the 
ruined  magnificence  around  me.  As  I  approached  the  Coliseum, 
the  shriek  of  an  owl  and  the  answering  echo  broke  the  silence  for 
a  moment,  and  all  was  still  again.  I  reached  the  entrance,  before 
which  paced  a  lonely  sentinel,  his  arms  flashing  in  the  moonbeams. 
He  abruptly  stopped  me,  and  told  me  I  could  not  enter.  I  asked 
him  why.  He  replied  that  his  orders  were  to  let  no  one  pass.  I 
told  him  I  knew  better,  that  he  had  no  such  orders,  that  he  was 
placed  there  to  protect  visitors,  and  not  to  prevent  their  entrance, 
and  that  I  should  pass.  Finding  me  resolute  (for  I  knew  by  ex- 
perience his  motive  was  merely  to  extort  money),  he  softened  in  his 
tone,  and  wished  me  to  wait  until  he  could  speak  to  the  sergeant  of 
the  guard.  To  this  I  assented,  and,  while  he  was  gone,  a  party  of 
gentlemen  approached  also  to  the  entrance.  One  of  them,  having 
heard  the  discourse  between  the  sentinel  and  myself,  addressed  me. 
Perceiving  that  he  was  a  foreigner,  I  asked  him  if  he  spoke  English. 
He  replied,  with  a  slight  accent,  'Yes,  a  little;  you  are  an  English- 
man, sir.'  '  No,'  I  replied,  '  I  am  an  American,  from  the  United 
States.'  '  Indeed  ! '  said  he,  '  that  is  much  better,'  and,  extending 
14 


210  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

his  hand,  he  shook  me  cordially  by  the  hand,  adding,  '  I  have  a 
great  respect  for  your  country,  and  I  know  many  of  your  country- 
men.' He  then  mentioned  Dr.  Jarvis,  and  Mr.  Cooper,  the  novelist, 
the  latter  of  whom  he  said  was  held  in  the  greatest  estimation  in 
Europe,  and  nowhere  more  so  than  in  his  country,  Poland,  where 
his  works  were  more  sought  after  than  those  of  Scott,  and  his  mind 
was  esteemed  of  an  equal,  if  not  of  a  superior  cast.  This  casual 
introduction  of  literary  topics  furnished  us  with  ample  matter  for 
conversation  while  we  were  not  engaged  in  contemplating  the  sub- 
lime ruins  over  which,  when  the  sentinel  returned,  we  climbed.  I 
asked  him  respecting  the  literature  of  Poland,  and  particularly  if 
there  were  now  any  living  poets  of  eminence.  He  observed,  '  Yes, 
sir,  I  am  happily  traveling  in  company  with  the  most  celebrated 
of  our  poets,  Meinenvitch ; '  and  who  as  I  understood  him  was  one 
of  the  party  walking  in  another  part  of  the  ruins.  Engaged  in 
conversation,  we  left  the  Coliseum  together,  and  slowly  proceeded 
into  the  city.  I  told  him  of  the  deep  interest  with  which  Poland 
was  regarded  in  the  United  States,  and  that  her  heroes  were  spoken 
of  with  the  same  veneration  as  our  own.  As  some  evidence  of  this 
estimation,  I  informed  him  of  the  monuments  erected  by  the  cadets 
of  West  Point,  our  Polytechnic  School,  to  the  memory  of  Kos- 
ciusko. With  this  intelligence  he  was  evidently  much  affected ;  he 
took  my  hand,  and  exclaimed  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  emphati- 
cally, '  We,  too,  sir,  shall  be  free ;  the  time  is  coming ;  we  too  shall 
be  free,  my  unhappy  country  will  be  free.'  (This  was  before  the 
revolution  in  France.)  As  I  came  to  the  street  where  we  were 
to  part,  he  took  out  his  note-book,  and,  going  under  the  lamp  of  a 
Madonna,  near  the  Piazza  Colonna,  he  wished  me  to  write  my  name 
for  him,  among  the  other  names  of  Americans  which  he  had  treas- 
ured in  his  book.  I  complied  with  his  request.  In  bidding  me 
adieu,  he  said,  '  It  will  be  one  of  my  happiest  recollections  of  Rome, 
that  the  last  night  which  I  passed  in  this  city  was  passed  in  the 
Coliseum,  and  with  an  American,  a  citizen  of  a  free  country.    If  you 

should  ever  visit  Warsaw,  pray  inquire  for  Prince ;  I  shall  be 

exceedingly  glad  to  see  you  ! '  Thus  I  parted  with  this  interesting 
Pole.  That  I  should  have  forgotten  a  Polish  name,  pronounced  but 
once,  you  will  not  think  extraordinary.  The  sequel  remains  to  be 
told.  When  the  Polish  Revolution  broke  out,  what  was  my  surprise 
to  find  the  poet  Meinenvitch,  and  a  prince  whose  name  seemed  like 
that  which  he  pronounced  to  me,  and  to  which  was  added,  '  just 
returned  from  Italy,'  among  the  first  members  of  the  provisional 


RETURN   TO   PARIS.  211 

government !  When  the  first  news  of  the  revolution  in  Poland 
reached  Rome,  it  was  in  the  highest  degree  interesting  to  witness  the 
strong  feeling1  and  enthusiasm  which  animated  the  Poles  who  were 
on  a  visit  to  Italy.  When  they  met  each  other,  they  embraced,  and 
the  tears  would  flow  down  their  cheeks,  while  they  vowed  to  each 
other  to  return,  home  immediately  to  fight  for  their  country.  Some 
English  friends  of  mine  called  to  see  two  Polish  gentlemen,  one  an 
artist,  who  were  both  packing  up  to  go  home,  full  of  nothing  but 
zeal  for  the  cause  of  their  beloved  country.  In  taking  leave,  the 
Englishmen  expressed  a  hope  that  they  should  meet  again.  '  No, 
no,'  said  they,  '  never  on  earth,  we  go  to  die  for  our  country ;  we 
shall  meet  in  heaven.'  " 

The  studies  of  Mr.  Morse  in  public  and  private  galleries, 
minutely  described  in  his  sketch-books,  were  continned  with  in- 
dustry and  zeal  in  several  cities  of  Italy.  His  letters  to  Ms 
brothers,  and  to  other  relatives  in  the  United  States,  contained 
detailed  accounts  of  his  work  with  the  brush,  and  his  studies 
among  the  old  masters  wherever  he  found  them  ;  denying  him- 
self society  in  which  he  would  have  indulged  with  the  greatest 
enjoyment,  had  not  time  appeared  to  him  too  precious  to  spend 
on  any  thing  but  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  that  should  be 
useful  in  his  art,  he  made  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
every  department  of  his  profession. 

In  the  autumn  of  1831  he  went  to  Paris,  and,  having  estab- 
lished himself  in  very  modest  quarters,  No.  29  Rue  de  Tu- 
renne,  near  the  Madeleine,  he  began  to  copy  in  the  Louvre. 
His  friends  Greenough  and  Cooper  often  wrote  to  him,  and 
their  letters  give  glimpses  of  life  abroad.  From  Florence,  Mr. 
Greenough  writes : 

"  As  for  the  commission  from  Government,  I  don't  speak  of  it 
yet.  After  about  a  fortnight  I  shall  be  calm,  I  think.  Morse,  I  have 
made  up  my  mind  on  one  score,  viz.,  that  this  order  shall  not  be 
fruitless  to  the  greater  men  who  are  in  our  rear.  They  are  sucking 
now  and  rocking  in  cradles,  but  I  can  hear  the  pung !  pung !  puffetty ! 
of  their  hammers,  and  I  am  prophetic,  too  !  We'll  see  if  Yankee- 
land  can't  muster  some  ten  or  a  dozen  of  them  in  the  course  of  as 
many  years !  If  you  go  home,  you  will  be  married ;  if  you  are  mar- 
ried, you  will  stay  there.  Pray,  advertise  for  me  when  you  get 
there :     Wanted. — A  young  woman  of  knowledge  without  being 


212  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  B.  F.   MORSE. 

aware  of  it ;  very  humble  at  finding  herself  proud ;  a  blond,  and  in- 
clining to  the  petite,  not  slothful  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serv- 
ing the  Lord. — My  love  to  Mr.  Cooper,  and  my  respectful  regards 
to  the  family.     Ever  thine,  Horatio  G ." 

"  Accept  my  warmest  thanks  for  your  sympathy — the  interest 
you  express  in  my  welfare  fills  no  small  portion  of  the  void  which 
my  troubles  may  have  made  in  my  heart.  As  for  my  kind  friends 
in  the  Rue  St.  Dominique,  may  the  Disposer  of  events  send  them 
thousands  of  such  sensations  as  I  experienced  when  I  read  what  you 
say  of  their  regret  at  my  difficulties  !  But  I  will  hope  that  by  exer- 
tion I  may  reach  a  point  where  to  feel  interest  in  me  shall  not  be 
to  suffer.  You  mention  a  certain  plan,  but  you  roll  it  under  your 
tongue  again  in  the  most  tantalizing  way.  Why  won't  you,  in  your 
next,  sketch  with  your  pen  the  plan  of  your  picture,  for  I'm  not  sure 
I  understand  it ;  that  is,  if  indeed  you  meant  I  should  ?  I  don't  wish 
to  beg  a  secret. 

"  You  were  right,  I  had  heard  of  the  resolution  submitted  to 
Congress,  etc. ;  Mr.  Cooper  wrote  me  about  it.  I  have  not  much 
faith  in  Congress,  however.  I  will  confess  that,  when  the  spectre 
Debt  has  leaned  over  my  pillow  of  late,  and,  smiling  ghastlily,  has 
asked  me  if  she  and  I  were  not  intended  as  companions  through  life, 
I  snap  my  fingers  at  her  and  tell  her  that  Brother  Jonathan  talks  of 
adopting  me,  and  that  he  won't  have  her  of  his  household.  '  Go  to 
London,  you  hag,'  says  I,  '  where  they  say  you're  handsome  and 
wholesome ;  don't  grind  your  long  teeth  at  me,  or  I'll  read  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  to  ye ! '  So  you  see  I  make  uncertain 
hopes  fight  certain  fear,  and  borrow  from  the  generous,  good-natured 
Future  the  motives  for  content  which  are  denied  me  by  the  stinted 
Present.  I  still  continue  to  think  that  another  year  will  find  me 
somewhere  in  Germany.  I  must  cut  through  the  snarl  into  which 
four  years  have  wound  my  relations,  and  come  smack  on  my  feet. 
I'm  afraid  of  a  habit,  and  the  habit  of  being  assisted  is  one  of  the 
most  ruinous. 

"  In  the  mean  while  I'm  trying  to  mix  a  little  with  the  world,  and 
to  learn  how  to  behave  myself.  I  have  hitherto  read  my  Dante,  etc., 
and  when  thrown  into  contact  with  folk  have  gotten  through  as 
quick  as  possible,  with  the  idea  that  every  word  spared  was  so  much 
clear  gain ;  but  I  now  find  that  a  man  needs  a  circle  of  acquaintance, 
and  have  already  made  several  pleasant  acquisitions  in  this  way. 

"  What  shall  I  say  in  answer  to  your  remarks  on  my  opinions  ? 


BUNKER  HILL   MONUMENT.  213 

Shall  I  go  all  over  the  ground  again  ?  It  were  useless.  That  my 
heart  is  wrong  in  a  thousand  ways  I  daily  feel,  but  'tis  my  stubborn 
head  which  refuses  to  comprehend  the  creation  as  you  comprehend 
it.  That  we  should  be  grateful  for  all  we  have,  I  feel — for  all  we 
have  is  given  us ;  nor  do  I  think  we  have  little ;  for  my  part  I  would 
be  blessed  in  mere  existence  were  I  not  goaded  by  a  wish  to  make 
my  one  talent  two ;  and  we  have  Scripture  for  the  rectitude  of  such 
a  wish.  I  don't  think  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  tide  of  ill-for- 
tune can  be  called  rebellion  against  Providence.  '  Help  yourself, 
and  Heaven  will  help  you,'  says  the  proverb.  When  Leonidas  stood 
with  his  three  hundred  in  the  gap  against  the  tide  of  Persian  tyr- 
anny, was  his  a  rebellion  against  the  decree  that  doomed  his  coun- 
try to  defeat  ?  No,  he  stood  there  to  see  it  done,  and  to  decimate 
his  conquerors  according  to  the  decree  of  the  Disposer  of  all.  I 
suppose  you  have  Brisbane  with  you  by  this  time  with  several  new 
German  syllogisms.  If  the  truth  were  known,  that  fellow  went  to 
Berlin  to  refit  after  the  battering  his  metaphysics  had  received  at 
your  hands.  Hateful  word  that  same  metaphysics.  Let's  have 
reasoning  till  all's  blue,  but  let's  have  hold  of  something.  Let's 
have  Poetry,  too ;  for  she  raises  our  motives  instead  of  poisoning 
them ;  she  makes  another  world,  instead  of  topsy-turvying  this. 

"  There  hangs  before  me  a  print  of  the  Bunker-Hill  Monument. 
Pray,  be  judge  between  me  and  the  building  committee  of  that 
monument.    (See  illustration  on  page  214.) 

"  There  you  observe  that  my  model  was  founded  solidly,  and  on 
each  of  its  square  plinths  were  trophies,  or  groups,  or  cannon,  as 
might  be  thought  fit.  (No.  1.)  Well,  they  have  taken  away  the  foun- 
dation, made  the  shaft  start  sheer  from  the  dirt  like  a  spear  of  as- 
paragus, and,  instead  of  an  acute  angle,  by  which  I  hoped  to  show 
the  work  was  done,  and  lead  off  the  eye,  they  have  made  an  obtuse 
one,  producing  the  broken-chimney-like  effects,  which  your  eye  will 
not  fail  to  condemn  in  No.  2.  Then  they  have  inclosed  theirs  with 
a  light,  elegant  fence,  d  la  Parigina,  as  though  the  austere  forms 
of  Egypt  were  compatible  with  the  decorative  flummery  of  the 
Boulevards.     Let  'em  go  for  dunderheads,  as  they  are ! 

"  I'm  remodeling  Washington ;  the  old  model  was  made  too 
long  since  to  repeat  any  more.  Harry  is  painting,  and  is  quite  a 
favorite  with  his  master.  The  boy  grows  fast ;  I  have  great  hopes 
of  him.  Gore  is  painting  his  mud  portrait  very  well;  he  may  be 
found  at  any  time  of  the  day  with  one  of  the  mud-heavers  of  the 
Arno  for  a  model ;  a  red-headed,  long-bearded,  fiery-faced,  green- 


214 


LIFE  OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 


eyed  fellow,  that  has  killed  his  man  and  cuts  all  his  bread  with  a 
pointed  knife  two  inches  longer  than  the  law  directs.  Gore  has 
imagination;  he  feels  character.  I  have  the  promise  of  certain 
drawings  for  the  Academy ;  your  bust  and  Cole's  have  both  gone, 
directed  to  Mr.  Morton.  Cole  is  probably  in  Naples.  My  '  Lafay- 
ette '  is  boxed  without  a  stain.     I  congratulate  you  on  your  sound 


^ 


JjlHT  ^.:.i:,1,ilil|li!lliltl,n^= 


BUNKER-HILL    MONUMENT 


conscience  with  regard  to  the  affair  that  you  wot  of.  As  for  your 
remaining  free,  that's  all  very  well  to  think  during  the  interregnum  ; 
but  a  man  without  a  true  love  is  a  ship  without  ballast,  a  one-tined 
fork,  half  a  pair  of  scissors,  an  utter  flash  in  the  pan.  "Will  you  give 
my  love  to  the  Coopers,  and  say  to  Mr.  C.  that  I  have  received  his 
note,  and  am  awaiting  his  letter,  of  which  he  speaks ! 

"Horatio  Greenottgh." 

"Florence,  July  19,  1832. 
"  Yours  of  the  9th  reached  me  yesterday  and  stopped  my  grum- 
bling.    I  could  find  but  one  excuse  for  your  silence,  and  that  was 
too  painful  to  be  admitted,  even  as  a  conjecture,  viz.,  that  you  had 
been  drawn  by  the  crowd  into  some  tremendous  row,  and  made  a 


AMERICAN  ARTISTS  ABROAD.  215 

revolutionary  figure  at  the  expense  of  all  your  friends.  I  don't 
doubt  you  will  profit  by  your  exhibition,  and  I  have  every  hope  of 
your  receiving  some  handsome  commission.  I  have  written  to  the 
Government  my  terms ;  if  they  are  accepted  I  shall  have  a  proposi- 
tion to  make.  "We  will  have  a  knot  of  us  here,  which  shall  form  an 
epoch,  by  the  beard  of  Jupiter  Flaminius  !  I  see  by  the  papers  that 
some  fellow  has  attacked  me ;  says  I'm  an  educated  man,  allied  with 
literati,  and  possess  every  means  of  doing  myself  honor;  it's  a 
heavy  charge,  is  it  not  ?  I  suppose  he  hints  I  have  not  made  use 
of  these  advantages  ;  but  he's  too  quick,  let  him  wait  a  little.  All 
this  is  as  it  should  be ;  let  'em  spare  my  character,  and  they  may  call 
me  dunce  to  doomsday,  and  I'll  be  half  ready  to  say,  amen !  As  to 
going  home  in  October,  I'd  give  my  little  finger  to  do  so,  but  I  don't 
think  it  possible. 

"  If  I  can  muster  the  cash  I'll  come  to  say  good-by  to  ye  as  far 
as  Paris  ;  but  I'll  say  beforehand  that  I  shall  be  a  blockhead,  for  I 
know  I  shall  come  moping  back  with  a  face  as  long  as  an  ox-bow. 
So  Cooper  is  gone  to  take  another  pull  at  Johannisberg ;  much  good 
may  it  do  him ;  God  bless  him !  I  begin  to  doubt  if  ever  I  shall  leave 
Italy ;  they  write  me  that  artists  stand  as  ignorantly  with  the  pub- 
lic as  ever.  If  I  return  it  will  be  to  marry  and  become  citizen,  and 
I  won't  do  that  unless  I  can  stand  on  fair  ground.  I've  just  mod- 
eled a  statue  half  the  size  of  life.  Here  he  is :  '  The  Genius  of 
America '  holding  out  the  bud  of  promise  and  pointing  to  posterity. 
I  made  such  a  mess  with  the  head  in  small  that  I  have  done  it 
larger,  to  give  you  a  little  notion  of  the  expression.  I  must  close 
this.  Crank  is  in  Venice,  with  W.  and  Alexander ;  W.  is  not  a 
man  after  my  heart;  he  is  corrupt,  depend  on  it;  I  have  been 
obliged  to  haul  off,  for  he  assumed  intimacy  of  the  closest  kind. 
Cole  is  painting  away  up-stairs ;  Gore  is  recovered.  My  love  to 
Cooper,  and  my  respectful  salutation  to  the  lilies  of  his  household. 
Thine  till  the  Dr.  has  had  his  wicked  will  of  me. 

"Horatio  Greekough." 

"Florence,  August  20,  1832. 
"  My  eyes  have  been  opened  painfully,  within  a  year,  to  the 
perception  of  the  light  in  which  artists  are  held,  all  the  world  over. 
In  Italy  they  deserve  it.  You  can  speak  of  France  and  England 
better  than  myself;  but,  in  America,  they  do  not  deserve  it.  They 
are  quite  equal  in  knowledge,  and  light,  and  character,  to  the  mass 
of  the  most  refined  classes,  and  are  totally  above  the  rabble.     You 


THE  GENirS   OF    AMERICA. 


GREENOUGH'S   LETTER.  217 

have  had  a  proof,  in  your  own  experience,  how  completely  the  title 
of  artist  throws  into  the  shade  the  qualities  and  the  virtues  which 
ought  to  have  secured  your  pride  from  any  wound.  Your  experi- 
ence, then,  will  make  you  (as  you  are  a  man)  safe  in  future.  I 
know  Congress  too  well  to  think  much  better  of  the  prospects  of  art 
now  than  I  did  formerly.  'Tis  not  the  money  we  want,  'tis  the 
consideration  and  weight.  The  money  comes  then,  of  course,  as  it 
does  to  men  of  other  respectable  callings.  Now,  I  choose  to  reside 
in  old  Europe,  and  live  secluded,  and  try  to  respect  myself,  rather 
than  bejvaiting  at  the  doors  of  the  rich,  at  home,  for  the  vain,  or 
patronizing,  or  pitying  proofs  of  their  superabundance.  If  I  am 
disappointed  of  my  statue,  off  I  go  to  Germany.  If  I  do  not  get 
the  order,  good-by  to  the  drudgery  of  the  trade.  I  will  make  one 
statue,  and  go  about  my  business,  i.  e.,  provided  the  country  re- 
mains as  ignorant  on  this  point  as  now.  Let  me  beg  of  you  to 
hang  on  to  the  conception  of  the  departure  and  return  of  Columbus. 
You  are  perfectly  qualified  to  do  honor  to  the  country  in  such  works, 
and  should  never  give  up  the  plan.  Hang  on  like  Columbus  him- 
self. You  could  make  the  first  a  grand  picture  in  character  and 
effect  of  composition ;  you  would  embody  in  the  second  all  your 
scheme  of  color  and  chiaro-oscuro.  These  subjects  are  yours,  you 
are  theirs ;  have  faith,  and  fear  not.  Cole  is  driving  through,  to  get 
ready  to  go  home,  next  month,  via  Leghorn.  He  intended  to  have 
remained  here  another  year,  had  commissions  in  abundance,  and 
was  under  full  sail,  when  he  got  news  of  sad  domestic  affliction, 
sickness,  and  (you  know  the  other  word),  so,  like  the  glorious  fellow 
he  is,  he  sent  home  his  spare  cash,  and  is  getting  ready  to  follow  it, 
to  struggle  with  all  your  difficulties,  and  mine,  with  a  family  on  his 
shoulders.  He  has  painted  several  things  of  high  merit,  and  a 
'  Campagna  di  HomaJ  which  is  a  master-piece  in  the  middle  and 
back  grounds.  Cole  knows  as  well  the  value  and  power  of  art  as 
any  man,  and  only  wants  the  pou  sto  to  be  a  great  man  in  art. 
Will  he  ever  get  it  ?  I  hope  so ;  but,  if  he  does,  Fortune  will  give 
it  him,  without  raising  her  bandage  from  her  eyes. 

"  So  you  are  going  home,  my  dear  Morse,  and  God  knows  if 
ever  I  shall  see  you  again.  Pardon,  I  pray  you,  any  thing  of  levity 
which  you  may  have  been  offended  at  in  me.  Believe  me,  it  arose 
from  my  so  rarely  finding  one  to  whom  I  could  be  natural,  and  give 
loose,  without  fear  of  good  faith  or  good-nature  ever  failing. 
Wherever  I  am,  your  approbation  will  be  dearer  to  me  than  the 
hurrah  of  a  world. 


218 


LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.    B.   MORSE. 


"  I  shall  write  to  glorious  Fenimore  in  a  few  days.      My  love  to 
Allston  and  Dana.     God  bless  you  !  H.  Greenotjgh." 


GREENOITGH  8    WASHINGTON. 


"Florence,  November  18,  1832. 
.  ..."  I  have  finished  my  design  for  the  statue  in  clay,  half  size 
of  life,  and  the  drawing  will  in  a  few  days  be  ready  to  send  to 


JAMES  FENIMORE   COOPER.  219 

Washington.  I  have  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  finding  a  place  big 
enough  to  do  the  work  in.  At  one  time  I  feared  I  should  be  obliged 
to  go  to  Rome ;  however,  I  am  at  length  suited,  and  shall  have  my 
man-mountain  up  by  the  close  of  February,  if  not  sooner.  I  will 
give  you  a  scratch  to  convey  a  general  notion  of  the  composition.  I 
can't  say  I  have  fixed  any  thing,  still  it  will  require  strong  reasons 
to  change  the  general  action  it  has  seemed  to  me  characteristic  of 
the  man.  I  had  and  still  have  the  notion  of  making  him  hold  the 
sword,  as  (see  p.  218)  in  the  sketch  on  the  other  leaf,  but  I  fear  it 
will  not  be  so  distinct  as  I  made  it  in  the  first  sketch ;  the  arm 
would  almost  entirely  hide  it,  you  observe,  as  seen  in  front.  We 
shall  see  how  it  pleases  at  headquarters.  I  suppose  Mr.  Cooper  is 
with  you  before  this  :  God  bless  him  !  Pray,  ask  him  to  write 
me,  if  it  were  only  a  few  words ;  I  should  be  so  happy  to  see  his 
hand  once  more.  ...  H.  G." 

James  Fenimore  Cooper,  the  American  novelist,  was  at 
this  time  in  Europe,  with  his  family ;  and,  between  him  and  Mr. 
Morse  a  friendship  was  then  formed,  which  was  continued,  with- 
out interruption,  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Cooper.  We  find  a  large 
number  of  letters  from  the  novelist  to  Mr.  Morse,  rich  in  them- 
selves, and  the  more  interesting  and  entertaining,  as  they  develop 
peculiar  traits  of  character  in  Mr.  Cooper,  such  as  would  not  be 
inferred  from  his  published  works  alone.  Some  of  the  brief 
notes,  too  trivial  in  themselves  to  be  inserted,  have  a  humor 
peculiarly  beautiful  in  the  intercourse  of  the  men. 

James  Fenimore   Cooper  to  Mr.  Morse. 

"July  31,  1832. 
"  My  dear  Moese  :  Here  we  are  at  Spa — the  famous  hard- 
drinking,  dissipated,  gambling,  intriguing  Spa  —  where  so  much 
folly  has  been  committed,  so  many  fortunes  squandered,  and  so 
many  women  ruined  !  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  !  We  have  just 
returned  from  a  ramble  in  the  environs,  among  deserted  reception- 
houses,  and  along  silent  roads.  The  country  is  not  unlike  Ballston, 
though  less  wooded,  more  cultivated,  and  perhaps  a  little  more 
varied.  The  town  is  irregular,  small,  consisting  almost  entirely  of 
lodging-houses  (I  mean  for  single  families),  and  infinitely  clean.  The 
water  is  a  tonic,  and  the  air  (we  are  at  an  elevation  of  twelve  hun- 
dred feet)  so  light  and  bracing  that  I  have  determined  to  stay  a 
week,  on  account  of  my  wife — perhaps  a  fortnight.     I  have  got  a 


220  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

comfortable  house,  with  every  requisite,  consisting  of  nine  bed- 
rooms, four  parlors,  stable,  etc.,  for  fifteen  francs  a  day.  The  piano 
is  strumming  down-stairs,  and  I  am  writing  up,  just  as  if  we  were 
in  the  Rue  St. -Dominique,  and  we  only  arrived  last  night.  Our 
quarantine  will  be  up  to-night  at  twelve,  and  yet  we  are  in  no 
hurry  to  improve  it.  We  lost  three  days  at  Liege  (always  in  quar- 
antine) that  had  much  better  been  passed  here. 

"I  have  had  a  great  compliment  paid  me,  Master  Samuel,  and, 
as  it  is  nearly  the  only  compliment  I  have  received  in  traveling 
over  Europe,  I  am  the  more  proud  of  it.  Here  are  the  facts  :  You 
must  know  there  is  a  great  painter  in  Bruxelles  of  the  name  of  Ver- 
bceck-oven  (which,  translated  into  the  vernacular,  means  a  bull  and 
a  booh  baked  in  an  oven!),  who  is  another  Paul  Potter.  He  out- 
does all  other  men  in  drawing  cattle,  etc.,  with  a  suitable  landscape. 
In  his  way,  he  is  truly  admirable.  Well,  sir,  this  artist  did  me  the 
favor  to  call  at  Bruxelles  with  the  request  that  I  would  let  him 
sketch  my  face.  He  came  after  the  horses  were  ordered,  and,  know- 
ing the  difficulty  of  the  task,  I  thanked  him,  but  was  compelled  to 
refuse.  On  our  arrival  at  Liege,  we  were  told  that  a  messenger 
from  the  governor  had  been  to  inquire  for  us,  and  I  began  to 
bethink  me  of  my  sins.  There  was  no  great  cause  for  fear,  how- 
ever, for  it  proved  Mr.  Bull-and-book-baked  had  placed  himself  in 
the  diligence,  come  down  to  Liege  (sixty-three  miles),  and  got  the 
governor  to  give  him  notice,  by  means  of  my  passport,  when  we 
came.  Of  course  I  sat.  I  cannot  say  the  likeness  is  good,  for  it 
has  a  vastly  live-like  look,  and  is  like  all  the  other  pictures  you 
have  seen  of  my  chameleon  face.  Let  that  be  as  it  will,  the  com- 
pliment is  none  the  less,  and,  provided  the  artist  does  not  mean  to 
serve  me  up  as  a  specimen  of  American  wild  beasts,  I  shall  thank 
him  for  it.  To  be  followed  twelve  posts  by  a  first-rate  artist,  who 
is  in  favor  with  the  king,  is  so  unusual,  that  I  was  curious  to  know 
how  far  our  minds  were  in  unison,  and  so  I  probed  him  a  little.  I 
found  him  well  skilled  in  his  art,  of  course,  but  ignorant  on  most 
subjects.  As  respects  our  general  views  of  men  and  things,  there 
was  scarcely  a  point  in  common,  for  he  has  few  salient  qualities, 
though  he  is  liberal ;  but  his  gusto  for  natural  subjects  is  strong, 
and  his  favorite  among  all  my  books  is  '  The  Prairie,'  which  you 
know  is  filled  with  wild  beasts.  Here  the  secret  was  out.  That 
picture  of  animal  nature  had  so  caught  his  fancy,  that  he  followed 
me  sixty  miles  to  paint  a  sketch.  He  sent  me  a  beautiful  pencil- 
sketch  of  the  Belgian  hind,  as  a  memorial  of   our  achievement. 


MANNEKS   OF   THE   ENGLISH.  221 

which  I  hope  to  show  you  at  my  return.  Wappero  is  in  high  re- 
pute. Mr.  Verbceckhoven  spoke  of  him  as  one  would  speak  of  a 
master,  and  with  sincere  respect.     Others  did  the  same. 

"  King  Leopold  was  at  Liege  during  our  stay,  as  was  his  brother, 
the  reio-ning  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  with  his  two  sons.  It  is 
said  they  all  go  off  together  to  Campiegne  to  celebrate  the  ap- 
proaching marriage.  We  had  the  town  illuminated,  and  a  salute 
that  sounded  fearfully  like  minute-guns. 

"  August  1st. — We  have  just  made  the  tour  of  the  springs,  for 
there  are  four  of  them,  in  a  circuit  of  about  five  miles,  each  having, 
it  is  said,  a  different  property,  and  all  tasting  as  much  alike  as  if  it 
had  been  drawn  from  the  two  ends  of  the  same  barrel.  Well,  faith 
is  a  comfortable  ingredient  in  a  traveler's  mind.  For  my  part,  I 
believe  all  I  hear,  which  is  much  the  least  troublesome  mood.  As 
for  the  contradictions,  I  endeavor  to  forget  them. 

"  We  have  a  delicious  air,  and  rather  pretty  environs,  but  the 
place  is  dull  as  a  desert.  There  are  a  few  English,  who  pass  you 
as  if  they  were  afraid  some  tailor  had  broke  loose,  and  always  look 
the  other  way  until  you  are  past,  and  then  they  are  always  staring 
after  you  to  see  if  you  are  somebody.  Our  indifferent  manner  never 
fails  to  deceive  them,  for  their  quality  always  give  a  certain  amount 
of  trust  and  assume  a  certain  genteel  hauteur/  none  escape  these 
two  rocks  in  good-breeding  but  those  who  are  at  the  top  of  the 
ladder,  and  these  are  commonly  known  by  means  of  fame,  which 
never  fails  to  blow  a  trumpet  beforehand.  'Tis  a  thousand  pities 
that  people  who  have  so  many  really  good  points,  and  so  much  good 
sense  in  general,  should  be  such  fools,  in  these  points,  as  to  make 
themselves  uncomfortable,  and  everybody  else  who  will  submit  to 
their  dictation. 

"  NONNENWERTH,  AlCffUSt  15,  1832. 

"  Mv  dear  Morse  :  Here  we  are,  on  an  island  of  the  Rhine, 
about  half-way  between  Cologne  and  Coblentz,  and  in  a  deserted 
convent  of  Benedictine  nuns.  I  am  writing  to  you,  you  rogue,  in 
the  ancient  refectory,  which  is  now  the  salle  d  manger  of  half  a 
dozen  Fenimore  Coopers,  with  the  Rhine  rippling  beneath  my  win- 
dows, the  Drachenfels  in  full  view,  by  pale  moonlight,  a  dozen 
feet  sounding  distant  and  hollow  in  the  cloisters,  and  with  a  bottle 
of  Liebfrauenmilch  at  my  elbow.  The  old  convent  is  degraded  to 
the  occupation  of  a  tavern.  Our  island,  if  not  as  important  and  well 
defended  as  that  of  Barataria,  has  some  hundred  acres,  and  is  al- 
together a  willowish,  serpentine,  wildish  place.     Our  candles  are 


222  L^E   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

farthing  rush-lights,  and  these,  in  rooms  that  need  fifty  bougies, 
leave  a  sombre  and  appropriate  gloom,  so  that,  with  one  exception, 
I  do  not  remember  a  more  romantic  nightfall  in  all  our  pilgrimage, 
than  this.  Your  friends  the  Hawkers  told  us  of  the  place,  though 
I  believe  they  had  never  visited  it,  and  we  left  the  carriage  on  the 
main,  this  afternoon,  to  come  over  here  for  the  night.  We  are  quite 
alone,  which  adds  to  the  pleasure,  unless  we  could  choose  our  com- 
panions. Mrs.  C,  the  girls,  Master  Paul,  and  myself,  each  equipped 
with  a  candle,  have  just  returned  from  a  pilgrimage  to  the  chapel, 
where  we  find  most  of  the  necessary  ingredients  for  a  funeral  or  a 
marriage,  even  at  this  hour ;  indeed,  it  is  only  ten  years  since  the 
last  nuns  (eight  in  number)  dispersed,  so  that  every  thing  is  quite 
fresh  and  ecclesiastical.  To  add  to  the  satisfaction,  the  Benedic- 
tines were  not  a  rigid  order,  and  all  is  genteel  and  nice,  as  they  say 
in  London.  I  have  this  moment  quitted  the  window,  and  there 
was  a  footstep  beneath  it.  My  sight  was  a  little  dimmed  by  rush- 
lights, and  fancy  was  left  to  supply  the  functions  of  observation. 
This  might  be  the  soul  of  the  last  lady  abbess,  who  no  doubt  was 
fat,  and  had  a  solid  step,  or  it  might  have  been  some  truant  nun 
scratching  at  the  convent-walls,  in  a  sort  of  habitual  kicking  against 
the  pricks.  Alas  !  it  was  only  an  old  horse  that  appeared  to  range 
at  free  commons  over  the  isle.  Well  for  the  horse,  he  is  not  more 
than  half  flesh  at  the  best. 

"  I  am  summoned  to  my  cell.  Mrs.  Cooper  has  sent  her  maid  to 
say  I  must  quit  the  refectory,  where  I  have  tarried  an  indecent 
period  already,  and  I  obey.  The  cloister  looks  gloomy.  A  distant 
door  opens,  and  a  man  issues  into  their  vaults.  It  is  my  Swiss,  who 
looks  twice,  and  takes  off  his  traveling  cap  with  academic  air,  and 
the  maid  skims  along  with  the  light.  I  follow.  A  door,  half  open, 
gives  me  a  glimpse  of  four  men.  They  may  be  banditti,  though 
they  are  in  the  Prussian  uniform.  A  grinning  crone  meets  us  on 
the  flight  of  heavy  steps.  And  here  I  am  in  a  cell  converted  into 
a  parlor,  with  a  round  table  under  my  elbows,  and  a  sofa  under  my 
seat.  The  adjoining  room  was  formerly  the  parlor  of  the  lady 
abbess,  and  indeed  there  is  a  suite  of  very  respectable  apartments, 
that  show  the  good  woman  was  well  lodged.  The  voice  of  Master 
Paul  is  sounding  through  them  irreverent  and  gay.  The  wind  begins 
to  murmur,  casements  to  close,  and  we  may  have  thunder  next. 
This  opinion  has  proved  prophetic,  there  has  arisen  a  sudden  gust, 
with  lightning.  I  take  a*  candle  and  go  through  the  corridors  in 
quest  of  a  sensation.     A  door  communicating  with  the  gallery  of 


MR.   COOPER'S  LETTERS.  223 

the  chapel  is  open  and  I  enter,  shutting  myself  in.  Here  was 
what  I  wanted — images  of  saints,  crucifixes,  a  dim  light,  rattling 
windows,  and  solitude.  Every  thing  was  so  fresh  that  the  stuffed 
velvet  chair  of  the  lady  abbess  was  near  the  railing  and  a  prie-dieu 
at  its  side.  I  took  a  seat.  In  few  moments  the  door  slowly  opened, 
and  a  hag  thrust  her  wrinkled  face  into  the  gallery.  I  groaned, 
whether  it  was  with  fear  or  fun  I  leave  you  to  guess,  and  away  the 

old  woman  went  as  if  the was  after  her.     I  withdrew  like  a 

well-bred  ghost  that  has  delivered  his  message.  '  But  how  came 
you  in  the  convent  ? '  you  may  be  disposed  to  inquire. 

"  We  found  that  the  water  of  Spa  did  so  much  good  to  Mrs. 
Cooper,  that  we  remained  until  last  Monday;  we  then  came  to  Aix 
— next  day  to  Cologne,  and  to-day  here.  We  are  on  our  way  to 
Switzerland.  If  you  want  change  of  air,  jump  into  the  diligence, 
and  come  to  Berne,  where  we  will  give  )rou  rooms  for  the  last  of 
the  month.     I  do  not  expect  to  see  Paris  before  this  day  month. 

"  'Tis  near  midnight,  Mr.  Morse,  all  but  Nature  is  asleep,  and  I 
have  been  walking  in  the  long  and  empty  corridors.  Strange 
thoughts  come  uppermost  in  such  a  place,  and  at  such  a  time, 
Master  Samuel ;  the  rustling  of  the  wind  seems  as  the  murmuring 
of  uneasy  sisters,  the  pattering  of  the  rain  like  floods  of  tears, 
and  the  thunder  sounds  as  so  many  gemissements  at  the  sins  of  man. 
I  seek  my  pillow. 

"  Thursday  Morning. — Laus  Deo!  a  peaceable  night,  and  a 
refreshing  morn,  birds  singing  beneath  my  window,  the  Rhine 
glittering  between  islands,  the  arch  of  Rolandseok  tottering  on  a 
mountain  near,  and  the  tower  of  the  Drachenfels  on  another.  We 
dress  and  perambulate.  I  have  been  pacing  the  dimensions  of  our 
abode.  The  abbey  pile  extends  six  hundred  feet  in  one  direction, 
and  about  three  hundred  in  another.  The  cloisters  are  about  six 
hundred  feet  round.  There  are  offices  to  a  goodly  extent,  and  cow- 
yard  and  granaries ;  on  the  whole  it  is  a  capital  thing,  for  one  night, 
taking  Drachenfels  and  Rhine  into  the  count.  The  Liebfrauen- 
milch  is  but  questionable,  though  the  fruits  are  excellent  for  the 
latitude. 

"Rudesheim,  in  the  Duchy  or  Nassau,  Friday,  Yith. — 
Here  I  am  finishing  this  letter  in  a  tower,  actually  built  by  the 
Goths,  at  least  so  says  tradition.  It  is  an  appendage  of  the  inn, 
and  forms  part  of  our  apartment,  giving  two  or  three  stories  of 
very  romantic-looking  little  round  rooms.  We  left  the  convent  on 
Thursday  and  went  to  Coblentz,  and  to-day  we  came  to  Bingen,  and 


224  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

crossed  the  Rhine  in  boats  to  this  tower.  We  are  in  the  midst  of 
good  wine.  Johannisberg  is  in  plain  view  from  my  window,  Stein- 
berg a  league  or  two  off,  Geisenheim  and  other  notabilities,  all  within 
call.  My  landlord  has  given  me  a  bottle  of  cordial  that  he  tells  me 
he  has  from  his  own  vines.  In  short,  this  is  the  country  for  your 
lover  of  the  true  Rhenish,  which  you  know  means  me. 

"  There  is  mention  made,  in  the  introduction  of  '  Heidenmauer,' 
of  a  castle  belonging  to  a  Prince  of .  Well,  we  passed  it  to- 
day, and  ascended  the  mountain.  The  prince  had  just  gone  to  Co- 
logne, and  we  had  a  clear  field.  Really  the  spot  is  bewitching ;  he 
has  repaired  an  old  baronial  castle,  and  equipped  it  completely  in 
baronial  style.  The  buildings  are  several  hundred  feet  above  the 
river,  and  as  irregular  as  heart  could  wish.  One  high  tower  has 
the  beacon-light  swung  off,  as  in  the  middle  ages,  and  there  are 
balconies  and  outside  staircases  in  them  to  turn  the  head  of  even 
a  sailor.  The  furniture  is  either  many  hundred  years  old,  or  made 
to  imitate  articles  of  that  age — chiefly  the  former ;  plenty  of  old 
armor,  and  the  knights'  hall  is  really  a  curiosity.  The  fireplace  is 
as  big  as  a  Paris  bedroom,  and  in  one  corner  is  a  very  ancient 
vessel  to  hold  water,  with  a  trough  of  stone  to  catch  the  drippings ; 
most  of  the  wood  is  oak.  In  short,  the  whole  thing  is  in  keep- 
ing— stained  glass,  casements,  and  other  niceties — I  wish  you  had 
been  with  us.  I  have  never  seen  any  thing  in  its  way  to  equal  it. 
The  prince  had  been  passing  several  weeks  in  this  aerie.  You  can 
look  down  perpendicularly,  from  various  terraces,  balconies,  and 
towers,  three  or  four  hundred  feet. 

"  Yours  truly,      * 

"J.  Fenimore  Coopee. 

"  Master  Morse." 

On  the  18th  of  September,  1831,  Mr.  Morse  wrote  to  his 
brothers  from  Paris : 

"I  arrived  safely  in  this  city  on  Monday  noon  in  excellent 
health  and  spirits ;  my  last  letter  to  you  was  from  Venice,  just  as  I 
was  about  to  leave  it,  quite  debilitated  and  unwell  from  application 
to  my  painting,  but  more,  I  believe,  from  the  climate,  from  the  per- 
jDetual  sirocco  which  reigned  uninterrupted  for  weeks.  I  have  not 
time  now  to  give  you  an  account  of  my  most  interesting  journey 
through  Lombardy,  Switzerland,  part  of  Germany,  and  through  the 
eastern  part  of  France.  I  found,  on  my  arrival  here,  my  friend  Mr. 
Greenough,  the  sculptor,  who  had  come  from  Florence  to  model  the 


FALL   OF   WARSAW.  225 

bust  of  General  Lafayette,  and  we  are  in  excellent,  convenient  rooms 
together,  witliin  a  few  doors  of  the  good  general. 

"  I  called  yesterday  on  General  Lafayette  early  in  the  morning. 
The  servant  told  me  that  he  was  obliged  to  meet  the  Polish  com- 
mittee at  an  early  hour,  and  feared  he  could  not  see  me.  I  sent  in 
my  card,  however,  and  the  servant  returned  immediately,  saying 
that  the  General  wished  to  see  me  in  his  chamber.  I  followed  him 
through  several  rooms  and  entered  the  chamber.  The  General  was 
in  dishabille,  but,  with  his  characteristic  kindness,  he  ran  forward, 
and,  seizing  both  my  hands,  expressed  with  great  warmth  how  glad 
he  was  to  see  me  safely  returned  from  Italy,  and  appearing  in  such 
good  health.  He  then  told  me  to  be  seated,  and  without  any  cere- 
mony began  familiarly  to  question  me  about  my  travels,  etc.  The 
conversation,  however,  soon  turned  upon  the  absorbing  topic  of  the 
day,  the  fate  of  Poland,  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Warsaw  having  just 
been  received  by  telegraphic  dispatch.  I  asked  him  if  there  was 
now  any  hope  for  Poland.  He  replied,  '  Oh,  yes  !  their  cause  is  not 
yet  desperate ;  their  army  is  safe ;  but  the  conduct  of  France,  and 
more  especially  of  England,  has  been  most  pusillanimous  and  culpa- 
ble. Had  the  English  Government  shown  the  least  disposition  to 
coalesce  in  vigorous  measures  with  France  for  the  assistance  of  the 
Poles,  they  would  have  achieved  their  independence.'  The  General 
looks  better  and  younger  than  ever.  There  is  a  healthy  freshness 
of  complexion,  like  that  of  a  young  man  in  full  vigor,  and  his  frame 
and  step  (allowing  for  his  lameness)  are  as  firm  and  strong  as  when 
he  was  our  nation's  guest.  I  sat  with  him  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
and  then  took  my  leave,  for  I  felt  it  a  sin  to  consume  any  more  of 
the  time  of  a  man  engaged  as  he  is  in  great  plans  of  benevolence, 
and  whose  every  moment  is  therefore  invaluable. 

"  The  news  of  the  fall  of  Warsaw  is  now  agitating  Paris  to  a  de- 
gree not  known  since  the  trial  of  the  ex-ministers.  About  three 
o'clock  our  servant  told  us  that  there  was  fighting  at  the  Palais 
Royal,  and  we  determined  to  go  as  far  as  we  prudently  could,  to 
see  the  tumult ,  we  proceeded  down  the  Rue  St.-Honore.  There 
was  evident  agitation  in  the  multitudes  that  filled  the  sidewalks — an 
apprehension  of  something  to  be  dreaded.  There  were  groups  at 
the  corners ;  the  windows  were  filled,  persons  looking  out  as  if  in 
expectation  of  a  procession  or  of  some  fete.  The  shops  began  to  be* 
shut,  and  every  now  and  then  the  drum  was  heard  beating  to  arms. 
The  troops  were  assembling,  and  bodies  of  infantry  and  cavalry 
were  moving  through  the  various  streets.  During  this  time  no 
15 


225  LIFE   Or   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

noise  was  heard  from  the  people — a  mysterious  silence  was  ob- 
served, but  they  were  moved  by  the  slightest  breath.  If  one  walked 
quicker  than  the  rest,  or  suddenly  stopped,  thither  the  inquiring 
look  and  step  were  directed,  and  a  group  instantly  assembled.  At 
the  Palais  Royal  a  larger  crowd  had  collected,  and  a  greater  body 
of  troops  were  marching  and  countermarching  in  the  Place  du  Palais 
Royal.  The  Palais  Royal  itself  had  the  interior  cleared  and  all 
the  courts.  Every  thing  in  this  place  of  perpetual  gayety  was  now 
desolate ;  even  the  fountains  had  ceased  to  play,  and  the  seared  au- 
tumnal leaves  of  the  trees,  some  already  fallen,  seemed  congruous 
with  the  sentiment  of  the  hour.  Most  of  the  shops  were  also  shut 
and  the  stalls  deserted.  Still  there  was  no  outcry,  and  no  disturb- 
ance. Passing  through  the  Rue  Vivienne,  the  same  collections  of 
crowds  and  of  troops  were  seen ;  some  were  reading  a  police  notice 
just  posted  on  the  walls,  designed  to  prevent  the  riotous  assembling 
of  the  people,  and  advising  them  to  retire  when  the  riot  act  should 
be  read.  The  notice  was  read  with  murmurs  and  groans,  and  I  had 
scarcely  ascertained  its  contents  before  it  was  torn  from  the  walls 
with  acclamations. 

"  As  night  approached  we  struck  into  the  Boulevard  de  la  Made- 
leine. At  the  corner  of  this  Boulevard  and  the  Rue  des  Capucines 
is  the  hotel  of  General  Sebastiani.  "We  found  before  the  gates  a 
great  and  increasing  crowd.  We  took  a  position  on  the  opposite 
corner,  in  such  a  place  as  secured  a  safe  retreat  in  case  of  need,  but 
allowed  us  to  observe  all  that  passed.  Here  there  was  an  evident 
intention  in  the  crowd  of  doing  some  violence;  nor  was  it  at  all 
doubtful  what  would  be  the  object  of  their  attack.  They  seemed  to 
wait  only  for  the  darkness  and  for  a  leader.  The  sight  of  such  a 
crowd  is  fearful,  and  its  movements,  as  it  was  swayed  by'  the  inci- 
dents of  the  moment,  were  in  the  highest  decree  exciting.  A  body 
of  troops  of  the  line  would  pass :  the  crowd  would  silently  open  for 
their  passage,  and  close  immediately  behind  them.  A  body  of  the 
National  Guard  would  succeed,  and  these  would  be  received  with  loud 
cheers  and  gratulations.  A  soldier  on  guard  would  exercise  a  little 
more  severity  than  was  perhaps  necessary  for  the  occasion ;  yells 
and  execrations  and  hisses  would  be  his  reward.  Night  had  now 
set  in.  Heavy  dark  clouds,  with  a  misty  rain,  had  made  the  heavens 
above  more  dark  and  gloomy.  A  man  rushed  forward  toward  the 
gate,  hurling  his  hat  in  the  air  and  followed  by  the  crowd,  which 
suddenly  formed  into  long  lines  behind  him.  I  now  looked  for  some- 
thing serious.     A  body  of  troops  were  in  line  before  the  gate.     At 


PICTURE   OF   THE   LOUVRE.  227 

t 

this  moment  two  police-officers,  on  horseback,  in  citizen's  dress,  but 
with  a  tricolored  belt  around  their  bodies,  rode  through  the  crowd 
and  up  to  the  gate,  and  in  a  moment  after  I  perceived  the  multitude 
from  one  of  the  streets  rushing  in  wild  confusion  into  the  boulevard, 
and  the  current  of  the  people  setting  bach  in  all  directions.  While 
wondering  at  the  cause  of  this  sudden  movement  I  heard  the  tramp- 
ling of  horses ;  and  a  large  body  of  carabiniers,  with  their  bright 
helmets  glittering  in  the  light  of  the  lamps,  dashed  down  the  street 
and  drew  up  before  the  gate.  The  police-officers  put  themselves 
at  their  head,  and  harangued  the  people.  The  address  was  received 
with  groans.  The  carabiniers  drew  their  swords,  orders  were  given 
for  the  charge,  and  in  an  instant  they  dashed  down  the  street,  the 
people  dispersing  like  the  mist  before  the  wind.  The  charge  was 
made  down  the  opposite  sidewalk  from  that  where  we  had  placed 
ourselves,  so  I  kept  my  station,  and,  when  they  returned  up  the  mid- 
dle of  the  street  to  charge  on  the  other  side,  I  crossed  over  behind 
them  and  avoided  them." 

Mr.  Morse  soon  began  a  great  work  which,  after  consultation 
with.  Mr.  Cooper  and  other  friends,  he  had  determined  to  under- 
take. This  was  no  less  than  painting  the  interior  of  the  Louvre, 
including  copies  of  the  most  celebrated  pictures  in  the  gallery. 
To  this  work  he  devoted  himself  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  nature, 
expending  upon  it  months  of  labor.  "Writing  to  his  brother, 
May  6,  1832,  he  says : 

"  My  anxiety  to  finish  my  picture  and  to  return  drives  me,  I  fear, 
to  too  great  application  and  too  little  exercise ;  and  my  health  has, 
in  consequence,  been  so  deranged  that  I  have  been  prevented  from 
the  speedy  completion  of  my  picture.  From  nine  o'clock  until  four 
daily  I  paint  uninterruptedly  at  the  Louvre ;  and,  with  the  closest 
application,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  finish  it  before  the  close  of  the 
gallery,  on  the  10th  of  August,  and  the  time  each  morning  before 
going  to  the  gallery  is  wholly  employed  in  preparation  for  the  day ; 
and,  after  the  gallery  closes  at  four,  dinner  and  exercise  are  neces- 
sary ;  so  that  I  have  no  time  for  any  thing  else.  The  cholera  is 
raging  here,  and  T  can  compare  the  state  of  mind  in  each  man  of  us 
only  to  that  of  soldiers  in  the  heat  of  battle :  all  the  usual  securities 
of  life  seem  to  be  gone.  Apprehension  and  anxiety  make  the 
stoutest  hearts  quail.  Any  one  feels,  when  he  lays  himself  down 
at  night,  that  he  will,  in  all  probability,  be  attacked  before  daybreak, 


228  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

for  the  disease  is  a  pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness,  and  seizes 
the  greatest  number  of  its  victims  at  the  most  helpless  hour  of  the 
night.  Fifteen  hundred  were  seized  in  a  day,  and  fifteen  thousand 
at  least  have  already  perished,  although  the  official  accounts  will 
not  give  so  great  a  number. 

"  May  14£A. — My  picture  makes  progress,  and  I  am  sanguine  of 
success  if  nothing  interferes  to  prevent  its  completion  I  shall  take 
no  more  commissions  here,  and  shall  only  complete  my  large  picture 
and  a  few  unfinished  works. 

"  General  Lafayette  told  me  a  few  weeks  ago,  when  I  was  re- 
turning with  him  in  his  carriage,  that  the  financial  condition  of  the 
United  States  was  a  subject  of  great  importance,  and  he  wished  that 
I  would  write  you  and  others,  who  were  known  as  statistical  men, 
and  get  your  views  on  the  subject.  There  never  was  a  better  time 
for  demonstrating  the  principles  of  our  free  institutions  by  showing 
a  result  favorable  to  our  country." 

The  most  of  Mr.  Morse's  evenings  were  occupied  with  labor 
in  behalf  of  the  Poles,  whose  sufferings  at  that  time  excited  the 
sympathy  of  the  friends  of  liberty  throughout  the  world.  A 
committee  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  devising  ways  and 
means  to  alleviate  their  condition ;  General  Lafayette  was  one 
of  the  members  of  this  committee,  and  consequently  Mr.  Morse, 
who  was  also  a  member,  was  brought  frequently  into  his  society. 
In  the  month  of  March  Mr.  Morse  writes  to  his  brother : 

"  Information  has  been  received  by  Mr.  Rives,  our  minister  from 
Berlin,  that  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe  was  seized  and  thrown  into  prison  in 
that  city  by  the  Prussian  Government,  charged  with  a  charitable 
mission  from  our  committee.  Dr.  Howe  had  been  intrusted  with 
twenty  thousand  francs  for  the  relief  of  the  distressed  Poles ;  and 
his  intentions  and  motives  were  in  no  degree  political,  but  in  fur- 
therance of  the  benevolent  designs  of  the  contributors  in  the  United 
States.  A  letter  from  Berlin,  written  by  A.  Brisbane,  Esq.,  and 
which  Mr.  Rives  has  just  read  to  me,  says  that  Dr.  Howe  is  in  close 
confinement,. and  no  one  is  permitted  to  have  communication  with 
him.  Mr.  Brisbane  waited  on  the  Minister  of  Justice,  and  found  him 
uncompromising,  and  manifesting  great  irritation  on  the  subject. 
Mr.  Cooper  and  myself  have  just  been  to  Mr.  Rives,  who  has 
promptly  put  measures  in  train  for  causing  Dr.  Howe  to  be  set  at 
liberty.     We  have  put  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Rives  a  record  of  our 


DR.   HOWE'S   LIBERATION.  229 

proceedings  in  committee  to  lay  before  Baron  Werther,  the  Prus- 
sian minister  here;  embracing  a  copy  of  Dr.  Howe's  commission,  in 
order  to  show  him  that  the  doctor's  mission  was  not  political,  and 
we  are  in  hopes  that  such  representations  will  be  forwarded  to  Ber- 
lin without  delay  as  will  cause  him  to  be  at  once  released." 

"  March  17th. — Last  night  we  held  a  special  meeting  of  our 
committee  to  consider  what  could  be  done  to  release  Dr.  Howe. 
The  Prussian  authorities  here,  I  am  happy  to  say,  have  behaved 
courteously  and  acted  promptly.  A  courier  has  been  dispatched  to 
Berlin,  and  from  the  representations  of  the  mission  here  we  hope  for 
a  speedy  and  happy  termination  and  explanation  of  the  affair." 

"April  6*h. — Dr.  Howe,  we  learn,  is  liberated  at  Berlin,  but  is 
to  be  escorted  by  the  police  to  the  frontier  of  France.  The  proceed- 
ings against  him  have  been  outrageous,  and  that  Government  would 
not  have  dared  to  treat  a  citizen  of  any  other  country  in  so  cavalier 
a  manner." 

SUGGESTIONS    OF   A   TELEGRAPH. 

Among  the  artist  friends  of  Mr.  Morse  in  Paris,  at  this  time, 
was  R.  W.  Habersham,  of  Augusta,  Georgia,  whose  state- 
ments in  relation  to  Mr.  Morse's  first  suggestion  of  a  Telegraph 
are  confirmed  by  the  recollections  of  Mr.  Cooper.  Mr.  Morse, 
however,  was  never  able  to  call  to  mind  the  conversations  which 
are  so  minutely  related  in  the  following  statement  by  Mr. 
Habersham  : 

"  In  the  year  1831  I  went  to  Paris,  to  study  art  in  the  atelier 
of  Baron  Gros.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  I  became  acquainted 
with  the  moralist  Jouffroy,  who  was  already  famous  as  a  thinker,  but 
who  seemed  to  feel  a  want  that  all  his  brilliant  speculations  could 
not  supply,  and  to  be  in  pursuit  of  something  which  constantly 
eluded  him.  Soon  after,  I  met  Professor  Morse,  who  was  copying 
in  the  Louvre  Rembrandt's  famous  picture  of  '  Tobit  and  the  Angel,' 
and  soon  formed  so  satisfactory  an  opinion  of  him  that,  in  the 
spring  of  1832.  when  the  cholera  broke  out  in  Paris,  and  I  found 
that  he  had  resolved  to  remain,  I  determined  to  remain  also.  I 
lived  near  the  Odeon,  he  near  the  Madeleine,  No.  29  Rue  de  Surenne ; 
so,  not  liking  the  thought  of  his  being  alone,  with  strangers,  unfa- 
miliar with  the  language,  and  liable  to  be  stricken  down  in  a  mo- 
ment, with  no  friend  near,  I  proposed  to  find  lodgings  nearer  him. 
Fortunately,  he  lived  in  a  private  house,  in  which  two  rooms  could 


230  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

be  hired.  I  took  them,  and,  perceiving  that  his  were  low  and  con- 
fined, while  mine  were  large  and  airy,  I  offered  to  give  him  my  bed- 
room, and  convert  my  parlor  into  a  dormitory  for  myself,  taking  one 
of  his  as  a  sitting-room.  He  kindly  acceded  to  this,  and  we  soon 
found  it  convenient  to  have  one  room  in  common,  and  to  take  our 
meals  together.  It  was  then  that  I  gradually  brought  before  him 
the  questions  discussed  with  Jouffroy,  without  giving  his  name  or 
authority,  and  in  conversations  carried  on  often  through  the  open 
door  of  our  sleeping-apartments,  after  we  had  retired,  got  an  in- 
sight into  the  vast  superiority  of  the  Christian's  faith,  even  as  a 
working-power,  over  the  philosophy  of  such  men  as  Cousin  and 
Jouffroy. 

"In  1832,  the  longest  railroad  in  the  world  was  between 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  Augusta,  Georgia,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  miles ;  the  next,  between  Liverpool  and  Manchester, 
thirty  miles ;  the  third,  from  the  Quincy  granite-quarries  to  Boston, 
ten  miles ;  and  the  mails  were  carried  by  coach,  overland,  in  pref- 
erence to  the  sailing-vessels,  which  were  then  solely  used  for  marine 
navigation.  In  consequence  of  this,  letters  reached  me  from  Savan- 
nah a  month  later  than  those  of  the  same  date  from  New  York. 
Art  students  twenty  years  of  age  are  not  apt  to  be  models  of  pa- 
tience, and  ray  forte  did  not  lie  in  quiet  submission  to  the  irreme- 
diable ;  whence  from  me  much  discontent,  made  audible,  and  con- 
siderable imprecation  on  Uncle  Sam's  mails,  smothered  from  respect 
to  my  mentor.  But,  on  one  occasion,  the  attempt  at  smothering 
failed,  and  I  consigned  the  whole  post-office  department  to  a  place 
so  warm  that  the  letters  would  have  been,  in  those  days  of  sealing- 
wax  and  wafers,  soon  beyond  assorting.  This  led  to  a  conversation 
which  showed  that  Morse's  mind  was  already  in  the  matter,  and 
explained  certain  visits,  at  which  I  had  not  been  'invited  to  assist.' 
It  came  out  that  he  was  inquiring  into  the  French  Semaphore  Tel- 
egraph system,  with  a  view  to  its  introduction  into  America,  although 
I  believe  he  dismissed  it,  as  being  too  slow  for  us,  and  inapplicable  to 
our  wants,  in  spite  of  our  very  clear  atmosphere.  It  was  then  that 
he  used  this  expression :  '  The  French  system  would  do  better  in 
our  clear  atmosphere  than  here;  but  it  is  too  slow;  lightning  will 
scarcely  be  too  fast.''  There  was,  on  one  occasion,  another  reference 
made  to  the  conveyance  Of  sound  under  water,  and  to  the  length  of 
time  taken  to  communicate  the  letting  in  of  the  water  into  the  Erie 
Canal,  by  cannon  shots,  to  New  York,  and  other  means,  during  which 
the  suggestion  of  using  keys  and  wires,  like  the  piano,  was  rejected 


MR.    COOPER'S  TESTIMONY  231 

as  requiring  too  many  wires,  if  other  things  were  available.  I  recol- 
lect, also,  that  in  our  frequent  visits  to  Mr.  J.  Fenimore  Cooper's,  in 
the  Rue  St.-Dominique,  these  subjects,  so  interesting  to  Americans, 
were  often  introduced,  and  that  Morse  seemed  to  harp  on  them,  con- 
stantly referring  to  Franklin  and  Lord  Bacon.  Now  I,  while  recog- 
nizing the  intellectual  grandeur  of  both  these  men,  had  contracted 
a  small  opinion  of  their  moral  strength ;  but  Morse  would  uphold 
and  excuse,  or  rather  deny,  the  faults  attributed;  Lord  Bacon, 
especially,  he  held  to  have  sacrificed  himself  to  serve  the  queen  in 
her  aberrations ;  while  of  Franklin,  the  '  great  American '  recog- 
nized by  the  French,  he  was  particularly  proud." 

Mr.  Cooper,  in  his  novel  entitled  "  The  Sea  Lions,"  on  page 
140,  says: 

"  We  pretend  to  no  knowledge  on  the  subject  of  the  dates  of 
discoveries  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  well  do  we  remember  the 
earnestness,  and  single-minded  devotion  to  a  laudable  purpose, 
with  which  our  worthy  friend  first  communicated  to  us  his  ideas  on 
the  subject  of  using  the  electric  spark  by  way  of  a  telegraph.  It 
was  in  Paris,  and  during  the  winter  of  1831-'32,  and  the  succeed- 
ing spring,  a  time  when  we  were  daily  together,  and  we  have  a 
satisfaction  in  recording  this  date,  that  others  may  prove  better 
claims  if  they  can." 

Mr.  Morse's  own  recollection  of  the  time  of  the  first  concep- 
tion of  the  Telegraph  dates  only  from  October,  1832,  on  board 
the  ship  Sully,  and  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cooper  he  suggested  that 
he  must  be  mistaken.  In  reply,  however,  under  date  of  "  May 
18,  1849,  Hall,  Cooperstown,"  Mr.  Cooper  said : 

"For  the  time,  I  still  stick  to  Paris,  so  does  my  wife,  so  does 
my  eldest  daughter:  you  did  no  more  than  to  throw  out  the 
general  idea,  but  I  feel  quite  confident  this  occurred  in  Paris.  I 
confess  I  thought  the  notion  evidently  chimerical,  and  as  such  spoke 
of  it  in  my  family.  I  always  set  you  down  as  a  sober-minded,  com- 
mon-sense sort  of  a  fellow,  and  thought  it  a  high  flight  for  a  painter 
to  make,  to  go  off  on  the  wings  of  the  lightning.  We  may  be  mis- 
taken, but  you  will  remember  that  the  priority  of  the  invention 
was  a  question  early  started,  and  my  impressions  were  the  same, 
much  nearer  to  the  time  than  it  is  to-day." 

These  conversations,  so  accurately  attested  by  independent 


232  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

witnesses,  are  of  value,  inasmuch  as  they  show  the  familiarity' 
of  Mr.  Morse  with  the  powers  of  electricity,  and  the  tendency 
of  his  mind  toward  original  investigation  and  invention.  To 
him  these  thoughts  were  so  familiar  that  he  soon  forgot  he  had 
ever  expressed  them  before  others.  That  he  did,  we  have  the 
best  reasons  for  believing. 

While  at  work  upon  his  picture  in  the  Louvre  the  great 
naturalist,  already  known  throughout  the  civilized  world,  Baron 
Humboldt,  became  interested  in  Mr.  Morse.  They  had  met  at 
the  house  of  Baron  Gerard,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  drawing 
around  him  the  artists  and  men  of  science,  and  whose  salon 
was  a  favored  resort  of  genius  and  taste.  Humboldt  conceived 
a  great  fondness  for  Morse,  and,  often  coming  to  him  in  the 
gallery,  would  take  him  away  from  his  immediate  work,  to  stroll 
among  the  works  of  art,  and  converse  upon  topics  congenial  to 
their  inquiring  minds.  This  acquaintance  was  afterward  re- 
vived in  Paris,  when  Morse  returned  with  his  great  invention, 
and  again  in  Potsdam,  where  the  humble  artist,  crowned  with 
honors,  visited  his  illustrious  friend. 

The  American  residents  in  Paris  celebrated  the  "  Fourth  of 
July,"  in  the  year  1832,  with  a  banquet,  at  which  Mr.  Morse 
presided,  with  Mr.  Cooper  as  vice-president.  Among  the  guests 
on  that  occasion  were  General  Lafayette,  and  Hon.  William  C. 
Rives,  United  States  minister.  After  the  blessing  had  been 
asked  by  Professor  Hovey,  of  Amherst  College,  the  president 
gave  the  toasts  in  their  order,  and,  on  offering  one  in  honor  of 
Lafayette,  Mr.  Morse  said : 

"  I  cannot  propose  the  next  toast,  gentlemen,  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  last,  without  adverting  to  the  distinguished  honor 
and  pleasure  we  this  day  enjoy  above  the  thousands,  and  I  may 
say  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  our  countrymen  who  are  at  this  mo- 
ment celebrating  this  great  national  festival — the  honor  and  pleas- 
ure of  having  at  our  board  our  venerable  guest  on  my  right  hand, 
the  hero  whom  two  worlds  claim  as  their  own.  Yes,  gentlemen,  he 
belongs  to  America  as  well  as.  to  Europe.  He  is  our  fellow-citizen, 
and  the  universal  voice  of  our  country  would  cry  out  against  us, 
did  we  not  manifest  our  nation's  interest  in  his  person  and  his 
character.  With  the  mazes  of  European  politics  we  have  nothing 
to  do ;  to  changing  schemes,  of  good  or  bad  government,  we  cannot 


MR.   MORSE'S  SPEECH.  233 

make  ourselves  a  party ;  with  the  success  or  defeat  of  this  or  that 
faction  we  can  have  no  sympathy.  But  with  the  great  principles 
of  rational  liberty,  of  civil,  and  religious  liberty,  those  principles 
for  which  our  guest  fought  by  the  side  of  our  fathers,  and  which  he 
has  steadily  maintained  for  a  long  life  '  through  good  report,  and 
evil  report,'  we  do  sympathize ;  we  should  not  be  Americans  if  we 
did  not  sympathize  with  them,  nor  can  we  compromise  one  of  these 
principles,  and  preserve  our  self-respect  as  loyal  American  citizens. 
They  are  the  principles  of  order  and  good  government,  of  obe- 
dience to  law,  the  principles  which  under  Providence  have  made  our 
country  unparalleled  in  prosperity,  principles  which  rest  not  in 
visionary  theory,  but  are  made  palpable  by  the  sure  test  of  experi- 
ment and  time. 

"  But,  gentlemen,  we  honor  our  guest  as  the  stanch,  undeviating 
defender  of  these  principles,  of  our  principles,  of  American  princi- 
ples. Has  he  ever  deserted  them  ?  Has  he  ever  been  known  to 
waver?  Gentlemen,  there  are  some  men,  some  too  who  would 
wish  to  direct  public  opinion,  who  are  like  the  buoys  upon  tide- 
water— they  float  up  and  down  as  the  current  sets  this  way  or  that. 
If  you  ask  at  an  emergency  where  they  are,  we  cannpt  tell  j^ou  ;  we 
must  first  consult  the  almanac,  we  must  know  the  quarter  of  the 
moon,  the  way  of  the  wind,  the  time  of  the  tide,  and  then  we  may 
guess  where  you  will  find  them.  But,  gentlemen,  our  guest  is  not 
of  this  fickle  class.  He  is  a  tower  amid  the  waters,  his  founda- 
tion is  upon  a  rock,  he  moves  not  with  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the 
stream ;  the  storm  may  gather,  the  waters  may  rise  and  even  dash 
above  his  head,  or  they  may  subside  at  his  feet,  still  he  stands  un- 
moved. We  know  his  site  and  his  bearings,  and  with  the  fullest 
confidence  we  point  to  where  he  stood  six-and-fifty  years  ago.  He 
stands  there  now.  The  winds  have  swept  by  him,  the  waves  have 
dashed  around  him,  the  snows  of  winter  have  lighted  upon  him, 
but  still  he  is  there. 

"  I  ask  you  therefore,  gentlemen,  to  drink  with  me  in  honor  of 
General  Lafayette." 

Then  followed  a  large  number  of  volunteer  toasts  by  G.  ~W. 
Haven,  of  New  Hampshire ;  John  Biddle  Chapman,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; Major  W.  T.  Poussin,  "W.'P.  D wight,  Mr.  Cooper,  Mr. 
Rives,  Mr.  ISTiles,  and  many  others. 

From  time  to  time  Mr.  Morse  was  in  the  receipt  of  friendly 
notes  from  General  Lafayette ;  some  of  them  are  found  among 


234  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  P.  B.  MORSE. 

his  papers,  and  many  of  them  were  given  away,  as  autographs, 
to  friends.  We  copy  at  this  point  all  that  are  preserved,  whether 
received  in  Paris  or  after  his  return  to  the  United  States  : 

"Paris,  September  11,  1832. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  have  seen  the  Poles  who  mean  to  go  to  the 
United  States.  They  are  twenty,  and  hope  to  find  a  ship  which  will 
carry  them  for  three  hundred  francs  each.  They  flatter  themselves 
to  get  that  sum,  or  the  greatest  part  of  it,  from  the  French  com- 
mittee ;  but,  should  they  go  to  New  York,  do  you  think  that  they 
will  find  means  to  be  supported  until  they  have  found  a  place  to 
form  their  colony  upon  ?  Do  you  think,  also,  that  lands  in  the  State 
of  Ohio,  or  elsewhere,  could  be  granted  to  them,  or  that  they  will 
find  in  the  sympathy  of  the  United  States  a  little  capital  to  form 
their  settlement  ?  We  must  have  a  strong  hope  of  it  before  we 
encourage  their  emigration,  which  they  have  much  at  heart. 
"  Most  truly  and  affectionately, 

"  Your  friend, 

"  Lafayette." 

"  I  would  be  very  sorry,  my  dear  friend,  to  let  you  depart  before 
you  have  received  my  affectionate  good  wishes.  You  will  find  me 
to-morrow  at  nine. 

"  Most  truly,  your  friend, 

"  Monday,  September,  1832."  .  "  LAFAYETTE. 

"La  Grange,  September  27,  1832. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  will  not  take  Paris  and 
La  Grange  in  your  way  to  Havre,  unless  you  were  to  wait  for  the 
packet  of  the  10th,  in  company  with  General  Cadwalader,  Commo- 
dore Biddle,  and  those  young,  amiable  Philadelphians  who  con- 
template sailing  on  that  day.  But,  if  you  persist  to  go  by  the  next 
packet,  I  beg  you  here  to  receive  my  best  wishes  and  those  of  my 
family  for  your  happy  voyage.  Upon  you,  my  dear  sir,  I  much  de- 
pend to  give  our  friends  of  the  United  States  a  proper  explanation 
of  the  state  of  things  in  Europe.  You  have  been  very  attentive  to 
what  has  past  since  the  Revolution  of  1830.  Much  has  been  ob- 
tained here  and  other  parts  of  Europe  in  this  whirlwind  of  a  week. 
Further  consequences  here  and  in  other  countries — Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  included — will  be  the  certain  result,  though  they  have 
been  mauled  and  betrayed,  where  they  ought  to  have  received  en- 
couragement. But  it  will  not  be  so  short  and  so  cheap  as  we  had 
a  right  to  anticipate  it  might  be.     I  think  it  useful,  on  both  sides 


LAFAYETTE'S  HOPES.  235 

of  the  water,  to  dispel  the  cloud  which  ignorance  or  design  may 
throw  over  the  real  state  of  European  and  French  politics.  In  the 
mean  while,  I  believe  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  American  returned 
home  to  let  his  fellow-citizens  know  what  wretched  handle  is  made 
of  the  violent  collisions,  threats  of  a  separation,  and  reciprocal 
abuse,  to  injure  the  character  and  question  the  stability  of  republi- 
can institutions.'  I  too  much  depend  upon  the  patriotism  and  good 
sense  of  the  several  parties  in  the  United  States,  to  be  afraid  that 
those  dissensions  may  terminate  in  a  final  dissolution  of  the  Union ; 
and  should  such  an  event  be  destined  in  future  to  take  place, 
deprecated  as  it  has  been  by  the  best  wishes  of  the  departed 
founders  of  the  Revolution — Washington  at  their  head — it  ought 
at  least  in  charity  not  to  take  place  before  the  not  remote  period 
when  every  one  of  those  who  have  fought  and  bled  in  the  cause 
shall  have  joined  their  contemporaries.  What  is  to  be  said  of 
Poland,  and  the  situation  of  her  heroic,  unhappy  sons,  you  well 
know,  having  been  a  constant  and  zealous  member  of  our  com- 
mittee. You  know  what  sort  of  mental  perturbation  among  the 
ignorant  part  of  every  European  nation  has  accompanied  the  visit 
of  the  cholera  in  Russia,  Germany,  Hungary,  and  several  parts  of 
Great  Britain  and  France — suspicions  of  poison,  prejudices  against 
the  politicians,  and  so  forth.  I  would  like  to  know  whether  the 
population  of  the  United  States  has  been  quite  free  of  those  aber- 
rations, as  it  would  be  an  additional  argument  in  behalf  of  republican 
institutions  and  superior  civilization  resulting  from  them. 
"  Most  truly  and  affectionately, 

"  Your  friend, 

"  Lafayette." 

"I   have  just   now  good   news  from  ,  dated   15th.      My 

grandson  says  that  five  attacks  from  the  Miguelists  have  been  most 
gallantly  repelled  ;  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  infamous  Miguels  will  ulti- 
mately be  overthrown.  I  hope  you  are  arrived  in  good  health,  my 
dear  sir,  and,  referring  you  to  the  European  papers,  inclose  two  spe- 
cial little  speeches  of  your  friend,  .  Laeatette. 

"Pakis,  December  8,  1832." 

"Pakis,  February  28,  1833. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  am  highly  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 

letter,  and  for  your  publication  of  my  observations  on  the  present 

melancholy  affairs  in  the  United  States.     I  see  with  pleasure  that 

they  have  been  repeated  in  all  the  American  papers,  namely,  at 


236  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

Charleston  ;  so  they  have  been  in  the  papers  of  this  country.  In- 
closed you  will  find  some  late  observations  of  mine  in  the  House ; 
they  will  give  you  an  account  of  political  matters  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.    . 

Most  truly  and  affectionately, 

"  Your  friend, 

"  Lafayette." 

"La  Grange,  November  5,  1833. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  The  particular  accounts  I  can  give  you  of  the 
family  at  La  Grange  are  almost  the  only  addition  to  be  made  to  your 
investigation  of  European  papers.  You  well  know  the  divisions  in 
the  public  opinion,  so  that,  by  comparing  together  their  several  ex- 
pressions, you  may  form  a  correct  judgment  of  the  actual  situation 
and  progress  of  affairs  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  You  will  not 
therefore  suppose  that  the  constitutionality  of  the  Juste-Milieu  and 
its  royal  chief  is  so  far,  as  their  followers  pretend  to  be,  from  the 
principle  and  wishes  of  anti-liberal  governments,  nor  will  you  think 
that  the  patriotism  and  republicanism  of  France  is  all  confined  within 
the  formula  marked  out  in  the  name  of  a  society.  Under  the  invo- 
cation of  Robespierre,  that  society  itself,  chiefly  composed  of 
honest  citizens  and  devoted  patriots,  has  been  unfortunately  and 
designedly  led  into  errors,  to  which  the  police  agents  have  not  been 
strangers.  The  best  account  that  has  been  given  of  that  publi- 
cation is,  agreeably  to  my  opinion,  to  be  found  in  the  Comique  Fran- 
$ais  of  the  28th  of  October,  and  the  inclosed.  The  eyes  of  Jules 
Lasteyrie  are  not  yet  recovered,  and  require  a  long  management, 
but  the  sight  of  both  of  them  will  be  preserved,  Oscar  Lafayette 
has  been,  by  the  scientific  examination  jury,  admitted  to  the  Poly- 
technic School.  The  greater  part  of  the  family  are  at  La  Grange, 
and  request  their  best  compliments  to  you.  "We  shall  leave  here 
for  the  session  of  the  House — that  is  to  be  opened  for  the  23d  of 
December.  I  don't  hear  from  our  excellent  friend  Mr.  Cooper  and 
family.  He  must  be  in  New  York  before  this  letter  reaches  you. 
I  intend  writing  to  him,  namely,  on  the  subject  of  one  of  his  letters, 
by  the  next  packet ;  in  the  mean  while  tell  him  that  Chodiko,  having 
been  prevented  to  leave  us  and  repair  to  Montauban,  has  antici- 
pated his  predictions  by  asking  a  passport  to  quit  France  for  Eng- 
land. I  don't  know  where  he. now  is.  I  have  several  times  spoken, 
and  lately  written,  to  Dwernicki.  What  remains  of  the  French 
debt  to   the  American   committee  is   not   yet  settled   and   paid. 


MR.   MORSE'S   LETTER.  237 

Chodiko  must  be  very  forlorn.  I  shall  know  more  in  a  few  days, 
on  a  trip  to  town.  My  grandson  is  arrived  from  the  south.  He  goes 
the  day  after  to-morrow  to  Paris,  with  Mr.  Gallatin's,  Mr.  Rives's, 
Mr.  Cooper's,  and  your  own  long  letter,  and  an  introduction  to  Mr. 
Livingston,  who  has  notes  very  similar,  I  think,  to  our  notions, 
and  will  frame  an  article  for  the  Mevue  cles  Deux  Mondes.  I  shall 
send  it  as  soon  as  it  comes  out.  I  will  be  much  obliged  to  you,  my 
dear  sir,  if  you  are  pleased  to  call  upon  Mr.  Prince,  Long  Island, 
and  request  him  to  send  me  grafts  of  the  fine  North  River  Spitzen- 
berg  red  apple,  of  the  bloody  peach,  the  inside  of  which  is  red,  and 
seme  mock-orange  trees — they  are  tall,  and  handsomer  than  the 
European  varieties ;  you  would  recommend  them,  with  a  bill  of  the 
costs,  to  the  captain  of  a  packet,  so  as  to  have  time  to  place  them. 
Pay  my  compliments  to  Mr.  Prince,  who  has  been  so  very  kind  in 
his  invoices  to  me. 

"  Most  truly  and  affectionately, 

"  Your  old  friend, 

"  Lafayette." 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Morse  replied  as  follows  : 

To   General  Lafayette. 

"  New  Yore,  January  6,  1834. 

"  My  dear  Geisteral  :  Your  obliging  letter  of  the  5th  of  Novem- 
ber, just  received,  finds  me  confined  to  the  house  by  temporary  lame- 
ness. I  owe  you  an  apology,  my  dear  General,  for  I  am  in  your 
debt  since  your  last  interesting  letter  introducing  to  me  the  ami- 
able,  and,  I  am  happy  to  add,  popular  Maroncelli.  I  thank  you  for 
making  him  known  to  me,  although  I  feel  that  I  am  not  so  situated 
in  my  domestic  establishment — being  alone — as  to  show  him  all 
the  attentions  I  could  wish,  or  he  deserves.  Yet  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  introducing  him  to  our  club,  who  meet  weekly,  of  which 
Mr.  Gallatin,  Mr.  Jay,  Chancellor  Kent,  the  professors  of  Columbia 
College,  etc.,  are  members,  and  we  have  been  highly  gratified  in 
his  society.  The  ten  years'  imprisonment  of  Silvio  Pellico  has  been 
published  here,  and  has  excited  great  interest  for  Mr.  Maroncelli, 
so  that  I  believe  he  finds  himself  very  agreeably  engaged.  He  is 
about  publishing,  he  tells  me,  his  own  history  of  that  imprisonment. 

"  I  am  rejoiced  to  know  that  your  grandson,  Jules  Lasteyrie, 
will  not  lose  his  sight,  although  I  regret  to  learn  that  his  recovery 
will  be  tedious  ;  what  a  melancholy  event  would  the  loss  of  his  eyes 


238  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.   MORSE. 

have  been  to  him  and  to  all  your  dear  family!  I  am  glad  to  learn 
also,  that  your  other  grandson,  Oscar  Lafayette,  has  entered  the 
Polytechnic  School.  I  incerely  pray  that  France  and  the  world 
may  see  in  the  grandson  the  same  enlarged  benevolence,  the  same 
love  of  true  liberty,  the  same  persevering  consistency,  the  same  self- 
devotion  to  the  happiness  of  mankind,  as  have  distinguished  and  im- 
mortalized the  grandfather.  Tell  him,  my  dear  General,  that  the 
world  will  have  its  eye  on  him ;  his  name  cannot  be  hid,  he  must 
sustain  it  in  all  its  glory ;  and  I  pray  that  God's  strength  may  be 
given  him,  that  he  may  be  able  to  sustain  it  unsullied. 

"  You  will  have  learned  before  this  of  the  arrival  of  our  excellent 
and  distinguished  friend  Cooper  and  his  charming  family ;  they  arrived 
on  the  very  day  of  the  date  of  jour  letter,  the  5th  of  November,  and 
are  now  well.  I  dined  with  them  on  New- Year's  day.  Mr.  Cooper 
is  about  replying  to  the  attacks  made  upon  him  while  absent,  and  in 
his  pamphlet  will  make  an  expose  of  the  finance  discussion  in  Paris, 
which  will  create  a  little  disturbance  probably  in  the  minds  of  some 
Americans  who  were  aiding  and  abetting  the  attacks  on  you,  my 
dear  General,  and  on  their  country's  institutions,  in  that  discussion. 

"I  have  this  moment  written  a  line  to  Mr.  Prince,  of  Long 
Island,  inclosing  your  request  respecting  the  grafts  and  trees,  and 
desiring  him  to  have  them  prepared  immediately.  I  hope  you  will 
receive  them  by  the  same  packet  which  takes  this  letter. 

"As  to  political  affairs  in  this  country,  my  dear  General,  I  am 
conscious  there  are  others  better  informed  than  myself,  who  will 
keep  you  advised  of  their  various  changes.  I  have  been  too  long 
absent  from  my  country  to  retain  any  thing  of  mere  party  feeling ; 
I  cannot  identify  myself  with  any  of  the  present  parties.  I  read, 
as  far  as  I  have  the  time,  the  statements  of  all,  till  I  have  become 
quite  familiar  with  the  general  character  of  party  strife.  I  find  the 
usual  quantity  of  denunciations  of  the  outs  against  the  ins,  and  of 
charges  of  tyranny  and  usurpation,  and  the  usual  forebodings  of 
anarchy  and  ruin  from  the  measures  of  the  existing  Adminis- 
tration ;  and  I  can  trace,  or  think  I  can  trace,  most  of  the  asperity 
and  bitter  revilings  which  disfigure  and  disgrace  our  press,  to  the 
fears  of  office-holders,  or  the  disappointments  of  office-seekers. 
Some  of  our  orators  declaim  loudly  on  the  danger  to  our  institu- 
tions of  certain  measures,  and  others  threaten  a  separation  of  the 
Union.;  Yet  the  solid,  substantial,  enterprising,  active  majority  of 
the  people  are  not  moved  by  verbiage  or  rhetorical  figures ;  they 
read  and  calmly  digest  those  dashing  arguments  pro  and  con. ;  the 


LAFAYETTE'S  ATTENTIONS.  239 

wordy  war  rages  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  and  the  echoes  of  the 
strife  ring  through  the  land,  but  it  is  mere  sound,  until  an  evil 
truly  presses  upon  the  people,  until  they  feel  their  freedom  actually 
invaded,  and  their  interests  suffering  in  earnest  from  bad  legisla- 
tion, and  then  the  voice  of  the  people  is  heard  in  its  might,  and 
the  strife  of  party  is  hushed ;  the  troubles  of  the  land  are  put  into 
retirement  by  our  bloodless  weapon  of  revolution,  the  ballot-box, 
and  the  evil  is  remedied.  This  seems  to  be  the  natural  operation, 
my  dear  General,  of  our  beautiful  institutions,  nor  can  I  be  excited 
to  alarm  for  their  safety  except  in  the  supposable  case  of  a  general 
demoralization  comprised  in  an  absence  of  religious  principle,  and  a 
prevalence  of  ignorance ;  and  of  such  a  state  of  things  there  is  lit- 
tle "prospect,  while  the  benevolent  are  so  active  in  their  various 
societies  for  the  diffusion  of  religious  and  scientific  knowledge.  No, 
my  dear  General ;  you  have  lived  to  see  your  favorite  principles  tri- 
umphant in  one  country,  at  least.  They  have  withstood  many  a 
storm  that  has  threatened  them ;  they  have  been  severely  tried  in 
the  furnace,  and  are  yet  to  be  tried,  but  like  gold  they  have  hith- 
erto come  out,  and,  I  am  persuaded,  will  ever  come  out,  purified ; 
and  you  have  the  glorious  anticipation  that  they  must  and  will 
eventually  triumph  throughout  the  world,  though  all  the  tyrants 
of  the  earth  league  together  to  crush  them." 

General  Lafayette  to  Mr.  Morse. 

"  Pahis,  February  27,  1834. 
"  My  dear  Sir:  Permit  me  to  send  you  a  letter  for  Mr.  Maron- 
celli,  relative  to  a  little  money  transaction,  which  I  much  wish  to  be 
put  into  his  own  hands.  You  may  have  heard  of  an  indisposition 
which  still  detains  me  in  my  room ;  and,  as  reports  about  it  have 
been  aggravated,  I  have  the  pleasure  to  assure  you  that  I  am 
much  better,  and  shall  soon  have  got  rid  of  it.  Remember  me 
most  affectionately  to  the  Cooper  family,  and  other  friends,  and 
believe  me,  "  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"  Lafayette." 

His  last  year  in  Paris  had  been  made  very  pleasant  to  Mr. 
Morse  by  the  kind  attentions  of  General  Lafayette,  at  whose 
house  in  the  city,  and  at  La  Grange,  the  artist  was  a  frequent 
and  welcome  guest.  When  the  sad  intelligence  reached  the 
United  States  of  the  death  of  Lafayette,  in  1834,  Mr.  Morse  ad- 
dressed the  following  note  to  the  son  of  his  illustrious  friend : 


240  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

To  George  Washington  Lafayette,  Member  of  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties, etc. 

"  I  scarcely  know  in  what  language  to  express  to  you,  and 
to  all  your  family,  the  feelings  of  unfeigned  sorrow  with  which  the 
intelligence  of  the  death  of  your  great  and  good  father,  the  illus- 
trious General  Lafayette,  oppressed  me.  The  announcement  was 
the  more  sudden  to  me,  as  I  had  received  a  letter  from  him  but  a 
short  time  before  this,  in  which  he  expressed  a  confidence  of  his 
speedy  recovery.  Allow  me,  my  dear  sir,  to  mingle  my  tears  with 
yours  for  the  irreparable  loss  you  have  suffered.  In  common  with  this 
whole  country,  now  clad  in  mourning,  with  the  lovers  of  true  liberty 
and  of  exalted  philanthropy  throughout  the  world,  I  bemoan  the 
departure  from  earth  of  your  immortal  parent ;  yet  I  may  be  permit- 
ted to  indulge  in  additional  feelings  of  more  private  sorrow  at  the 
loss  of  one  who  honored  me  with  his  friendship,  and  had  not  ceased, 
till  within  a  few  days  of  his  death,  to  send  to  me  occasional  marks 
of  his  affectionate  remembrance.  Be  assured,  my  dear  sir,  that  the 
memory  of  your  father  will  be  especially  endeared  to  me  and  mine. 

"  Accept  for  yourself,  my  dear  sir,  and  for  all  the  bereaved  fam- 
ily, the  assurance  of  my  heart-felt  condolence,  and  believe  me,  with 
the  sincerest  respect  and  esteem,  your  obedient  servant  and  friend, 

"S.  F.  B.  Morse." 

Having  proceeded  so  far  with  bis  picture  that  he  was  able  to 
finish  it  at  home,  Mr.  Morse  left  Paris,  and  made  a  visit  to  Lon- 
don, for  the  purpose  of  renewing  the  associations  of  his  earlier 
art-life. 

To  his  Brothers. 

"  London,  September  21,  1824. 

"  Here  I  am,  once  more,  in  England,  and  on  the  wing  home.  I 
shall  probably  sail  from  Havre  in  the  packet  of  October  1st  (the 
Sully),  and  I  shall  leave  London  for  Southampton  and  Havre  on  the 
26th  inst.,  to  be  prepared  for  sailing. 

"  I  am  visiting  old  friends,  and  renewing  old  associations  in 
London.  Twenty  years  make  a  vast  difference,  as  well  in  the 
aspect  of  this  great  city  as  in  the  faces  of  old  acquaintances.  Lon- 
don may  be  said  literally  to  have  gone  into  the  country.  Where  I 
once  was  accustomed  to  walk  in  the  fields,  so  far  out  of  town  as 
even  to  shoot  at  a  target  against  the  trees  with  impunity,  now 
there  are  spacious  streets,  and  splendid  houses,  and  gardens.     I 


MR.   DUNLAP'S   RECORDS.  241 

spend  a  good  deal  of  my  spare  time  with  Leslie.  He  is  the  same 
amiable,  intelligent,  unassuming  gentleman  that  I  left  in  1815.  He 
is  painting  a  little  picture,  '  Sterne  recovering  his  Manuscripts  from 
the  Curls  of  his  Hostess  at  Lyons.'  I  have  been  sitting  to  him  for 
the  head  of  Sterne,  whom  he  thinks  I  resemble  very  strongly.  At 
any  rate,  he  has  made  no  alteration  in  the  character  of  the  face 
from  the  one  he  had  drawn  from  Sterne's  portrait,  and  has  simply 
attended  to  the  expression. 

"  When  I  left  Paris,  I  was  feeble  in  health,  so  much  so,  that  I 
was  fearful  of  the  effects  of  the  journey  to  London,  especially  as  I 
passed  through  villages  suffering  severely  from  the  cholera.  But  I 
proceeded  moderately,  lodged  the  first  night  at  Boulogne-sur-Mer, 
crossed  to  Dover  in  a  severe  southwest  gale,  and  passed  the  next 
night  at  Canterbury,  and  the  next  day  came  to  London.  I  think 
the  ride  did  me  good,  and  I  have  been  exercising  a  great  deal,  riding 
and  walking  since,  and  my  general  health  is  certainly  improving. 
I  am  in  hopes  that  the  voyage  will  completely  set  me  up  again." 

Mr.  Dunlap  records  some  interesting  incidents  in  the  visit  of 
Mr.  Morse  to  London  and  Paris,  both  on  his  journey  to  Italy, 
and  his  return : 

"  In  1829  Mr.  Morse  found  himself  in  circumstances  to  visit, 
not  only  England  again,  but  to  reside  for  a  sufficient  time  in  Italy 
to  study  the  works  of  art,  copy  many  of  the  best  pictures,  and  to 
improve  in  every  branch  of  painting,  to  a  degree  which  has  sur- 
prised me,  as  much  as  it  has  given  me  pleasure.  On  his  arrival 
from  America,  he  found  his  friends  Newton  and  Leslie  in  London, 
and  with  them  attended  two  lectures  at  the  Royal  Academy,  both 
remarkable  for  circumstances  of  very  different  natures.  Leslie  in- 
troduced Morse  to  the  academicians,  who  received  the  president  of 
the  National  Academy  of  Design  with  peculiar  honor.  The  first 
of  these  lectures  was  remarkable,  as  being  the  last  time  Sir 
Thomas  Lawrence  was  out  of  his  house;  the  second,  for  a  com- 
pliment paid  by  the  lecturer  to  Washington  Allston. 

"  Martin  Archer  Shee,  the  successor  of  Lawrence,  was,  on  this 
occasion,  requested  to  take  the  presidential  chair ;  Morse,  Leslie, 
and  Newton,  sat  at  his  right  hand.  Mr.  Greene,  the  lecturer,  re- 
marked, that  he  was  glad  Mr.  Morse  was  present,  as  he  had  had 
occasion  to  mention  an  American  gentleman  who  was  an  honor  to 
the  Royal  Academy,  Mr.  Allston ;  and  in  the  course  of  his  lecture 
he  quoted  two  of  Allston's  sonnets. 
16 


242  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"Returning  homeward  he  made  a  stop  in  Paris,  and  pursued  his 
studies  in  the  Louvre.  He  there  made  a  picture  of  that  celebrated 
gallery,  copying  in  miniature  the  most  valuable  paintings  as  hang- 
ing on  the  walls.  Of  this  splendid  work  my  friend  James  Fenimore 
Cooper  speaks  thus,  in  a  letter  to  me,  dated  Paris,  March  16,  1832  : 
*  Morse  is  painting  an  exhibition  picture  that  I  feel  certain  must 
take.  He  copies  admirably,  and  this  is  a  drawing  of  the  Louvre, 
with  copies  of  some  fifty  of  its  best  pictures.'  The  picture  of  the 
gallery  of  the  Louvre  was  not  finished  until  Morse  returned  to  New 
York ;  but,  when  nearly  finished  and  removed  from  the  gallery,  the 
Chevalier  Alexandre  Le  Noir,  conservateur  of  the  Museum  of 
France  (a  celebrated  antiquary,  who  is  now  engaged  in  arranging 
the  papers  on  the  ruins  of  Palenque  in  Mexico),  wished  to  see  the 
painting,  and  made  an  appointment  for  the  purpose.  He  sat  long 
before  it,  and  complimented  the  artist  highly,  who  received  the 
praise  as  the  effusion  of  politeness  ;  but  the  next  day  he  had  a  proof 
of  the  learned  critic's  good  opinion,  for  he  received  from  him  two 
folios  and  a  quarto,  published  by  him,  containing  several  hundred 
plates,  descriptive  of  the  ancient  monuments  of  France  and  their 
history. 

"  On  leaving  Paris,"  continues  Mr.  Dunlap,  "  he  returned  to 
London,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  renewing  former  recollections 
and  acquaintances,  and  particularly  of  enjoying  the  society  of  his 
friend  Leslie.  His  good  old  friend  and  master,  West,  was  no  more, 
and  his  younger  friend  and  instructor,  Allston,  was  in  America  ;  but 
he  had  recollections  of  the  latter  brought  to  his  mind  very  un- 
expectedly. Morse  had  brought  a  letter  to  a  gentleman  from 
Italy,  whose  direction  was  No.  11  Tinny  Street,  London.  After 
an  absence  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  he  had  no  remembrance  of 
the  street,  or  thought  that  it  was  connected  with  any  transaction 
of  interest  to  him.  He  sought  the  street,  and,  on  entering  it,  he 
saw  objects  which  appeared  familiar  to  him,  but  which  might  only 
have  reminded  him  of  those  dreamy  sensations  we  experience 
through  life,  when,  entering  a  strange  place,  we  feel  as  if  all  the 
scene  was  merely  a  renewal  of  former  impressions,  made  we  know 
not  how  or  when.  He  inquired  for  No.  11,  of  a  gentleman  pass- 
ing, who  exclaimed,  '  Surely  I  know  you,  sir.'  '  My  name  is  Morse.' 
'  And  have  you  forgotten  that  house  ? '  pointing  to  it,  '  that  is  No. 
11 ;  my  name  is  Collard,  and  there,  with  you  and  your  friend  All- 
ston, and  his  friends  Coleridge  and  Lonsdale,  I  have  passed  many 
hours  in  time  past.'     The  reality  now  flashed  upon  Morse ;  he  en- 


THEORY  OF   COLORS.  243 

tered  the  house,  and  found  himself  in  the  apartment  where  he  had 
witnessed  such  poignant  scenes  of  distress  in  former  days — the 
chamber  in  which  his  dear  friend  and  mentor's  wife  had  expired. 

"  Mr.  Morse  acquired  a  vast  fund  of  knowledge  in  his  European 
tour,  having  familiarized  himself  with  the  best  models  in  the  world  ; 
and  he  quitted  England,  in  1832,  with  every  prospect  of  winning, 
in  a  few  years,  a  splendid  fame. 

"  Mr.  Morse  has  told  me  that  he  formed  a  theory  for  the  distri- 
bution of  colors  in  a  picture  many  years  since,  when  standing  before 
a  picture  of  Paul  Veronese,  which  has  been  confirmed  by  all  his 
subsequent  studies  of  the  works  of  the  great  masters.  This  picture 
is  now  in  the  National  Gallery,  London.  He  saw  in  it  that  the  high- 
est light  was  cold ;  the  mass  of  light,  warm ;  the  middle  tint,  cool ;  the 
shadow,  negative ;  and  the  reflections,  hot.  He  says  he  has  tried 
this  theory  by  placing  a  white  ball  in  a  box,  lined  with  white,  and 
convinced  himself  that  the  system  of  Paul  Veronese  is  the  order  of 
Nature.  Balls  of  orange  or  of  blue,  so  placed,  give  the  same  rela- 
tive result.  The  high  light  of  the  ball  is  uniformly  cold,  in  com- 
parison with  the  local  color  of  the  ball.  '  I  have  observed  in  a  pict- 
ure by  Rubens  that  it  had  a  foxy  tone,  and  on  examination  I  found 
that  the  shadow  (which  according  to  my  theory  ought  to  be  nega- 
tive) was  hot.  Whenever  I  found  this  to  be  the  case,  I  found  the 
picture  foxy.'  On  one  occasion  his  friend  Allston  said  to  him,  while 
standing  before  an  unfinished  painting,  '  I  have  painted  that  piece 
of  drapery  of  every  color,  and  it  will  not  harmonize  with  the  rest 
of  the  picture.'  Morse  found  the  drapery  belonged  to  the  mass  of 
light,  and  said,  '  According  to  my  theory,  it  must  be  warm  ;  paint  it 
flesh-color.'  '  What  do  you  mean  by  your  theory  ? '  Morse  ex- 
plained as  above.  Allston  immediately  said :  '  It  is  so ;  it  is  in 
nature  ; '  and  has  since  said,  '  Your  theory  has  saved  me  many  an 
hour's  labor.' " 

General  James  Grant  Wilson,  of  New  York,  has  kindly 
furnished  pleasant  recollections  of  conversations  with  Morse 
and  Leslie. 

"  Professor  Morse,  some  twenty  years  ago,  as  we  were  riding 
together  in  the  cars,  said  to  me  :  '  Shall  I  tell  you  about  some  of 
the  great  painters  living  in  London  when  I  was  studying  and 
starving  with  Leslie  in  a  London  garret  ? '  The  answer  was,  of 
course,  '  Yes ;'  and  he  began  a  charming  monologue  concerning 
West,  Allston,  Haydon,   Fuseli,  and   other  great  heirs  of  fame, 


244  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

fragments  of  which  I  jotted  down  the  day  following.  .  .  .  '  Among 
other  artists  with  whom  I  was  intimate  was  poor  Haydon,  who 
was  so  vain  that  he  confessed  he  was  uneasy  at  a  funeral  unless  he 
was  first  in  the  procession.  Going  in  company  with  a  friend,  in 
1842,  to  call  on  him,  my  companion,  on  our  entering  the  room, 
said :  "  Haydon,  I  have  brought  an  old  friend  to  see  you.  Do  you 
remember  him  ? "  Looking  at  me  intently  for  a  few  seconds  he 
broke  forth  with,  "  Why,  Morse ;  my  friend  Morse,  how  are  you  ? 
Still  painting  and  starving,  eh  ?  "  .  .  .  Tom  Thumb  killed  Haydon ! ' 
Observing  the  surprised  and  inquiring  looks  of  his  listener,  Morse 
continued :  '  At  the  time  or  soon  after  that  Haydon  opened  an  exhi- 
bition of  his  greatest  works,  including  "  Christ's  Entry  into  Jerusa- 
lem," Tom  Thumb  made  his  appearance  in  London,  when  his  (Hay- 
don's)  gallery  was  immediately  deserted,  while  all  London  flocked 
to  see  the  diminutive  dwarf.  'Twas  too  much  for  the  poor  painter ; 
he  became  desperate  at  the  failure  of  his  exhibition,  for  which  he 
had  anticipated  such  great  success,  and  put  an  end  to  his  existence.' 
In  answer  to  the  inquiry  as  to  Haydon's  character  and  the  causes 
that  led  to  so  distinguished  an  artist's  being  constantly  in  debt  and 
harassed  almost  to  death  by  creditors,  the  professor  replied :  '  Hay- 
don was  a  person  of  inordinate  vanity ;  he  thought  the  eyes  of  the 
whole  earth  were  upon  him.  He  was  improvident  and  reckless  in 
expenditures,  incurring  the  most  extravagant  expenses  for  the  fur- 
therance of  high  art;  i.  e.,  any  thing  to  assist  him  in  his  painting, 
such  as  the  purchase  of  expensive  works  of  art,  employing  living 
models,  etc' 

"'Another  distinguished  painter,  with  whom  I  was  well  ac- 
quainted, was  Fuseli,  a  friend  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  by  whose 
advice  he  abandoned  literature  for  art.  Fuseli  could  speak  with 
fluency  nine  languages,  and  enjoyed  annoying  certain  of  his  litera^ 
companions  with  the  display  of  antique  lore.  He  on  one  occasion 
repeated  half  a  dozen  sonorous  and  well-sounding  lines  to  Professor 
Porson,  one  of  the  best  Greek  scholars  of  his  time,  and  said,  "  With 
all  your  learning  you  cannot  tell  me  who  wrote  them."  The  Cam- 
bridge professor  was  compelled  to  admit  that  he  did  not  know  the 
author.  "  I  should  think  not,"  chuckled  Fuseli ;  "  I  made  them  this 
moment ! "  He  would  sometimes,  when  in  a  passion,  give  vent  to 
his  fury  by  swearing  in  half  a  dozen  languages.  I  once  accompanied 
the  Swiss  painter  to  the  house  of  a  wealthy  amateur  artist,  where 
we  were  invited  to  dine.  He  wished  to  obtain  Fuseli's  opinion  of 
a  large  picture  which  he  had  just  completed,  and  accordingly  after 


FUSELI  AND   LESLIE.  245 

dinner  it  was  inspected  by  all  the  party.  "  Extraordinary  !  ex- 
traordinary !  extraordinary  ! "  exclaimed  Fuseli.  "  Do  you  ad- 
mire my  picture  ?  "  asked  the  delighted  amateur.  "  Oh,  extraor- 
dinary !  "  again  exclaimed  Fuseli.  On  our  way  home,  accompanied 
by  another  artist  named  Lamb,  he  said,  "  Why,  Mr.  Fuseli,  how 
could  you  possibly  admire  such  a  paltry  picture — so  out  of  drawing, 
and  the  coloring  so  wretched  !  "  "  Oh  !  "  was  the  reply,  "  I  said  ex- 
traordinary, but  I  meant  extraordinary  bad  !  "  That  word  has  often 
since  done  duty  for  me  under  similar  circumstances,'  added  Morse, 
with  a  merry  laugh.  '  On  another  occasion  an  American  artist, 
named  B ,  a  great  quack,  who,  by  advertising,  puffery,  and  toady- 
ism, managed  to  obtain  considerable  business,  took  a  fine  residence 
in  a  fashionable  quarter  of  London,  and  invited  a  large  number  of 

artists,  authors,  and  fashionable  people,  to  a  house-warming.    B , 

walking  with  Fuseli  in  one  of  the  largest  apartments,  remarked,  "  I 
intend  to  have  the  walls  whitewashed,  and  then  paint  on  them  a 
series  of  magnificent  historical  pictures.  What  do  you  think  of  it  ?  " 
"  Setter  paint  the  pictures  first,  and  then  vihitewash  them  !  "  was 
Fuseli's  reply.' 

"My  conversation  with  Leslie,  which  occurred  some  sixteen 
months  later,  was  chiefly  in  regard  to  his  early  artist-life  in  London, 
when  he  and  Morse  shared  a  room  together  in  Warren  Street,  and 
their  most  familiar  friends  were  Washington  Allston  and  a  young 
American  artist  named  King.  '  In  those  days,'  he  remarked,  '  the 
Allstons,  Morse,  and  myself,  spent  our  evenings  together,  and  happy 
evenings  they  were,  I  can  assure  you.  Of  course,  we  often  went  to 
the  theatre,  and  I  remember  one  famous  occasion  when  we  saw  Mrs. 
Siddons  and  her  brothers,  John  and  Charles,  in  "  Henry  VIII."  The 
author  of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home  "  was  with  us  that  night.  About 
that  time  (1812  or  1813)  we  all  spent  a  delightful  day  together 
at  Hampton  Court.  Allston  had  a  measureless  admiration  of 
Turner.  He  thought  him  the  greatest  painter  since  the  days  of 
Claude.  It  was  reported  that  Turner  had  declared  his  intention  of 
being  buried  in  his  "  Carthage,"  which  you  have  seen  in  the  National 
Gallery.  I  was  told  that  he  said  to  Chantrey  :  "  I  have  appointed 
you  one  of  my  executors ;  will  you  promise  to  see  me  rolled  up  in 
it  ?  "  "  Yes,"  said  the  sculptor,  "  and  I  promise  you  also  that  as 
soon  as  you  are  buried  I  will  have  you  taken  up  and  unrolled ! " 
This  story  was  so  generally  circulated  and  credited  that,  when  Dean 
Milman  heard  that  Turner  was  to  be  buried  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
he  said,  "  I  will  not  read  the  service  over  him  if  he  is  wrapped  up 


246  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

in  that  picture." '  .  .  .  Such  was  the  sparkling  commensalia  of  Leslie 
that  much  of  its  brilliancy  and  interest  is  lost  in  the  atlempt  to 
transfer  it  to  paper,  and  I  cannot  but  regret  that  I  did  not  at  the 
time  jot  down  more  of  his  conversation  concerning  his  gifted  friends, 
particularly  that  portion  of  it  referring  to  Sir  "Walter  Scott,  Irving, 
and  Morse." 

As  the  career  of  Mr.  Morse  as  a  painter  closed  here,  and  the 
remainder  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  the  Telegraph,  this  is  the 
appropriate  place  in  which  to  present  a  critical  notice  prepared 
for  this  work  by  D.  Huntington,  Esq.,  the  distinguished  artist, 
and  President  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design : 

"  My  acquaintance  with  Professor  Morse  began  in  the  spring  of 
1835,  when  I  was  placed  under  his  care  by  my  father  as  a  pupil. 
He  then  lived  in  Greenwich  Lane  (now  Greenwich  Avenue),  and 
several  young  men  were  studying  art  under  his  instruction.  He 
was  actively  engaged  in  painting,  though  he  devoted  a  part  of  his 
time  to  experiments  connected  with  his  Telegraph.  He  gave  a 
short  time  every  day  to  each  pupil,  carefully  pointing  out  our  errors, 
and  explaining  the  principles  of  art.  After  drawing  for  some  time 
from  casts,  with  the  crayon,  he  allowed  us  to  begin  the  use  of  the 
brush,  and  we  practised  painting  our  studies  from  the  casts,  using 
black,  white,  and  raw  umber.  I  believe  this  method  was  of  great 
use  in  enabling  us  early  to  acquire  a  good  habit  of  painting.  I 
only  regret  that  he  did  not  insist  on  our  sticking  to  this  kind  of 
study  a  longer  time,  and  drill  us  more  severely  in  it,  but  he  in- 
dulged our  hankering  for  color  too  soon ;  and,  when  once  we  had 
tasted  the  luxury  of  a  full  palette  of  colors,  it  was  a  dry  business 
to  go  back  to  plain  black  and  white.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year, 
1835,  he  removed  to  spacious  rooms  in  the  New- York  University, 
on  Washington  Square. 

"  In  the  large  studio  in  the  north  wing,  he  painted  several  fine 
portraits,  among  them  the  beautiful  full  length  of  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Lind.  He  also  lectured  before  the  students,  and  a  general 
audience,  illustrating  his  subject  by  painted  diagrams. 

"  During  this  winter  he  was  much  occupied  with  the  telegraphic 
experiments,  and  exhibited  to  his  pupils  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not 
the  first  successful  operation  of  the  instrument.  Though  charmed 
with  the  success  of  the  experiment,  we  had  no  faith  in  its  practical 
results,  and  mourned  over  this  sad  infatuation  (as  we  thought  it)  of 
our  master,  which  consumed  so  much  of  the  time  which  we  thought 


MR.   HUNTINGTON'S  NOTICE.  247 

he  ought  to  devote  to  his  art.  Over  his  pupils  he  exercised  a  kind, 
paternal  influence,  and  we  held  him  in  esteem  and  reverence. 

"  His  friends  and  brother  artists  were  disappointed  that  he  did  not 
obtain  one  of  the  Government  orders  at  that  time,  given  for  histori- 
cal paintings,  to  fill  the  vacant  panels  of  the  Rotunda.  To  compen- 
sate him  for  this  neglect,  they  made  up  a  purse,  and  gave  him  a 
commission  for  an  historical  picture.  He  chose  for  his  subject  '  The 
Compact  of  the  Pilgrims  on  board  the  Mayflower,'  which  he  con- 
sidered as  the  germ  of  our  free  government.  He  made  many  studies 
for  this  proposed  picture,  and  drew  the  outline  of  the  composition 
on  a  canvas  of  a  large  cabinet  size.  I  remember  it  as  a  well-ar- 
ranged group,  simple  and  dignified  in  its  general  lines,  and  promis- 
ing to  be  a  successful  work.  I  inquired  of  him,  a  few  years  ago, 
what  had  become  of  this  canvas.  He  told  me  it  had  been  lost, 
with  many  other  sketches,  during  one  of  his  visits  to  Europe.  The 
money  which  had  been  advanced  he  returned  to  the  subscribers. 

"  Professor  Morse's  love  of  scientific  experiments  was  shown  in 
his  artist-life.  He  formed  theories  of  color,  tried  experiments  with 
various  vehicles,  oils,  varnishes,  and  pigments.  His  studio  was  a 
kind  of  laboratory. 

"  A  beautiful  picture  of  his  wife  and  two  children  was  painted,  he 
told  me,  with  colors  ground  in  milk,  and  the  effect  was  juicy,  creamy, 
and  pearly,  to  a  remarkable  degree.  Another  picture  was  com- 
menced with  colors  mixed  with  beer,  afterward  solidly  impasted  and 
glazed  with  rich,  transparent  tints  in  varnish.  His  theory  of  color 
is  fully  explained  in  the  account  of  his  life  in  Dunlap's  '  Arts  of 
Design.'  He  proved  its  truth  by  boxes  and  balls  of  various  colors. 
He  had  an  honest,  solid,  vigorous  impasto,  which  he  strongly  insisted 
on  in  his  instructions — a  method  which  was  like  the  great  masters 
of  the  Venetian  school.  This  method  was  modified  in  his  practice 
by  his  studies  under  Vest,  in  England,  and  by  his  intimacy  with 
Allston,  for  whose  genius  he  had  a  great  reverence,  and  by  whose 
way  of  painting  he  was  strongly  influenced.  He  was  a  lover  of 
simple,  unaffected  truth,  and  this  trait  is  shown  in  his  works  as  an 
artist ;  he  had  a  passion  for  color,  and  rich,  harmonious  tints  run 
through  his  pictures,  which  are  glowing  and  mellow,  and  yet  pearly 
and  delicate.  He  had  a  true  painter's  eye,  but  he  was  hindered 
from  reaching  the  fame  his  genius  promised  as  a  painter  by  various 
distractions  ;  such  as  the  early  battles  of  the  Academy  of  Design  in 
its  struggle  for  life,  domestic  afflictions,  and,  more  than  all,  the  en- 
grossing cares  of  his  invention.     The  'Hercules,'  with  its  colossal 


248  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

proportions  and  daring  attitude  is  evidence  of  the  zeal  and  courage 
of  his  early  studies.  An  interesting  account  of  this  work,  and  of 
the  model  in  plaster,  which  he  made  for  it,  is  given  in  '  Dunlap,'  vol. 
ii.,  p.  311.  It  is  now  placed  for  safe-keeping  in  the  Academy  of 
Design,  and  is  worthy  of  being  carefully  preserved  in  a  public  gal- 
lery, not  only  as  an  instance  of  successful  study  in  a  young  artist 
(Morse  was  in  his  twenty-first  year),  but  as  possessing  high  artistic 
merit,  and  a  force  and  richness  which  plainly  show  that,  if  his  ener- 
gies had  not  been  diverted,  he  might  have  achieved  a  name  in  art 
equal  to  the  greatest  of  his  contemporaries. 

"  His  '  Gallery  of  the  Louvre '  I  know  only  from  the  studies 
made  for  it ;  but  they  indicate  a  great  mastery  of  perspective,  of 
grouping,  and  coloring.  His  large  picture  of  '  The  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives,' for  many  years  owned  in  England,  was  brought  to 
this  country  by  an  amateur,  taken  to  San  Francisco  for  exhibition, 
returned  to  New  York,  and  is  now  in  my  studio.  It  has  those 
traits  of  truthfulness,  simplicity,  and  a  subdued,  mellow  richness, 
which  characterize  many  of  his  works,  but  which  are  preeminent  in 
this.  The  architecture  is  well  drawn,  the  accessories  rendered  with 
accuracy,  the  flesh-color  is  deep  and  luminous,  and  the  general  effect 
harmonious  and  agreeable.  The  rich,  solid,  impasted  execution  is 
like  some  great  old  Venetian  painter,  and  the  hue  and  texture  re- 
mind one  of  the  works  of  Tintoretto. 

"  The  following  account  of  this  picture  is  taken  from  the  Daily 
Graphic,  of  May  26,  1873  :  •  In  the  studio  of  D.  Huntington  is  a 
most  interesting  historical  painting  by  Professor  Morse,  which  bears 
the  date  of  1822.  The  canvas  is  eight  feet  by  eleven  feet,  and  rep- 
resents the  old  House  of  Representatives  at  the  hour  of  lighting. 
In  the  centre  hangs  the  great  chandelier,  and  on  a  high  step-ladder 
a  negro  is  turning  up  the  Argand  burners,  which  are  evidently  of 
interest,  as  the  group  on  the  platform,  among  whom  are  Story  and 
Marshall,  are  regarding  the  operation.  Scattered  among  the  seats 
and  around  the  room,  are  the  members  talking  together,  and  one 
with  his  back  toward  the  light  is  endeavoring  to  read.  In  the  half 
gloom  of  the  gallery  are  several  persons,  one  of  whom  is  Morse,  the 
geographer,  and  father  of  the  professor,  also  Professor  Silliman  and 
an  Indian  princess.  There  is  the  greatest  fidelity  in  the  painting  of 
the  room,  and  what  renders  the  picture  still  more  valuable  is  the 
fact  that  the  faces  are  all  portraits.  The  key  to  the  picture  cannot 
be  found,  but  the  faces  of  a  number  have  been  recognized  by  the 
likenesses  as  those  of  Chief-Justices  Marshall  and  Story;  Stephen 


HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES.  249 

Van  Rensselaer ;  Governor  Tomlinson,  of  Connecticut ;  Gales  and 
Seaton,  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  and  several  others.  The 
studies  for  these  heads  were  made  by  Professor  Morse  in  Washing- 
ton, and  afterward  were  stolen,  some  of  them  finally  finding  their 
way  into  private  collections,  where  they  now  are.  The  aim  of  the 
artist  seems  to  have  been  to  present  a  true  picture  of  the  House 
at  that  time,  rather  than  to  attempt  any  thing  picturesque.  The 
whole  work  has  an  honest  air,  which  adds  to  its  historical  interest. 
The  costumes  are  those  of  that  time,  when  gentlemen  wore  ruffled 
shirts  and  white  ties.  There  is  but  little  attempt  at  composition. 
The  groups  are  arranged  in  broken  lines,  but  the  effect  of  the  whole 
is  a  little  stiff.  The  low  rich  tones,  the  crimsons,  and  warm  grays, 
are*  very  agreeable.  The  perspective  is  good,  and  the  painting, 
especially  of  the  columns,  is  very  solidly  done.  For  its  historical 
accuracy,  its  portraits,  its  representations  of  the  costumes,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  old  House  of  Representatives ;  for  its  rendering 
of  a  phase  of  our  national  life  now  passed  away,  as  well  as  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  work  of  one  of  the  fathers  of  American  art, 
and  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  Americans,  it  deserves  a  place  in 
the  national  Capitol,  and  none  could  be  more  appropriate  than  that 
same  room  it  pictures,  which  is  now  fitted  for  a  public  gallery.' 

"  Professor  Morse's  world-wide  fame  rests,  of  course,  on  his  in- 
vention of  the  Electric  Telegraph ;  but  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  qualities  of  mind  which  led  to  it,  were  developed  in  the 
progress  of  his  art-studies,  and  if  his  paintings,  in  the  various  fields 
of  history,  portrait,  and  landscape,  could  be  brought  together, 
it  would  be  found  that  he  deserved  an  honored  place  among  the 
foremost  American  artists." 

The  picture  of  the  Louvre,  which  Mr.  Morse  began  in  Paris, 
he  finished  after  his  return  to  New  York,  and  it  was  purchased 
by  George  Clark,  Esq.,  of  Otsego,  and  removed  to  Hyde  Hall, 
on  .Otsego  Lake. 

We  have  now  followed  Mr.  Morsfe  through  what  may  be 
called  his  art-life.  After  his  return  to  the  city  of  New  York,  he 
pursued  his  profession  as  a  means  of  support ;  but,  during  the 
voyage  across  the  ocean  in  the  autumn  of  1832,  a  vision  broke 
upon  him,  which  produced  a  revolution  in  his  life,  and  on  the 
commerce  and  intercourse  of  mankind.  We  have  seen  that 
his  genius  was  inventive.  From  early  youth  he  had  displayed 
the  inventive  faculty — a  distinctive  feature  of  the  family  to 


250  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MOUSE. 

which  he  belonged.  He  was  stimulated  by  an  ardent  desire 
for  usefulness  and  fame.  The  honor  of  his  country  was  always 
very  near  his  heart.  His  desire  for  distinction  as  a  painter,  as 
we  gather  from  letters  to  his  most  intimate  associates,  had  in  it 
more  of  patriotism  than  selfishness.  He  longed  to  distinguish 
his  country  by  his  own  distinction ;  and,  in  the  future  contro- 
versies in  which  his  great  invention  involved  him,  the  honor  of 
America  was  uppermost  in  his  mind.  Encouraged  and  excited 
by  the  associations  of  the  past  three  years  in  Europe,  laden  with 
the  riches  which  he  had  amassed  in  the  galleries  of  Italy,  and 
flushed  with  the  highest  hopes  of  future  success,  he  embarked 
at  Havre  on  the  1st  day  of  October,  1832,  for  the  city  of  New 
York. 


Ecji  "ty  W. 


MWGJEIL    Fc   LB-  Ri 

INVENTOR     OF     THE      MAGNETIC    TELEGRAPH 


hi1  (vjtpl^i 


I 

I 


CHAPTER   VII. 

1832. 

PACKET-SHIP  SULLY — ELEOTEO-MAGNETISM — DINNER-TABLE  CONVEESATION— 
IDEA  OF  THE  TELEGBAPH — FIEST  MAEKS  MADE — THE  INVENTION  AN- 
NOUNCED TO  PASSENGEES — DEAWINGS  EXHD3ITED — PEEDICTION  TO  CAP- 
TAIN PELL — PEOF.  E.  N.  HOESFOED's   HISTOEY   OF  THE  SCIENCE — STEPHEN 

GEEY — LEYDEN  JAE — FEANKLIn's   EXPEELMENTS — OHAELES    MAESHALL 

LE  SAGE — LOMOND — EEUSSEE — OAVALLO — WEDGEWOOD — EONALDS — DYAE 
— GALVANISM,  OE  VOLTAISM — VOLTA — SOHWEIGGEE — OOXE — MAGNETISM — 

ELEOTEO-MAGNETISM — AMPEEE — SCHILLING COOKE    AND    -WHEATSTONE — 

OEESTED SPIEAL    COIL,    1821 AEAGO  —  STUEGEON  —  JAMES    FEEEMAN 

DANA JOSEPH     HENEY — FEOHNEE — OHM'S     LAW — STEINHEIL — DANIEL 

SOEMMEE1NG SAMUEL    FINLEY   BEEESE    MOESE — INVENTION  AND   DISCOV- 

EEY — CLAIMS    OF    DISOOVEEEES    AND    INVENTOES — SUCCESSIVE    STEPS    IN 
TELEGEAPHIO   INVENTION. 

THE  packet-ship  Sully,  Captain  Pell,  sailed  from  Havre  on 
the  1st  day  of  October,  1832,  for  New  York.  Among  the 
cabin-passengers  were  the  Hon.  William  C.  Rives,  of  Virginia, 
returning  with  his  family  from  Paris,  where  he  had  been  as 
Minister  of  the  United  States ;  Mr.  J.  F.  Fisher,  of  Philadelphia ; 
Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  of  Boston;  Mr.  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  of  New 
York ;  Mrs.  T.  Palmer,  Miss  E.  Palmer,  Mr.  C.  Palmer,  Mr.  F. 
Palmer,  Mr.  W.  Palmer,  Mr.  J.  Haslett,  Charleston,  S  C. ;  Mr. 
Lewis  Rogers,  Virginia ;  Mr.  "W.  Post,  New  Vork ;  Mr.  Con- 
stable, New  York  ;  Mons.  de  la  Cande,  Mons.  J.  P.  Chazel, 
Charleston ;  Mr.  A.  Scheidler,  Frankfort,  Germany ;  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Burgy,  and  others. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  voyage  conversation  at  the  dinner- 
table  turned  upon  recent  discoveries  in  electro-magnetism,  and 
the  experiments  of  Ampere  with  the  electro-magnet.     Dr.  Jack- 


252  LIFE   °F   SAMUEL  E.   B.   MORSE. 

son  spoke  of  the  length  of  wire  in  the  coil  of  a  magnet,  and  the 
question  was  asked  by  some  one  of  the  company,  "  If  the  velo- 
city of  electricity  was  retarded  by  the  length  of  the  wire  ? " 
Dr.  Jackson  replied  that  electricity  passes  instantaneously  over 
any  known  length  of  wire.  He  referred  to  experiments  made 
by  Dr.  Franklin  with  several  miles  of  wire  in  circuit,  to  ascer- 
tain the  velocity  of  electricity ;  the  result  being  that  he  could 
observe  no  difference  of  time  between  the  touch  at  one  extrem- 
ity and  the  spark  at  the  other.  At  this  point  Mr.  Morse  inter- 
posed the  remark,  "  If  the  presence  of  electricity  can  be  made 
visible  in  any  part  of  the  circuit,  I  see  no  reason  why  intelli- 
gence may  not  be  transmitted  instantaneously  by  electricity." 
The  conversation  went  on.  But  the  one  new  idea  had  taken 
complete  possession  of  the  mind  of  Mr.  Morse.  It  was  as  sud- 
den and  pervading  as  if  •  he  had  received  at  that  moment  an 
electric  shock.  All  that  he  had  learned  in  former  years,  the  ex- 
periments he  had  seen  in  his  boyhood,  his  studies  with  Pro- 
sessors  Day  and  Silliman,  the  later  and  significant  discourses 
of  Professor  Dana,  and  conversations  with  Professor  Renwick, 
were  revived,  and  began  to  form  themselves  into  means  and 
ways  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  grand  result.  He  withdrew 
from  the  table  and  went  upon  deck.  He  was  in  mid-ocean,  un- 
dique  caelum,-  undique  jpontus.  As  the  lightning  cometh  out  of 
the  east  and  shineth  unto  the  west,  so  swift  and  far  was  the  in- 
strument to  work  that  was  taking  shape  in  his  creative  mind. 

Lightning  and  electricity  had  long  been  known  as  one  and 
the  same.  Signals  had  been  made  at  a  distance  by  electricity, 
and  intelligence  thus  transmitted,  as  beacon-fires  on  hill-tops  had 
from  time  immemorial  flashed  the  knowledge  of  events  across 
continents.  But  this  was  not  the  conception  of  that  moment 
in  the  brain  of  Morse.  His  was  a  thought  that,  so  far  as 
he  knew,  had  never  entered  the  mind  of  man  before !  He 
would  transmit  intelligence  and  record  it  at  a  distance.  That 
is  a  telegraph.  Nothing  else  is  a  telegraph ;  an  instrument  to 
write  at  a  distance.  The  purpose  instantly  formed  absorbed 
his  mind,  and  to  its  perfection  his  life  from  that  moment  was 
devoted.  He  was  the  man  to  do  the  work.  His  mind  was 
eminently  inventive  and  mechanical.  In  his  early  youth  and 
riper  manhood  he  had  sought  out  many  inventions.     His  name 


THE  PROCESS  OF   THOUGHT  253 

had  long  been  enrolled  among  inventors  in  the  Patent-Office  of 
the  United  States.  Patience,  perseverance,  and  faith,  were  he- 
reditary traits  of  his  character.    He  was  now  forty-one  years  old. 

The  mechanism  by  which  the  result  wonld  be  reached  was 
to  be  wrought  out  by  slow  and  laborious  thought  and  experi- 
ment, but  the  grandeur  of  that  result  broke  upon  him  as  clearly 
and  fully  as  if  it  had  been  a  vision  from  heaven.  Difficulties 
afterward  arose  in  his  path,  to  be  surmounted  or  removed  by 
toilsome  and  painful  processes ;  for  it  is  the  order  of  Nature 
that  birth-throes  should  bear  some  proportion  to  the  greatness 
of  the  birth.  But  in  that  first  hour  of  conception,  when  his 
soul  was  all  aglow  with  the  discovery,  he  saw  the  end  from  the 
beginning.  The  current  of  electricity  passes  instantaneously  to 
any  distance  along  a  wire ;  the  current  being  interrupted,  a 
spark  appears.  The  spark  shall  be  one  sign;  its  absence  an- 
other ;  the  time  of  its  absence  another.  Here  are  three  signs  to 
be  combined  into  the  representation  of  figures  or  letters.  They 
can  be  made  to  form  an  alphabet.  Words  may  thus  be  indi- 
cated. A  telegraph,  an  instrument  to  record  at  a  distance,  will 
be  the  result.  Continents  shall  be  crossed.  This  great  and 
wide  sea  shall  be  no  barrier.  "  If  it  will  go  ten  miles  without 
stopping,"  he  said,  "  I  can  make  it  go  around  the  globe." 

Of  all  the  great  inventions  that  have  made  their  authors 
immortal,  and  conferred  enduring  benefit  upon  mankind,  no  one 
was  so  completely  grasped  at  its  inception  as  this.  His  little 
note  or  scratch  book  was  always  at  hand,  in  which  he  made 
sketches  of  objects  that  met  his  eye,  or  of  images  formed  in  his 
mind.  Scores  of  these  books  are  now  in  existence,  in  which  his 
early  and  later  pencilings  are  preserved.  As  he  sat  upon  the 
deck  after  the  conversation  at  dinner,  he  drew  from  his  pocket 
one  of  these  books,  and  began  to  make  marks  to  -represent  let- 
ters and  figures  to  be  produced  by  the  agency  of  electricity  at  a 
distance  from  the  place  of  action.  First,  he  arranged  ten  dots 
and  lines  so  as  to  represent  figures  referring  to  words.  Next, 
he  drew  the  wires  in  tubes.  Then  came  the  magnets,  and  by- 
and-by  cog-rules,  to  be  used  in  regulating^  the  power.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  days  his  book  presented  several  pages,  which  are 
here  reproduced,  showing  the  first  marks  ever  made  in  the  in- 
vention of  the  Telegraph : 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 

1234567890 


a 


TD 


Clay   (J) 


Tubes. 


56 

Holland. 

Close  Tubes. 

M     ° 

°             " 

mC^ 



215 

War. 

15 

Belgium. 

5 

Alliance. 

161 

France. 

252 

England. 

300 

against 

41 

Russia. 

35 

Prussia. 

25 

Austria. 

4030 

Wednesday. 

141 

6th  Aug. 

Cuvier. 

222 

Naturalist, 

32 

died. 

1.6.8.5.4.3 

Magnet  lifting  sixty  pounds. 


A  single  space  separates  each  of  the  first  five  figures. 
Two  spaces  separate  each  of  the  last  five. 
•Three  spaces  separate  each  number  completed. 


/ 

2 

■3 

i 

,7 

6 

; 

* 

3 

I 

0 

. 

. 

. 

. 

• 

. 

• 

. 

- 

• 

. 

. 

. 

• 

• 

• 

. 

• 

. 

• 

• 

. 

. 

- 

• 

- 

• 

- 

■ 

■ 

• 

. 

. 

. 

- 

• 

1 

1 

• 

• 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

■ 

1 

1 

. 

. 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

/ 

1 

• 

• 

. 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

26.203     .456     .1890.11072.2   3605 


"Weak  Permanent  Magnet. 


Electro-magnet  Strong. 


256  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

He  wrought  incessantly  that  day,  and  sleep  forsook  him  in 
his  berth  that  night.  His  mind  was  on  fire.  In  a  few  days  he 
submitted  these  rough  drafts  to  Mr.  Hives,  who  suggested  vari- 
ous difficulties.  But  Mr.  Morse  was  ready  with  a  solution.  Mr. 
Fisher  states  that  Mr.  Morse  illustrated  to  him  his  system  of 
signs  for  letters,  to  be  indicated  by  a  quick  succession  of  strokes 
or  shocks  of  the  galvanic  current,  to  be  carried  along  upon  a 
single  wire.  After  several  sleepless  nights,  while  his  mind  was 
in  labor  with  the  subject,  he  announced  it  at  the  breakfast-table, 
and  explained  the  process  by  which  he  proposed  to  accomplish  it. 
He  then  exhibited  the  drawing  of  the  instrument,  by  which  he 
would  do  the  work,  and  so  completely  had  he  mastered  all  the 
details,  that  five  years  afterward,  when  a  model  of  this  instru- 
ment was  constructed,  it  was  instantly  recognized  as  the  one  he 
had  devised  and  drawn  in  his  sketch-book,  and  exhibited  to  his 
fellow-passengers  on  the  ship.  J.  Francis  Fisher,  Esq.,  counselor- 
at-law  of  Philadelphia,  stated,  when  his  testimony  was  required : 

"  In  the  fall  of  the  year  1832  I  returned  from  Europe  as  a  pas- 
senger with  Mr.  Morse,  in  the  ship  Sully,  Captain  Pell,  master ; 
during  the  voyage  the  subject  of  an  electric  telegraph  was  one 
of  frequent  conversation ;  Mr.  Morse  was  most  constant  in  pursuing 
it,  and  alone  the  one  who  seemed  disposed  to  reduce  it  to  a  prac- 
tical test ;  and  I  recollect  that  for  this  purpose  he  devised  a  system 
of  signs  for  letters,  to  be  indicated  and  marked  by  a  quick  succes- 
sion of  strokes,  or  shocks  of  the  galvanic  current ;  and  I  am  sure  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  deemed  by  Mr.  Morse  perfectly  competent  to 
effect  the  result  stated ;  I  did  not  suppose  that  any  other  person  on 
board  the  ship  claimed  any  merit  in  the  invention,  or  was  in  fact 
interested  to  pursue  it  to  .maturity,  as  Mr.  Morse  then  seemed  to 
be ;  nor  have  I  been  able  since  that  time  to  recall  any  fact  or  ch> 
cumstance  to  justify  the  claim  of  any  person  other  than  Mr.  Morse 
to  the  invention." 

And  Captain  Pell  stated,  under  oath,  that  when  he  saw  the 
instrument,  September  27,  1837,  he  recognized  in  it  the  same 
mechanical  principles  and  arrangements  which  he  had  heard  Mr. 
Morse  explain  on  board  of  the  Sully  in  1832.     Captain  Pell 

says: 

"Before  the  vessel  was  in  port,  Mr.  Morse  addressed  me  in 
these  words  :  '  Well,  captain,  should  you  hear  of  the  telegraph,  one 


ELECTRICITY.  257 

of  these  days,  as  the  wonder  of  the  world,  remember  the  discovery 
was  made  on  board  the  good  ship  Sully.' " 

Thus  it  appears  from  his  own  records,  and  the  recollections 
of  the  captain  and  passengers,  gentlemen  of  the  highest  respect- 
ability and  intelligence,  that  on  shipboard  Mr.  Morse  had  actu- 
ally drawn  out  and  recorded  a  system  of  signs,  composed  of  a 
combination  of  dots  and  spaces,  to  indicate  letters,  figures,  and 
words,  and  a  mode  of  applying  the  electric  or  galvanic  current 
so  as  to  make  these  signs  permanent  upon  paper,  to  be  passed 
along  in  the  instrument  which  he  had  invented.  The  inven- 
tion" was  accomplished  and  announced  ere  the  inventor  set  foot 
on  his  native  shore.  "While  the  Sully  is  pursuing  her  way  across 
the  sea,  and  the  inventor  is  thinking  out  his  great  conception, 
we  will  review  the  progress  of  electrical  science,  and  learn  the 
material  he  had  with  which  to  make  his  idea  real : * 

The  knowledge  that  certain  substances,  like  amber,  would, 
when  rubbed  with  dry  silk,  or  woolen,  or  fur,  attract  light  bodies, 
like  pith-balls,  or  feathers,  and  which  is  at  the  foundation  of  elec- 
tricity, was  known  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  The  knowl- 
edge that  a  certain  iron-ore  was  endowed  with  the  property  of  at- 
tracting pieces  of  iron,  lay  at  the  foundation  of  magnetism,  and  was 
also  of  very  early  origin.  Galvanism,  at  the  farthest,  scarcely 
goes  back  beyond  1790,  and,  for  application  to  the  invention  of  the 
recording  telegraph,  not  beyond  the  beginning  of  this  century. 

Electricity. — The  second  step  in  electricity  must  have  been 
the  discovery  that,  under  certain  circumstances,  instead  of  attract- 
ing light  bodies,  the  amber  repelled  them ;  and  the  third  step,  that 
the  peculiar  quality  or  force  was  something  that  could  be  transmit- 
ted along  what  is  called  a  conductor. 

As  early  as  1729  Stephen  Grey  employed  as  conductor^  pack- 
thread or  twine,  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  suspended  by  silk 
threads.2  He  also  discovered  that  electricity  could  be  conducted 
through  metallic  wires. 

The  Leyden  jar  dates  soon  after  1745.  This  discovery,  by 
which  the  electric  force  might  be  stored  up,  made  it  possible  to 

1  The  history  that  occupies  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  was  prepared  expressly 
for  this  volume  by  Professor  E.  N.  Horsford,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

2  Lecture  by  Dr.  B.  W.  Richardson,  F.  R.  S.,  before  the  Brethren  of  the  Charter 
House. — Illustrated  London  News,  February  21,  18*74. 

17 


258  EIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

intensify  its  action.  The  accumulation  of  force  in  the  interior,  and 
its  corresponding  diminution  on  the  outside,  was  restored  by  the 
interposition  of  a  conductor,  connecting  the  outside  with  the  inside. 
This  conductor  might  be  of  great  length.  The  velocity  of  the  cur- 
rent traversing  the  wire  seemed  instantaneous,  and  numerous  at- 
tempts to  determine  it  were  made  almost  immediately  after. 

Winkler,1  of  Leipsic,  made  an  experiment  July  28,  1746,  includ- 
ing the  river  Pleisse  in  his  circuit.  Experiments  were  made  in  Paris, 
including  the  water  of  the  basin  of  the  Tuileries  in  the  circuit.2 
Le  Monnier  made  an  experiment  with  a  wire  thirteen  hundred  and 
nineteen  feet  in  length,  which  seemed  to  show  that  the  velocity  was 
instantaneous.3  Watson,  of  England,  in  1747,  made  an  experiment, 
employing  two  miles  of  wire  in  the  air  and  two  of  earth  in  its  cir- 
cuit, with  a  like  result.4 

Dr.  Franklin  performed  a  similar  experiment  in  1748.5 

Franklin  says :  "  Two  iron  rods  about  three  feet  long  were 
planted  just  within  the  margin  of  the  river,  on  opposite  sides.  A 
thick  piece  of  wire  with  a  small  round  knob  at  its  end  was  fixed  on 
the  top  of  one  of  the  rods,  bending  downward  so  as  to  deliver  com- 
modiously  the  spark  upon  the  surface  of  the  spirit.  A  small  wire 
fastened  by  one  end  to  a  handle  of  the  spoon  containing  the  spirit 
was  carried  across  the  river,  and  supported  in  the  air  by  the  rope 
commonly  used  to  hold  by  in  drawing  ferry-boats  over.  The  other 
end  of  this  wire  was  tied  round  the  coating  of  the  bottle,  which 
being  charged,  the  spark  was  delivered  from  the  hook  to  the  top  of 
the  rod  standing  in  the  water  on  that  side.  At  the  same  in- 
stant the  rod  on  the  other  side  delivered  a  spark  into  the  spoon, 
and  fired  the  spirit,  the  electric  fire  returning  to  the  coating  of  the 
bottle,  through  the  handle  of  the  spoon  and  the  supporting  wire 
connected  with  them." 

Possibility  of  an  Electric  Telegraph. — The  existence  of 
a  force  that  might  be  stored  up  and  transmitted  through,  great 
lengths  of  wire,  and  through  circuits  of  great  length,  of  which 
the  earth  formed  a  part,  was  demonstrated  before  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  As  both  Watson  and  Franklin  fired 
gunpowder  and  spirits  with  the  electric  force  through  great 
lengths  of  wire  and  earth  introduced  into  their  circuits,  it  is 
interesting  to  note  how  long  ago  electricity  was  employed,  using 
the  earth  as  a  part  of  the  circuit,  for  the  transmission  of  signals. 

1  Priestley's  "  History  of  Electricity,"  p.  59. 

2  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  edition  of  1810,  p.  736. 

3  Ibid.  4  Ibid.  5  Parton's  "  Life  Of  Franklin." 


FIRST  PROPOSED   ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH.  259 

Yet  these  brilliant  results  do  not  seem  to  have  been  followed 
by  any  immediate  effort  to  produce  a  practical  telegraph  for  the 
transmission  of  intelligence. 

First  Proposed  Electric  Telegraph. — The  first  person  to 
propose  the  use  of  friction  electricity  as  a  medium  for  transmit- 
ting intelligence  was  a  contributor  to  the  Scots  Magazine,  in 
1753.  The  communication  was  signed  "  C.  M.,"  and  it  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  written  by  Charles  Marshall,  of  Paisley,  who 
was  at  the  time  sojourning  at  Renfrew,  from  which  place  the 
letter  was  written : 1 

"  To  the  HJditor  of  the  Scots  Magazine. 

"  Renfrew,  February  1,  1753. 
"  Sir  :  It  is  well  known  to  all  who  are  conversant  in  electrical 
experiments,  that  the  electric  power  may  be  propagated  along  a  small 
wire,  from  one  place  to  another,  without  being  sensibly  abated  by 
the  length  of  its  progress.  Let,  then,  a  set  of  wires,  equal  in  num- 
ber to  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  be  extended  horizontally  between 
two  given  places,  parallel  to  one  another,  and  each  of  them  about 
an  inch  distant  from  that  next  to  it.  At  every  twenty  yards'  end 
let  them  be  fixed  in  glass  or  jewelers'  cement  to  some  firm  body, 
both  to  prevent  them  from  touching  the  earth  or  any  other  non-elec- 
tric, and  from  breaking  by  their  own  gravity.  Let  the  electric  gun- 
barrel  be  placed  at  right  angles  with  the  extremities  of  the  wires, 
and  about  one  inch  below  them ;  also  let  the  wires  be  fixed  in  a 
solid  piece  of  glass  at  six  inches  from  the  end,  and  let  that  part  of 
them  which  reaches  from  the  glass  to  the  machine  have  sufficient 
spring  and  stiffness  to  recover  its  situation  after  having  been 
brought  in  contact  with  the  barrel.  Close  by  the  supporting  glass 
let  a  ball  be  suspended  from  every  wire ;  and  about  a  sixth  or  an 
eighth  of  an  inch*  below  the  balls  place  the  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
marked  on  bits  of  paper,  or  any  other  substance  that  may  be  light 
enough  to  rise  to  the  electrified  ball,  and  at  the  same  time  let  it 
be  so  continued  that  each  of  them  may  reassume  its  proper  place 
when  dropped.  All  things  constructed  as  above,  and  the  minute  pre- 
viously fixed,  I  begin  the  conversation  with  my  distant  friend  in  this 
manner :  Having  set  the  electrical  machine  agoing,  as  in  ordinary 
experiments,-*-suppose  I  am  to  pronounce  the  word  sir:  with  a  piece 
of  glass,  or  any  other  electric  per  se,  I  strike  the  wire  s  so  as  to 
bring  it  in  contact  with  the  barrel,  then  i,  then  r ;  all  in  the  same 
way ;  and  my  correspondent,  almost  in  the  same  instant,  observes 
these  several  characters  rise  in  order  to  the  electrified  balls  at  his 
end  of  the  wires.  Thus  I  spell  away  as  long  as  I  think  fit ;  and  my 
correspondent,  for  the  sake  of  memory,  writes  the  characters  as  they 

1  "  Angewandten  Electrikitats-Lehre."    Kuhn,  pp.  798,  822. 


260  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

rise,  and  may  join  and  read  them  as  often  as  he  inclines.  Upon  a 
signal  given,  or  from  choice,  I  stop  the  machine,  and,  taking  up  the 
pen  in  my  turn,  I  write  down  whatever  my  friend  at  the  other  end 
strikes  out.  If  anybody  should  think  this  way  tiresome,  let  him, 
instead  of  the  balls,  suspend  a  range  of  bells  from  the  roof,  equal  in 
number  to  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  gradually  decreasing  in  size 
from  the  bell  A  to  Z  y  and  from  the  horizontal  wires  let  there  be 
another  set  reaching  to  the  several  bells ;  one,  viz.,  from  the  hori- 
zontal wire  A  to  the  bell  A,  another  from  the  horizontal  wire  _S  to 
the  bell  -B,  etc.  Then  let  him  who  begins  the  discourse  bring  the 
wires  in  contact  with  the  barrel  as  before ;  and  the  electric  spark, 
breaking  on  bells  of  different  size,  will  inform  his  correspondent  by 
the  sound  what  wires  have  been  touched,  and  thus,  by  some  prac- 
tice, they  may  come  to  understand  the  language  of  the  chimes  in 
whole  words,  without  being  put  to  the  trouble  of  noting  down  every 
letter.  The  same  thing  may  be  otherwise  effected :  Let  the  balls 
be  suspended  over  the  characters  as  before,  but,  instead  of  bringing 
the  ends  of  the  horizontal  wires  in  contact  with  the  barrel,  let  a  sec- 
ond set  reach  from  the  electrified .  cable,  so  as  to  be  in  contact  with 
the  horizontal  ones,  and  let  it  be  so  contrived,  at  the  same  time,  that 
any  of  them  m-ay  be  removed  from  its  corresponding  horizontal  by 
the  slightest  touch,  and  may  bring  itself  again  into  contact  when  set 
at  liberty.  This  may  be  done  by  the  help  of  a  small  spring  and 
slides,  or  twenty  other  methods,  which  the  least  ingenuity  will  dis- 
cover. In  this  way  the  characters  will  always  adhere  to  the  balls, 
excepting  when  any  one  of  the  secondaries  is  removed  from  contact 
with  its  horizontal;  and  then  the  letter  at  the  other  end  of  the 
horizontal  will  immediately  drop  from  its  ball.  But  I  mention  this 
only  by  way  of  variety.  Some  may,  perhaps,  think  that,  although 
the  electric  fire  has  not  been  observed  to  diminish  sensibly  in  its 
progress  through  any  length  of  wire  that  has  been  tried  hitherto, 
yet,  as  that  has  never  exceeded  some  thirty  or  forty  yards,  it  may 
be  reasonably  supposed  that  in  a  far  greater  length  it  would  be  re- 
markably diminished,  and  probably  would  be  entirely  drained  off  in  a 
few  miles  by  the  surrounding  air.  To  prevent  the  objection,  and  save 
longer  argument,  lay  over  the  wires  from  one  end  to  the  other  with 
a  thin  coat  of  jeweler's  cement.  This  may  be  done  for  a  trifle  of 
additional  expense ;  and,  as  it  is  an  electric  per  se,  will  effectually 
secure  any  part  of  the  fire  from  mixing  with  the  atmosphere. 

"  I  am,  etc.,  C.  M." 

The  method  proposed  by  Marshall  seems  to  have  contained 
the  essential  elements  of  telegraphy. 

Le  Sage,  at  Geneva,  in  1774,  devised  a  plan  of  electric  tele- 
graphy and  put  it  in  operation.  It  was  strikingly  like  that  of  Mar- 
shall, employing  a  wire  for  each  letter,  and  producing  repulsion 
between  the  pith-balls  by  an  electric  discharge  for  each  wire.1 

1  Moigno's  "  Telegraphie  Electrique,"  p.  59. 


SUCCESSIVE  PLANS.  261 

Lomond,  in  1787,  devised  an  instrument  which,  operated  in 
one  room,  gave  intelligent  signals  in  an  adjoining  apartment.1 

Reusser,  of  Geneva,  in  1794,  employed  the  electric  spark  to 
transmit  intelligence,  using  an  arrangement  of  lines  and  spaces, 
with  stripes  of  tin-foil  so  contrived  that,  when  these  spaces  were 
illuminated  by  the  sparks,  the  form  of  the  letter  or  figure  was  ex- 
hibited. The  illumination  of  each  letter  or  figure  required  a  direct 
and  return  wire,  and,  as  his  plan  employed  thirty-seven  characters, 
there  were  required  seventy-four  wires  between  each  two  stations. 
Similar  telegraphs  were  devised  by  Salva,  and  Betancourt,  at  Madrid, 
operating  many  miles  in  length,  in  1797  and  1798  (Humboldt). 

Bockmann,  in  1795,  proposed  the  use  of  sparks,  one,  two,  or  more, 
to  indicate  the  letters  of  the  alphabet;  and  Cavallo,  in  1797,  suc- 
cessfully tested  the  project  through  a  wire  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long.     Lullin,  about  the  same  time,  made  a  like  suggestion.2 

In  "  The  Wedgwoods,  being  a  Life  of  Josiah  Wedgwood,"  by 
Llewellynn  Jewett,  London,  1865,  is  the  following  notice  (p.  1-78) 
of  a  proposed  telegraph  : 

"  This  Thomas  Wedgwood  was,  I  believe,  cousin  to  Josiah, 
being  son  of  Aaron  Wedgwood,  etc.,  etc.  .  .  .  He  was  a  man  of 
high  scientific  attainments,  and  has  the  reputation  of  being-  the  first 
inventor  of  the  electric  telegraph  (afterward  so  ably  carried  out  by 
his  son  Ralph),  and  of  many  other  valuable  works." 

Page  180 :  "  In  1806,  Ralph  Wedgwood  established  himself  at 
Charing  Cross,  and  soon  afterward  his  whole  attention  began  to 
be  engrossed  with  his  scheme  of  the  electric  telegraph,  which  in 
the  then  unsettled  state  of  the  kingdom — in  the  midst  of  war,  it 
must  be  remembered — he  considered  would  be  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  the  Government.  In  1814,  having  perfected  his  scheme, 
he  submitted  his  proposal  to  Lord  Castlereagh,  and  most  anxiously 
waited  the  result.     His  son  Ralph,  having  waited  on  his  worship 

1  It  is  thus  described  by  Arthur  Young,  in  his  "  Travels  in  France,"  vol.  i.,  p. 
979,  fourth  edition,  1787 :  "  M.  Lomond  has  made  a  remarkable  discovery  in  elec- 
tricity. You  write  two  or  three  words  on  a  paper ;  he  takes  it  into  a  room,  and  turns 
a  machine  inclosed  in  a  cylindrical  case,  at  the  top  of  which  is  an  electrometer,  a 
small  pine  pith-ball ;  a  wire  connects  with  a  similar  cylinder  and  electrometer  in  a 
distant  apartment ;  and  his  wife,  by  remarking  the  corresponding  motions  of  the 
ball,  writes  down  the  words  they  indicate,  from  which  it  appears  that  he  has  formed 
an  alphabet  of  motion.  As  the  length  of  the  wire  makes  no  difference  in  the  effect, 
a  correspondence  might  be  carried  on  at  any  distance,  within  or  without  a  besieged 
town,  for  instance,  or  for  objects  much  more  worthy  of  attention,  and  a  thousand 
times  more  harmless." 

2  "  Vollst.  Abh.  d.  theor.  und  prak.  Lehre  v.  d.  Electr.,"  Leipzig,  1797,  Bd.  ii., 
pp.  337-388. 


262  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

for  a  decision,  as  to  whether  Government  would  accept  the  plan  or 
not,  was  informed  that  '  the  war  being  at  an  end,  the  old  system 
was  sufficient  for  the  country.'  The  plan  therefore  fell  to  the 
ground,  until  Professor  Wheatstone,  in  happier  and  more  enlight- 
ened times,  again  brought  the  subject  forward  with  such  eminent 
success.  The  plan  thus  brought  forward  by  Ralph  Wedgwood,  in 
1814,  and  of  which,  as  I  have  stated,  he  received  the  first  idea  from 
his  father,  was  thus  described  by  him  in  a  pamphlet,  entitled,  '  An 
Address  to  the  Public  on  the  Advantages  of  a  Proposed  Introduc- 
tion of  the  Stylographic  Principle  of  Writing  into  General  Use ; 
and  also  of  an  Improved  Species  of  Telegraphy,  calculated  for  the 
Use  of  the  Public,  as  well  as  for  the  Government.'  " 

The  pamphlet  is  dated,  May  29,  1815. 

Extract  from  the  Pamphlet. 

"  A  modification  of  the  stylographic  principle,  proposed  for  the 
adoption  of  Parliament,  in  lieu  of  telegraphs,  viz. : 

"  The  Fulguric-Polygraph,  which  admits  of  writing  in  several 
distant  places  at  one  and  the  same  time,  by  the  agency  of  two  per- 
sons only. 

"  This  invention  is  founded  on  the  capacity  of  electricity  to  pro- 
duce motion  in  the  act  of  acquiring  an  equilibrium  : 

"  Which  motion  by  the  aid  of  machinery  is  made  to  distribute 
matter  at  the  extremities  of  any  given  course.  And  the  matter  so 
distributed  being  variously  modified  in  correspondence  with  the 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  communicable  in  rapid  succession  at 
the  will  of  the  operator,  it  is  obvious  that  writing  at  immense  dis- 
tances hereby  becomes  practicable ;  and  further,  as  lines  of  com- 
munication can  be  multiplied  from  any  given  point,  and  those  lines 
affected  by  one  and  the  same  application  of  the  electric  matter,  it 
is  evident  from  hence,  also,  that  fac-similes  of  a  dispatch,  written 
as  for  instance  in  London,  may  with  facility  be  written  also  in  Plym- 
outh, Dover,  Hull,  Leith,  Liverpool,  and  Bristol,  or  any  other  place, 
by  the  same  person,  and  by  one  and  the  same  act." 

He  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  advantages  to  the  public,  and 

says: 

"  To  the  seat  of  her  Government  (England),  therefore,  it  »must 
be  highly  desirable  to  effect  the  most  speedy  and  certain  commu- 
nication from  every  quarter  of  the  world." 

All  these  employed  friction  electricity,  as  did  Ronalds,  of  Eng- 
gland,  in  1816,  on  a  line  eight  miles  in  length,  operating  with  pith- 
balls  on  the  faces  of  synchronous  clocks,  and  Harrison  Gray  Dyar, 
on  the  Long-Island  race-course,1  near  New  York,  in  .1827,  on  a  line 
of  two  miles,  using  the  current  to  discolor  prepared  paper. 

1  Dyar's  (defendant's)  testimony,  "Bain's  Case,"  pp.  13,  32*7. 


GALVANISM.  263 

Up  to  this  time  the  elements  out  of  which  to  produce  a  success- 
ful telegraph  had  not  been  brought  to  light.  The  agent  at  command 
— friction  electricity — was  fitful,  influenced  by  the  weather,  and,  at 
a  distance,  liable  at  times  to  be  feeble. 

Galvanism,  ok  Voltaism. — The  discovery  of  the  voltaic  pile,  in 
1800,  opened  up  a  new  era  for  invention  in  telegraphy.  It  gave  the 
advantage  of  the  constant  current  of  a  battery  over  the  intermitted 
shocks  of  the  electrical  apparatus.  Sommering,  in  1809-'ll,  em- 
ployed the  electric  current  developed  by  the  voltaic  pile  to  produce 
chemical  decompositions  with  the  evolution  of  visible  gas  ;  he  em- 
ployed thirty-five  wires,  each  wire  having  the  same  letter  or  figure 
at  either  end,  and  an  additional  wire  for  producing  an  alarum,  by 
causing  an  augmentation  of  gas  in  a  manner  to  release  a  detent  and 
set  in  motion  clock-work  to  ring  a  bell.  It  would  of  course  be  pos- 
sible to  transmit  words  by  producing  gas-bubbles  at  the  ends  of  the 
wires,  bearing  in  their  order  of  succession  the  letters  of  which  the 
words  were  composed.  Each  of  the  thirty-five  wires  had  its  return- 
wire,  making  seventy  in  all. 

This  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  a  telegraph — a  writing  at  a  dis- 
tance; it  was  a  signal  apparatus — a  voltaic  semaphore.  But  it 
was  cumbrous,  time-consuming,  and  interesting  chiefly  as  illustrat- 
ing how  early  the  projectile  force  of  the  voltaic  battery  was  ap- 
plied to  the  production  of  visible  chemical  effects  at  a  distance. 

Schweigger  proposed  to  reduce  the  great  number  of  wires  in 
Sommering's  apparatus  to  two,  and  instead  of  a  tube  for  the  evo- 
lution of  gas  for  each  letter,  a  single  tube  only,  and  the  letter  to  be 
indicated  by  the  number  of  seconds  through  which  the  evolution  of 
hydrogen  should  continue.  This  apparatus  so  simplified  was  to  be 
used  in  connection  with  a  signal-book. 

Dr.  John  Redman  Coxe,  of  Philadelphia,  in  1810-11,  proposed  a 
plan  similar  to  that  of  Simmering,  which,  however,  was  not  carried 
out  to  practical  testing.1  He  communicated  an  account  of  it,  which 
was  published  in  "  Thomson's  Annals  of  Philosophy  "  (February, 
1816). 

Magnetism. — The  date  of  the  discovery  of  the  magnetic  needle 
was  in  remote  antiquity.  The  Chinese  were  familiar  with  its  use 
before  its  introduction  into  Europe.  This  instrument,  so  indispen- 
sable to  the  navigation  of  the  ocean  and  to  numerous  uses  on  land, 
consists  of  a  slender  bar  of  hardened  iron  or  steel  resting  at  its  centre 
upon  a  sharply-pointed    support.     When  this   piece  of  iron  was 

1  Coxe's  deposition,  p.  63,  defendant's  testimony,  Morse  vs.  Bain  Telegraph  Case. 


264  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

rubbed  in  a  certain  way  with  a  natural  loadstone,  or  an  artificial 
magnet,  it  acquired  the  property  when  free  to  move  on  its  support 
of  pointing  with  one  extremity  to  the  north,  and  the  other,  of 
course,  to  the  south.  These  extremities  were  respectively  called 
the  north  and  south  poles. 

Electro-Magketism. — It  was  early  known  that  the  position  of 
the  needle  might  be  changed  by  electric  discharges  in  its  neighbor- 
hood, but  its  susceptibility  to  the  influence  of  the  galvanic  current 
was  the  discovery  of  Oersted,  of  Copenhagen,  in  1819.  He  found 
that  when  the  electric  current  passes  in  a  direction,  north  or  south, 
through  a  wire,  it  causes  a  free  magnetic  needle  immediately  above 
or  below  it  to  assume  or  tend  to  assume  a  position  at  right  angles 
to  the  direction  of  the  current,  and  that  by  reversing  the  direction  of 
the  current  the  movement  of  the  needle  may  be  alike  reversed. 

This  observation,  usually  ascribed  to  Oersted,  seems  to  have 
been  first  made  by  Romagnesi,  a  physicist  of  Trent.  In  a  work 
entitled  "  Manuel  du  Galvanisme,"  par  Joseph  Lyarn,  Paris,  1864, 
under  the  heading,  "  Appareil  pour  reconnaitre  Taction  du  galva- 
nisme, sur  la  polarite  d'une  aiguille  aimantee,"  after  explaining  the 
way  to  prepare  the  apparatus,  which  consists  simply  in  putting  a 
freely  suspended  magnetic  needle  parallel  and  close  to  a  straight 
metallic  conductor,  through  which  a  galvanic  current  is  circulating, 
he  described  the  effects  in  the  following  Avords  :  "  D'apres  les  obser- 
vations de  Romagn6si,  physicien  de  Trente,  1' aiguille  deja  aimantee, 
et  que  1'on  soumet  ainsi  au  courant  galvanique,  6prouve  une  decli- 
naison ;  et  d'apres  celles  de  J.  Mojon,  savant  chimiste  de  Genes, 
les  aiguilles  non  aimantees  acquierent,  par  ce  moyen,  une  sorte  de 
polarite  magnetique." 

In  the  next  year  Schweigger,  of  Halle,1  discovered  that  the  de- 
flection of  the  needle  may  be  increased  by  coiling  an  insulated  wire 
in  a  series  of  ovals  or  flat  rings,  compactly  disposed,  in  a  loop,  and 
conducting  the  current  around  the  needle  from  end  to  end ;  and 
produced  the  "  galvanic  multiplier,"  by  which  the*  deflection  of  the 
needle  was  much  greater  and  more  prompt.  This  discovery  was 
the  basis  of  the  galvanometer,  invented  and  first  used  by  Professor 
Joseph  Henry,  of  the  United  States. 

Ampere,  following  up  the  disco  very  of  Schweigger,  developed 
the  theory  of  electro-magnetism,  which  has  since  been  universally 
adopted.  He  proposed  to  the  French  Academy  at  its  session,  Octo- 
ber 2,  1820  ("  Comptes  Rendus  "),  a  plan  for  a  telegraph,  iu  which 

1  Kuhn,  "Ang.  Elek.-Lehre,"  p.  514. 


AMPERE'S  DISCOVERY.  265 

there  was  to  be  a  needle  for  each  letter.  Ampere  ascribes  the  origi- 
nal suggestion  to  Laplace. 

Ritchie,  in  1830,  carried  out  this  idea  to  a  model  by  surrounding 
each  needle  with  a  coil  of  wire,  so  arranged  as  to  disclose  a  letter 
in  connection  with  the  deflection  of  each  needle.  Mr.  Alexander, 
of  Edinburgh,  made  another  modification  in  1837. 

The  telegraph  of  Baron  Pawel  Larrowitsch  Schilling,  of  Cron- 
stadt,  was  based  on  the  suggestion  of  Ampere.  He  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  Sommering  as  early  as  1810  (Kuhn,  p.  836).  His  plan 
seems  to  have  been  matured  and  set  in  practical  operation,  accord- 
ing to  Arayot,  in  1832-'33,  but  he  was  unable  to  secure  such  satis- 
factory demonstrations  as  would  justify  the  support  of  the  Rus- 
sian Government  until  1836,  and  in  1837  this  persevering  philoso- 
pher and  inventor  died.  His  instrument,  however,  exhibited  by 
Moncke  to  William  Fothergill  Cooke  in  1836,  awoke  his  inven- 
tive genius,  and  he  produced  in  the  same  year  a  needle  telegraph, 
and  in  1837  Cooke  and  Wheatstone  a  still  more  perfect  needle 
telegraph. 

Before  Oersted,  and  Ampere,  and  Schweigger,  the  needle  tele- 
graph was  impossible.  After  their  discoveries  reciprocal  motion,  or 
alternate  right-and-left  deflection,  needed  only  a  constant  battery  to 
render  signal  telegraphy  possible.  But  recording  telegraphy  re- 
quired a  greater  amount  of  force  at  the  receiving  station  than  was 
needed  to  move  the  needle,  and  another  system  of  device  must  be 
brought  into  service. 

The  unequal  action  of  the  battery  was  a  serious  obstacle  to 
progress  in  the  direction  of  needle  telegraphy,  and,  before  research 
had  overcome  the  difficulties  ultimately  surmounted  by  Daniel,  the 
science  of  electro-magnetism  had  made  great  strides  in  a  new  direc- 
tion. 

The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  taken  by  Arago  immediately 
after  the  discovery  of  Oersted,  in  the  same  year  with  the  discovery 
of  the  multiplier  by  Schweigger.  He  magnetized  a  straight  iron 
bar  or  needle  by  placing  it  in  a  long  spiral  of  wire  and  transmitting 
the  galvanic  current  through  the  coil. 

De  la  Rive  sent  a  current  through  a  close  circuit  of  insulated 
copper  wire,  showing  that  the  ring  produced  by  the  current  ac- 
quired singular  magnetic  properties.  Barlow,  in  describing  the 
apparatus,  in  1 824,  says  :  "  A  fine  copper  wire  covered  with  silk 
thread  is  coiled  five  or  six  times,  and  tied  together  so  as  to  form  a 
ring  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  the  ends  of  the  wire  are  con- 


266  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.  B.   MORSE. 

nected  one  with  the  zinc  and  the  other  with  the  copper  slip  above 
the  cork.  When  the  apparatus  is  placed  in  water,  slightly  acidu- 
lated with  sulphuric  or  nitric  acid,  the  ring  becomes  highly  mag- 
netic," etc. 

In  this  year  Schweigger  produced  the  flat  spiral  or  volute  coil. 
In  1824  Barlow  gives  a  diagram  of  the  volute  in  one  plane,  in- 
vented by  Schweigger,  and  says,  page  266 :  "  The  best  form  for 
the  spiral,  however,  is  that  in  which  the  wire  lies  all  in  one  plane  " 
(as  in  Fig.  24).  (This  figure  exhibits  a  coil  like  the  hair-spring  of 
a  watch.)  "This  being  connected  by  its  two  extremities  with  the 
poles  of  the  battery  will  take  up  an  astonishing  quantity  of  filings, 
which,  by  their  reciprocal  attraction  toward  each  other,  exhibit  the 
most  pleasing  appearance." 

The  discovery  of  the  action  of  the  spiral  coil  upon  the  magnetic 
needle  seems  to  have  been  independently  made  by  Ampere,  in  1821 : 
"  I  showed,"  he  says  "  that  the  current  which  is  in  the  pile  acts  on 
the  magnetic  needle  by  the  conjunctive  wire.  I  described  the  in- 
strument, which  I  proposed  to  construct,  and,  among  others,  the 
galvanic  spiral.  I  read  a  note  upon  the  electro-chemical  effects  of  a 
spiral  of  iron  wire,  subjected  to  the  action  of  the  earth,  directing 
an  electric  current  as  well  as  a  magnet. 

"  I  announced  the  new  fact  of  the  attraction  and  repulsion  of 
two  electric  currents,  without  the  intermediation  of  any  magnet,  a 
fact  which  I  had  observed  in  spirals  twisted  spirallv."  1 

Arago's  discovery,  that  soft  iron  may  be  rendered  a  temporary 
magnet  by  placing  it  within  a  helix  of  wire,  through  which  is  circu- 
lating a  galvanic  current,  dates  1821.  He  says :  "  A  piece  of  soft 
iron,  when  surrounded  by  a  helix  of  wire  and  a  current  of  galvanic 
electricity  passed  through  it,  becomes  a  temporary  magnet." 2 

Sir  Humphrey  Davy  arrived  at  the  same  discovery  of  electrical 
induction  in  soft  iron  in  1821.  "  Simultaneously  with  Arago's  ex- 
periments, Davy  arrived  at  the  same  facts."  3 

The  Horseshoe  Electeo-magket. — The  next  step  was  taken 
by  Mr.  William  Sturgeon,  of  London,  in  1825.  He  found  that  by 
coiling  copper  wire  loosely  around  a  varnished  piece  of  insulated 
soft  iron,  bent  into  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  the  successive  coils  out 
of  contact  with  each  other,  he  could  convert  the  non-magnetic  soft 

1  YellocJi's  Journal  of  Science,  vol.  lvii.  p.  47,  1821. 

2  Yelloch's  Journal  of  Science,  vol.  lvii.,  p.  42,  1821.  Also,  "Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  662. 

s  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  662. 


HORSESHOE  MAGNET.  267 

iron  iuto  an  electro-magnet.  When  the  current  was  interrupted, 
the  soft  iron  ceased  to  be  magnetic ;  when  the  current  was  restored, 
the  iron  became  again  magnetic.  This  gave  the  possibility  of  pro- 
ducing reciprocal  motion.  The  capacity,  thus  imparted  to  the  iron 
to  attract  other  iron,  and  to  release  it  when  the  current  was  in- 
terrupted, was,  in  two  particulars,  not  suited  to  be  used  in  tele- 
graphy. It  employed  a  quantity  battery,  consisting  of  a  single 
pair,  and  the  length  of  wire  connecting  the  battery  with  the  magnet 
was  inconsiderable. 

The  researches  of  these  philosophers  reached  America  in  due 
time.  The  first  to  discuss  them  in  public  lectures  was  Professor 
James  Freeman  Dana,  brother  of  the  late  distinguished  Dr.-  Samuel' 
L.  Dana,  of  Lowell.  In  a  course  of  lectures  before  the  New 
York  Athenaeum,  in  the  months  of  January  and  February,  1827, 
Professor  Dana  exhibited  and  experimented  with  Sturgeon's  mag- 
net, and  used  the  following  suggestive  language,  which  is  to  be 
found  in  the  manuscript  copy  of  his  lectures  now  in  the  Harvard 
University  Library : 

"  The  effect  of  the  conjunctive  wire  in  impressing  the  magnetic 
state  is  uniform  and  constant,  and  we  can  infer  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty the  kind  of  magnetism  which  will  be  exhibited  by  either  end 
of  the  needle,  by  reference  to  its  position  with  regard  to  the  wire. 
We  are  led  to  this  by  our  previous  knowledge  of  the  positions 
assumed  by  a  magnetic  needle  under  the  influence  of  the  wire. 
Thus  if  the  electric  current  flow  from  the  right  hand  to  the  left, 
and  the  needle  to  be  magnetized  be  placed  over  the  wire,  the  end 
pointing  from  us  will  acquire  the  austral  magnetism,  or  a  north 
polarity,  etc.  We  have  seen  that  the  pole  of  the  magnetic  needle, 
over  which  the  positive  electricity  enters,  turns  to  the  east,  but  the 
pole  under  which  it  enters  turns  to  the  west.  If,  therefore,  a  needle 
be  placed  between  two  conjunctive  wires  situated  in  the  same  ver- 
tical plane,  and  transmitting  the  electric  current  in  opposite  direc- 
tions, it  is  evident  that  both  will  conspire  to  produce  the  same 
effect,  which  will  consequently  be  much  more  considerable  than 
that  produced  by  either  of  them  alone ;  but  a  wire  bent  in  this 


in- 


form, having  its  two  ends  connected  with  the  opposite  poles  of  the 
voltaic  instrument,  will  evidently  have  the  electric  current  passing 
in  opposite  directions  in  its  upper  and  lower  portions,  and  conse- 
quently it  will  produce  on  a  needle,  between  them,  an  effect  similar 
to  that  produced  by  the  two  wires.  Wires  thus  situated  produce  a 
more  prompt  development  of  magnetism  in  steel  than  a  single  wire 


268  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

does,  because  both  tend  to  turn  the  same  kind  of  magnetism  in  the 
same  direction,  and  the  opposite  magnetisms  in  opposite  directions, 
and  hence  we  have  one  method  of  measuring  the  action  of  a  bat- 
tery on  steel  bars.  Again,  two  parallel  wires,  having  the  electric 
current  moving  through  them,  in  the  same  direction,  will  evidently 
produce  a  greater  effect  on  a  steel  bar  than  either  of  them  alone, 
for  the  effect  of  the  whole  must  be  greater  than  that  of  a  part. 

"  When  several  conjunctive  wires  are  placed  together,  side  by 
side,  the  force  is  apparently  diminished  in  the  central  wires,  and 
concentrated  in  the  extreme  portions ;  the  magnetic  state  of  the 
latter  seems  to  be  augmented  by  induction  or  by  position. 

"  When  such  an  assemblage  of  wires  act  on  the  magnetism  of  a 
piece  of  steel,  they  decompose  it,  and  each  individual  wire  acts 
with  more  force  on  the  magnetism  nearest  to  it.  Each  conspires, 
in  its  action,  to  produce  the  same  effect  as  the  others ;  and  hence,  in 
addition  to  the  effects  of  currents  in  opposite  directions,  we  have 
another  method  of  increasing  the  power  of  a  battery  in  magnetiz- 
ing needles.  We  shall  probably  render  steel  strongly  magnetic,  if 
we  continue  these  two  methods  of  increasing  the  effect.  This  is 
effected  by  forming  the  conjunctive  wire  into  a  spiral  around  the 
steel  bar  to  be  magnetized;  for,  at  the  opposite  extremities  of  any 
diameter  of  this  spiral,  it  is  evident  that  the  electric  current  moves 
in  opposite  directions.  Suppose  the  spiral  to  be  placed  horizontalh', 
east  and  west,  the  current  in  its  upper  part  to  move  from  north  to 
south,  it  will,  at  its  lower  part  move  from  south  to  north,  and  the 
spiral  thus  gives  us  the  combined  influence  of  currents  in  opposite 
directions.  Moreover,  the  different  coils  of  the  spiral  are  nearly  at 
right  angles  with  the  axis  of  the  included  bar,  and  thej^  are  parallel 
to  each  other.  Hence,  at  any  given  portion  of  the  bar,  the  effect 
of  many  currents  passing  in  the  same  direction  is  produced,  and  the 
included  bar  becomes  magnetic ;  and  a  spiral  placed  round  a  piece 
of  soft  iron  bent  into  the  form  of  a  horseshoe'  magnet,  renders  it 
strongly  and  powerfully  magnetic  when  the  electric  current  is  pass- 
ing through  it.  .  .  . 

"  The  opposite  sides  of  a  conjunctive  wire  exhibit  the  opposite 
magnetisms ;  and  we  have  seen  that,  by  placing  the  wires  paral- 
lel to  each  other  and  connecting  them  with  a  battery  so  that  they 
may  transmit  the  current  in  the  same  direction,  the  magnetisms 
seem  to  be  concentrated  in  the  extreme  wires,  and  that  we  can  thus 
separate  them  in  a  degree  from  each  other.  Now,  when  we  con- 
sider that  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  power  is  at  right  angles  to 
the  conjunctive  wire,  it  is  evident  that  in  a  helix,  this  direction 
must  nearly  coincide  with  that  of  the  axis  of  the  helix,  and  the  one 
kind  of  magnetism  be  found  concentrated  at  one  extremity,  and  the 
other  kind  at  the  opposite  end.  .  .  . 

"  Iron  filings  adhering  to  dissimilarly  electro-magnetic  wires  re- 
pel each  other,  and  to  similarly  electro-magnetic  wires,  attract  each 
other. 

"  In  the  course  of  our  reasoning,  by  which  we  were  led  from 


PROFESSOR  JOSEPH  HENRY.  269 

step  to  step  to  the  adoption  of  a  spiral  or  helix  in  powerfully  de- 
veloping magnetism  in  bars,  we  inferred  that  two  or  more  parallel 
and  similarly  electro-magnetic  wires  acted  with  greater  energy  than 
one,  and  that  the  magnetisms  were  accumulated  in  the  extreme 
wires  by  a  species  of  induction  between  them  all.  A  ribbon  of 
metal  substituted  for  these  wires  exerts  a  stronger  influence  on  the 
needle  at  its  edge  than  at  its  sides,  for  a  similar  reason.  So,  also, 
if  a  series  of  concentric  wires  be  used,  and  the  electric  current  sent 
through  them  in  the  same  direction,  we  infer  that  they  will  have 
the  power  of  the  corresponding  sides  of  the  different  rings  concen- 
trated and  accumulated  in  their  common  centre,  and  will  on  the  same 
side  of  their  centre  act  as  parallel  similarly  electro-magnetic  wires. 
A  flat  spiral,  or  volute,  having  two  ends  connected  with  the  oppo- 
site poles  of  the  battery,  will  correctly  represent  concentric,  rings 
under  the  condition  we  have  proposed ;  and  the  great  quantity  of 
iron  filings  which  such  a  spiral  or  volute  takes  up,  and  the  accumu- 
lation of  them  in  the  centre,  fully  evinces  the  concentration  of 
power  there,  and  the  correctness  of  the  reasoning  by  which  we 
have  been  led  to  the  modification  of  the  conjunctive  wire." 

The  next  step  was  taken  by  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  Secretary 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  then  Professor  of  Physics  in  the  Al- 
bany Academy.1  Reflecting  on  the  increased  magnetic  effects  ob- 
served in  the  compact  coils  of  insulated  wire  of  Schweigger,  he  first 
employed  the  insulated  wire  of  many  concentric  coils  to  make  an 
electro-magnet.  .  By  a  covering  of  silk  or  cotton,  successive  coils  of 
the  wire  were  kept  distinct  and  apart,  so  that  it  could  be  compactly 
wound  in  successive  layers  upon  itself,  and  thus  a  current  could  be 
made  to  pass  an  indefinite  number  of  times  around  an  iron  bar,  and 
the  power  of  the  bar  to  attract  other  iron  multiplied  alike  some- 
what correspondingly,  and  this  with  the  use  of  a  comparatively 
small  battery.  He  also,  for  the  first  time,  in  1829,  employed  the 
battery  of  many  pairs,  to  send  from  a  distance  a  current  through 
insulated  wire,  many  times  wound  up  on  itself,  around  a  horseshce- 
shaped  soft-iron  bar,  and  demonstrated  the  dependence  of  the  pro- 
jectile force  of  the  current  upon  the  number,  instead  of  the  size,  of 
plates.  The  discovery  ma\T  be  thus  stated :  He  found  that  a  bat- 
tery of  a  single  pair,  the  zinc  plate  four  by  seven  inches,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  eight  feet,  operating  through  a  coil  of  insulated  wire,  eight 
feet  long,  wound  around  a  small  horseshoe  magnet,  produced  mag- 
netism enough  to  lift  four  and  one-half  pounds.  At  a  distance  of 
one  thousand  and  sixty  feet,  it  lifted  but  half  an  ounce,  only  y^  as 
much. 

1  "  Transactions  of  the  Albany  Institute,"  June,  1828. 


270  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

By  now  substituting  a  Cruikshank's  battery,  in  which  was  ex- 
actly the  same  amount  of  zinc  surface — but  in  twenty-five  plates 
instead  of  one — the  magnet,  at  a  distance  of  one  thousand  and  sixty 
feet,  as  before,  lifted  eight  ounces.  That  is,  by  dividing  the  zinc 
plate  into  twenty-five  plates,  and  putting  each  with  its  fellow  of 
copper  into  a  separate  cell,  the  power  to  lift  at  a  distance  of  one 
thousand  and  sixty  feet  was  increased  sixteen  times.1 

Had  this  discovery  been  preceded  by  the  constant  battery  of 
Daniel  (which  was  not  invented  until  1836),  practical  registering 
electro-magnetic  telegraphy  would  have  been  possible  in  1828. 
Barlow,  of  England,  had  observed,  in  1825,  that  the  power  of  the 
galvanic  current  he  employed  diminished  with  the  increase  of  the 
distance  from  the  battery ;  but  Henry's  researches  had  shown  that 
by  employing  a  battery  of  many  pairs — which  he  called  an  intensity 
battery — and  by  causing  the  wire  to  pass  a  great  number  of  times 
concentrically  around  a  bar  of  iron,  it  was  possible  to  produce  the 
physical  result  of  motion,  with  a  feeble  current,  at  relatively  great 
distances  from  its  source. 

Barlow  had  employed  a  quantity  battery — a  battery  of  a  single 
pair.  Henry  employed  a  battery  of  many  pairs — an  intensity  bat- 
tery. 

Professor  Henr}^,  in  his  paper  in  Silliman's  Journal,  January, 

1831,  after  repeating  the  results  of  the  paper  of  1828,  says:  "The 
fact  that  the  magnetic  action  of  a  current  from  a  trough  is,  at  least, 
not  sensibly  diminished  by  passing  through  a  long  wire,  is  directly 
applicable  to  Mr.  Barlow's  project  of  forming  an  electro-magnetic 
telegraph,  and  also  of  material  consequence  in  the  construction  of 
the  galvanic  coil." 

The  first  suggestion  contemplating  a  really  practical  distance 
came  from  Fechner,  who  says,  in  1829  (Kuhn,  p.  835) :  "  There  is  no 
doubt  that  if  twenty-four  different  multipliers— the  number  of  the 
letters — were  in  Leipsic,  for  example,  and  the  insulated  wire  con- 
ducted under  ground  to  Dresden,  we  should  have  a  medium,  not 
very  costly,  perhaps,  through  which  determined  characters  could  be 
sent  instantaneously  from  one  to  the  other."     He  says  further,  in 

1832,  that,  "  by  the  employment  of  a  very  thinly-wound  (insulated) 
copper  wire,  coated  with  silver,  of  which  one  foot  in  uncovered 
condition  weighed  1.95  grain,  a  pile  of  one  hundred  and  seven 
small  platinum  pairs  would  be  adequate  for  telegraphic  communi- 
cations ten  geographical  miles.     The  length  of  wire  for  such  a  dis- 

1  Silliman's  Journal,  January,  1831. 


OHM'S  LAW.  271 

tance,  both  ways,  would  require  for  each  letter  twenty  miles  of  wire, 
which  would  involve  no  small  outlay."  Fechner  also  pointed  out 
that  the  "telegraphic  conduction  does  not  depend  on  the  great 
thickness  of  the  pairs  of  plates,  and  the  strength  of  the  conducting 
fluid  (quantity  of  electricity),  but,  on  the  contrary,  on  the  number 
of  the  pairs  of  plates  in  the  pile ;  and  would  increase  in  direct  re- 
lation to  the  thickness  of  the  wire."  ' 

"  Ohm's  Law,"  of  1825,  and  "  Schweigger's  Multiplier,"  of  1820, 
were  here  first  traced  out  to  their  practical  end,  of  a  galvanic  sema- 
phore. The  conditions  were  expressed  on  which  the  success  of  the 
needle  invention  depended — numerous  pairs,  a  large  conducting 
wire,  multiplied  convolutions  of  insulated  wire.  All  were  wrapped 
up  in  these  few  clear  sentences  of  Fechner,  before  1832. 

"  Ohm's  Formulce. — The  amount  of  electric  or  chemical  power 
developed  in  the  voltaic  circuit,  or,  in  other  words,  the  quantity  of 
electricity  which  passes  through  a  transverse  section  of  the  circuit 
in  a  unit  of  time,  evidently  depends  upon  two  conditions,  viz.,  the 
power  or  electro-motive  force  of  the  battery,  and  the  resistance 
offered  to  the  passage  of  the  current  by  the  conductors,  liquid  or 
solid,  which  it  has  to  traverse.  With  a  given  amount  of  resist- 
ance, the  power  of  the  battery  is  proportional  to  the  quantity  of 
electricity  developed  in  a  given  time ;  and  by  a  double  or  treble  re- 
sistance, we  mean  simply  that  which,  with  a  given  amount  of  ex- 
citing power  in  the  battery,  reduces  the  quantity  of  electricity 
developed,  or  work  done,  to  one-half  or  one-third.  If,  then,  the 
electro-motive  force  of  the  battery  be  denoted  by  JS,  and  the  re- 
sistance by  H,  we  have,  for  the  quantity  of  electricity  passing 
through  the  circuit  in  a  unit  of  time,  the  expression  : 

«=£"•••.■  a). 

This  is  called  Ohm's  law,  from  the  name  of  the  distinguised  mathe- 
matician who  first  announced  it. 

"By  means  of  the  formula  (1),  we  may  estimate  the  effect  pro- 
duced on  the  strength  of  the  current  by  increasing  the  number  and 
size  of  the  plates  of  the  battery.  The  resistance  li  consists  of  two 
parts,  viz.,  that  which  the  current  experiences  in  passing  through 
the  cells  of  the  battery  itself,  and  that  which  is  offered  by  the  ex- 
ternal conductor  which  joins  the  poles ;  this  conductor  may  consist 
either  wholly  of  metal,  or  partly  of  metal  and  partly  of  electrolytic 
liquids.  Let  the  resistance  within  the  battery  be  r,  and  the  ex- 
ternal resistance  / ;  then,  in  the  one-celled  battery  we  have  : 

!  =  -£-,     ....    (2). 
r  +  r  v  ' 

1  In  this  he  was  anticipated  by  Professor  Henry,  as  above. 


272  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

Now,  suppose  the  battery  to  consist  of  n  cells  perfectly  similar, 
then  the  electro-motive  force  becomes  w_fe,  the  resistance  within  the 
battery  nr  /  if,  then,  the  external  resistance  remains  the  same,  the 
strength  of  the  current  will  be  denoted  by  : 

^     •     •     •      •      (3). 


nr  +  r 


If  r'  be  small,  this  expression  has  nearly  the  same  value  as ; ; 

that  is  to  say,  if  the  circuit  be  closed  by  a  good  conductor,  such  as 
a  short  thick  wire,  the  quantity  of  electricity  developed  by  the  com- 
pound battery  of  n  cells  is  sensibly  the  same  as  that  evolved  by  a 
single  cell  of  the  same  dimensions.  But  if  r'  is  of  considerable 
amount,  as  when  the  circuit  is  closed  by  a  long  thin  wire,  or  when 
an  electrolyte  is  interposed,  the  strength  of  the  current  increases 
considerably  with  the  number  of  plates.  Tn  fact  the  expression  (3) 
is  always  greater  than  (2)  ;  for — 

nE  E  (n—  1)  Er' 


nr  +  r'       r  +  r'       {nr  +  r')  (r  +  r') 

a  quantity  which  is  necessarily  positive  when  n  is  greater  than 
unity. 

"  Suppose,  in  the  next  place,  that  the  size  of  the  plates  is  in- 
creased, while  their  number  remains  the  same,  then,  according  to 
the  chemical  theory,  an  increase  in  the  surface  of  metal  acted  upon 
must  produce  a  proportionate  increase  in  the  quantity  of  electricity 
developed,  provided  the  conducting  power  of  the  circuit  is  sufficient 
to  give  it  passage. 

"  According  to  the  theory  which  attributes  the  development  of 
the  electricity  to  the  contact  of  dissimilar  metals,  an  increase  in 
the  size  of  the  plates  does  not  increase  the  electro-motive  force,  but 
it  diminishes  the  resistance  within  the  cells  of  the  battery  by  offer- 
ing a  wider  passage  to  the  electricity.  Hence,  in  the  single  cell,  if 
the  surface  of  the  plates,  and  therefore  the  transverse  section  of  the 
liquid  be  increased  m  times,  the  expression  for  the  strength  of  the 
current  becomes  : 

E      _      mE 

r         ,       r.  +  mr' ' 

—  +  r' 
m 

If  r'  be  small,  this  expression  is  nearly  the  same  as  — , ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  quantity  of  electricity  in  the  current  increases  very  nearly 
in  the  same  ratio  as  the  size  of  the  plates ;  but  when  the  external 
resistance  is  considerable,  the  advantage  gained  by  increasing  the 
size  of  the  plates  is  much  less. 

"  We  may  conclude,  then,  that  when  the  resistance  in  the  circuit 
is  small,  as  in  electro-magnetic  experiments,  a  small  number  of 
large  plates  is  the  most  advantageous  form  of  battery ;  but  in  over- 


MAGNETIC  ELECTRICITY.  273 

coming  great  resistances,  power  is  gained  by  increasing  the  number 
rather  than  the  size  of  the  plates."  J 

Magneto-Electricity. — The  phenomena  of  electro-dynamic  in- 
duction, or  of  magneto-electricity,  were  first  discovered  by  Faraday 
in  1831,  and  published  in  1832. 

Professor  Henry  investigated  the  laws  of  these  phenomena,  and 
discovered  induced  currents  of  a  second  and  third  order,  and  so  on 
through  a  series  of  five  terms  (Kuhn,  p.  671).  Upon  these  dis- 
coveries was  based  the  magneto-electric  induction  apparatus  (as 
distinguished  from  hydro-electric  induction  apparatus)  of  which 
Gauss  and  Weber  availed  themselves  to  produce  a  needle  telegraph. 
"A  circuit  of  wire  7,460  feet  long  was  led  across  the  houses  and 
steeples  of  Gtfttingen,  from  the  Observatory  to  the  Cabinet  of 
Natural  Philosophy,  requiring  no  especial  insulation,  which  was  a 
fact  of  great  importance.  The  principle  was  thereby  at  once  es- 
tablished of  bringing  the  galvanic  telegraph  to  the  most  convenient 
form.  .  .  . 

"  All  that  was  required  in  addition  to  this,  was  to  render  the 
signs  audible;  a  task  that  apparently  presented  no  very  great  diffi- 
culty, inasmuch  as  in  the  very  scheme  itself  a  mechanical  motion, 
namely,  the  deflection  of  a  magnetic  bar,  was  given. 

"  Should  it  be  desired  that  the  indicator  should  write,  it  is 
merely  required  to  adapt  to  one  end  of  the  magnectic  bar  a  small 
vessel  filled  with  a  black  color,  and  terminating  in  a  capillary  tube. 
This  tube,  instead  of  striking  a  bell,  thus  makes  a  black  spot  upon 
some  flat  surface  held  in  front  of  it.  If  these  spots  are  to  compose 
writing,  the  surface  upon  which  they  are  printed  must  be  kept  mov- 
ing in  front  of  the  indicator  with  a  uniform  velocity ;  and  this  is 
easily  brought  about,  by  means  of  an  endless  strip  of  paper,  which 
is  rolled  off  one  cylinder  on  to  another  by  clock-work."  2 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  idea  of  the  acoustic  as  well  as  the  re- 
cording telegraph,  which  was  subsequently  developed  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Gauss  and  Weber,  by  Steinheil,  is  here  foreshadowed. 

Steinheil's  invention  was  produced  in  1837,  and  published  in 
1838.  The  telegraph  was  in  actual  operation  through  a  circuit  of 
six  miles — from  1838  to  1844 — when  Professor  Steinheil  became 
fully  acquainted  with  the  recording  telegraph  of  Professor  Morse, 
and  recommended  its  adoption  in  place  of  his  own  and  of  all  others,, 

1  Watt's  "Dictionary  of  Chemistry,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  459. 

2  "Annals  of  Electricity,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  448,  No.  IT,  March,  1839,  copied  from  the 
"  Gottingen  Gelehrte  Anzeigen,"  p.  1,2*72,  1834. 

18 


274  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

upon  the  whole  system  of  telegraph-lines  of  which  he  was  super- 
intendent. Steinheil's  apparatus,  which  elicited  great  admiration 
as  a  product  of  inventive  genius,  produced  sounds  on  bells — an 
effect  achieved  ten  years  before  as  a  result  of  electro-magnetism,  by 
Professor  Henry,  at  Albany,  in  1828,  and  described  in  a  letter  by 
Professor  James  Hall '  as  having  been  witnessed  by  himself  in  that 
year.  Steinheil's  apparatus  also  recorded  messages  in  alphabetic 
characters  of  ink,  consisting  of  combinations  of  dots  and  spaces  in 
two  rows.2 

Steinheil  discovered  what  had  been  remarked  in  regard  to  fric- 
tional  electricity  nearly  a  hundred  years  before,  by  Winckler,  Le 
Monnier,  Watson,  and  Franklin,  that  the  galvanic  current  could  be 
transmitted  through  the  earth  as  a  part  of  the  circuit,  and  thus  re- 
duced the  number  of  wires  necessary  for  the  operation  of  his 
telegraph  to  one. 

Wheatstone  at  a  later  period  enriched  this  field  of  invention 
with  his  dial  magneto-electric  telegraph,  of  such  great  merit  and 
extensive  use. 

With  the  mention  of  the  constant  battery  of  Daniel,  produced 
in  1836,  and  perhaps  the  amalgamation  of  the  zinc  plate  by  Stur- 
geon, the  enumeration  of  the  discoveries  entering  into  the  invention 
of  the  electric  telegraph  will  be  complete. 

We  have  glanced  at  the  types  of  telegraphs  resting  on  friction 
electricity,  those  resting  on  the  deflection  of  the  magnetic  needle, 
by  Schweigger's  multiplier,  and  those  resting  on  magneto-elec- 
tricity. 

Sommering  had  produced  a  galvanic  telegraph,  producing  sig- 
nals, by  the  evolution  of  gas-bottles  in  a  series  of  tubes,  and  em- 
ploying the  chemical  powers  of  the  battery.  Schilling,  Ritchie, 
Alexander,  and  Cook  and  Wheatstone,  had  employed  the  electro- 
magnet to  produce  signals  by  deflecting  needles.  Gauss  and  Weber, 
and  Steinheil,  employed  magneto-electric  apparatus,  without  a  bat- 
tery, to  deflect  needles,  or  large,  straight,  permanent  magnets.  The 
former  proposed,  and  the  latteri  n vented,  a  needle  device  which 
produced  sounds  on  bells,  and  recorded  messages  in  an  alphabet  of 
dots  and  spaces.  Professor  Henry,  before  1832,  had  rung  a  bell  by 
operating  upon  one  end  of  a  large  needle,  or  a  straight  magnet, 
poised  between  the  two  poles  of  an  electro-magnet,  while  the  oppo- 
site end  was  made  by  the  transmission  of  the  current  from  a  battery 

1  "  Smithsonian  Report,"  p.  96,  1857. 

2  H.  Schellen,  Braunschweig,  p.  19,  1864. 


DISCOVERY  AND   INVENTION.  275 

to  strike  a  bell.  To  neither  of  these  types  did  the  recording  elec- 
tro-magnetic telegraph  belong.  Professor  Morse's  invention  teas  a 
new  departure. 

CLAIMS    OF   DISCOVERERS    AND   INVENTORS. 

It  is  natural  and  proper,  when  a  great  and  useful  art  has  been 
born  to  civilization,  that  all  persons,  and  especially  the  friends  of  the 
persons  who  have  had  a  share  in  the  production  and  perfection  of 
the  art,  should  feel  jealously  alive  to  the  just  distribution  of  the 
honors  which  follow  such  an  event. 

Such  honors  are  sometimes,  not  infrequently,  indeed,  unfairly 
distributed.  Adventitious  circumstances  may  cause  mistake.  The 
memory  is  sometimes  at  fault.  The  claims  of  some  may  be  exag- 
gerated. The  just  claims  of  others  may  be  overlooked.  It  will 
serve  to  open  up  the  subject,  if  we  consider  a  little  carefully  the 
meaning  of  some  of  the  words  we  use. 

A  tele-graph  is,  literally,  a  writing  at  a  distance.  Strictly 
speaking,  the  earlier  forms  of  signal  apparatus  were  not  tele- 
graphs ;  they  were  semaphores — signal-bearers. 

The  signal  may  be  addressed  to  the  eye  or  to  the  ear.  If  to 
the  former,  it  would  be  a  visual ;  to  the  latter,  an  acoustic  sema- 
phore. Franklin,  Watson,  De  Luc,  Cavallo,  and  others,  employed 
friction  electricity  to  flash  powder  and  fire  alcohol.  These  experi- 
ments heralded  an  electric  visual  semaphore.  They  also  rang 
bells  by  electricity,  and  in  so  doing  foreshadowed  an  acoustic 
semaphore. 

The  plans  of  Le  Sage,  Lomond,  Reusser,  Boeckman,  Salva, 
Betancourt,  and  Ronalds,  were  of  the  class  of  electric  semaphores. 
That  of  Harrison  Gray  Dyar  approached  nearly  to  that  of  an  electric 
telegraph. 

Voltaic  semaphores  belong  necessarily  to  this  century.  They 
were  only  possible  after  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  current 
might  be  made  effective  at  a  distance  by  the  use  of  the  pile,  or  bat- 
tery of  many  pairs.  S5mmering's,  in  1809-'ll,  was  the  first  of 
the  class,  and  established  the  fact  that  visible  effects  could  be  pro- 
duced at  a  distance  of  ten  thousand  feet.1  His  device  was  a  visual 
semaphore.  Bain's  so-called  electro-chemical  plan,  of  1846,  was  a 
voltaic  telegraph.  He  employed  a  battery,  but  not  a  magnet,  and 
wrote  and  printed  with  Morse's  alphabet. 

1  Kuhn,  1866. 


276  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   E.   B.   MORSE. 

Electro-magnetic  semaphores  were  possible  only  after  the  dis- 
covery of  Oersted,  in  1819,  and  the  discovery  of  the  multiplier,  in 
1820,  by  Schweigger.  The  first  of  these  was  projected  by  Ampere, 
but  never  carried  out.  It  was  a  needle  device.  Visible  signs  were 
to  be  made  by  the  deflection  of  a  needle,  the  voltaic  current  being 
sent  through  a  multiplier,  or  long  link-shaped  coil  of  insulated  wire, 
within  which  a  needle  was  freely  suspended  or  supported.  The 
next  seems  to  have  been  Schilling's,  made,  some  time  between  1820 
and  1832,  a  rude  copy  of  which,  made  by  Professor  Moncke,  of 
Heidelberg,  aroused  at  a  later  period  (1836)  the  spirit  of  invention 
of  Cooke. 

The  magneto-electric  visual  semaphore  of  Gauss  and  Weber 
appeared  in  1833.  The  development  of  this  type  by  Steinheil  to 
an  acoustic  semaphore  and  an  actual  recording  telegraph  was  ac- 
complished in  1837. 

Cooke's  needle  semaphore  came  in  1836,  and  Cooke  and  V/heat- 
stone's  in  1837.  These  were  not  writing  or  printing  instruments. 
They  made  evanescent  signs,  which  could  be  observed,  translated, 
and  recorded. 

Electro-magnetic  telegraphs  were  not  practicable  before  an  in- 
tensity battery  had  been  employed  in  connection  with  a  distant 
electro-magnet,  surrounded  with  a  multiplied  insulated  coil.  This 
was  first  actually  done  through  a  distance  of  1,060  feet,  in  1828-'29, 
by  Professor  Henry.  This  experiment  demonstrated  that  with  in- 
creased power  in  the  battery,  with  improvements  in  the  magnet, 
and  inventions  of  special  mechanical  devices,  an  electro-magnetic 
telegraph  for  registration  at  distances  sufficiently  great  to  meet  the 
wants  of  the  every-day  world,  might  be  devised.  The  invention, 
however,  in  its  most  elementary  condition,  was  not  made  for  four 
years  thereafter,  and  then  without  a  knowledge  of  these  experi- 
ments, nor  was  it  brought  into  working  condition  for  three  more, 
and  then  at  first  without  employing  either  of  these  essential  ele- 
ments, to  wit,  the  magnet  of  multiplied  coils,  the  battery  of  multi- 
plied pairs,  and  the  long  conductor ;  and  more  than  two  years  addi- 
tional passed  before  a  caveat  was  lodged,  and  three  more  before  a 
patent  was  granted,  and  still  four  years  elapsed  before  the  invention 
was  in  successful  public  service. 

This  delay  between  the  discovery  of  a  scientific  truth,  and  its 
application  to  the  useful  arts,  is  not  unusual. 


POSSIBILITY  OF  THE  INVENTION.  277 

INTERVAL   AFTER   THE    POSSIBILITY    OP   AN"   INVENTION    BEFORE     THE 
INVENTION   WAS    MADE. 

After  Winkler's  experiment  with  a  long  conducting  wire  at 
Leipsic,  in  1744,  and  Watson's  experiment  in  1747-'48,  with  a  cir- 
cuit of  two  miles  of  wire  and  two  of  earth ;  and  Franklin's  experi- 
ments, from  1748  to  1754,  exhibiting  reciprocal  motion,  rotation  of 
wheels,  ringing  of  bells,  firing  of  combustibles,  etc.,  it  was  possible 
to  produce  electric  signals  conveying  intelligence. 

The  first  that  appeared  was  that  of  Le  Sage,  in  1774,  after  an 
interval  Of  twenty  years ;  then  Lomond's  in  1787,  after  thirty- 
three  years;  then  Reusser's  in  1794,  after  forty  years;  then  Salva's 
with  a  conducting  wire  of  many  miles,  in  1796,  after  about  forty- 
two  years;  then  Betancourt's,  of  twentj^-six  miles,  in  1797-'98, 
after  forty- three  years  ;  then  Ronald's,  in  1816,  after  sixty -two 
years;  and  then  Harrison  G.  Dyar's,  in  1828,  after  seventy-four 
years. 

After  the  discovery  of  the  pile  of  Vblta,  in  1800,  it  was  possible 
to  invent — 

Sommering's  electro-chemical  semaphore,  which  did  not  appear 
till  1809-'ll,  after  eleven  years.  J.  Redman  Coxe's  (of  Philadel- 
phia) suggestion  dates  1816,  after  sixteen  years.  Bain's  electro- 
chemical recording  telegraph,  which  did  not  appear  till  1846,  after 
forty-six  years. 

After  Oersted's  discoveries  of  1819  and  1820,  and  especially  of 
Schweigger's  multiplier,  constructed  with  insulated  wire  immedi- 
ately after  it  was  possible  to  produce  Ampere's  suggestion  (or 
invention),  which  appeared  the  same  year,  and  of  which  he  re- 
marks that  this  result  had  been  suggested  by  Laplace. 

Schilling's  invention  was  in  progress  from  1820  to  1832,  a  period 
of  twelve  years. 

Cooke  and  Wheatstone's  invention  in  1836-'37,  after  sixteen 
years. 

After  Sturgeons  electro-magnet,  in  1826,  when  an  electro-mag- 
netic recording  telegraph  was  possible  for  short  distances,  Morse's 
conception  came  in  1832,  after  six  years. 

After  Henry's  electro-magnet,  wound  with  insulated  wire  in 
1828,  published  in  1831,  which  made  electro-magnetic  telegraphy 
possible  for  increased  distances,  came  Morse's  receiving  or  relay 
battery  and  recording  telegraph,  invented  in  1832,  and  in  working 
condition  in  1836,  after  an  interval  of  five  years.     It  was  publicly 


278 


LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 


exhibited  in  1837,  after  six  years ;  and  operated  between  Baltimore 
and  Washington  in  1844,  after  thirteen  years. 

After  Faraday 's  and  Henry's  discoveries  in  magneto-electricity, 
in  1831,  came  Gauss  and  Weber's  needle  telegraph,  in  1833,  two 
years  later,  and  Steinheil's  telegraph,  in  1837,  after  six  years. 
Steinheil  had  demonstrated  the  practicability  of  using  the  earth  for 
a  part  of  the  electro-magnetic  circuit  in  1838.  It  was  not  used  in 
this  country  until  1845. 

After  the  invention  of  Daniell's  constant  battery,  in  1835,  the 
successful  electro-magnetic  telegraph  was  practicable. 

As  we  have  now  fixed  some  of  the  more  important  dates  and  in- 
tervals, let  us  put  on  record  two  or  three  more  that  we  need  to 
bear  in  mind — recalling  that,  while  Simmering  and  Bain  needed 
only  the  voltaic  pile  or  a  battery  of  many  pairs,  Schilling,  Cooke, 
and  Wheatstone  needed  in  addition  the  galvanic  multiplier ;  Morse 
the  battery  and  electro-magnet ;  Gauss,  Weber,  and  Steinheil  a 
magneto-electric  machine. 

SOmmering's  voltaic  semaphore  preceded  Schilling's  needle 
semaphore  by  a  dozen  years  and  more. 

In  point  of  time,  Morse's  invention  on  the  Sully  preceded 
Cooke's  at  Heidelberg  by  four  years — 1832-'36. 

In  point  of  construction  and  actual  working,  Morse  preceded 
Cooke  by  a  year — 1835-36. 

In  point  of  exhibition  to  the  public,  Cooke  and  Wheatstone  were 
coincident  with  Morse — 1837. 

In  point  of  actual  use  by  the  public,  Cooke  and  Wheatstone 
preceded  Morse  by  six  years — 1838-'44. 

These  relations  of  discovery  to  invention  and  practical  applica- 
tion may  be  illustrated  in  tabular  form  : 


Constant  bat- 
tery of  Daniell, 
1835,  without 
which  the  elec- 
tro -magnetic 
telegraph  would 
not  have  suc- 
ceeded. 


Volta,  1800. 


Oersted,  1819. 
Schweigger,  1820. 


Arago,  in  1820. 
Sturgeon,  in  1825. 
Henry,  in  1829. 


Faraday,  in  1S31. 


Electro-chemical  semaphores. 
Soemmering's,  in  1809-11. 
Bain's  electro-chemical  telegraph,  in  1846. 

Needle  semaphores. 
Ampere's,  in  1820. 
Schilling's,  1820-'32. 
Cooke's,  in  1836. 
Cooke  and  Wheatstone's,  in  1837. 


Recording  telegraph  of  Morse,  in  1832. 


Magneto-electric  telegraphs. 
Gauss  and  Weber's,  in  1833-'34. 
Steinheil's,  in  1S37. 
Wheatstone's  later  business  alphabet — semaphore. 


Having  thus  before  us  the  great  facts  in  the  history  of  the  new 


CLAIMS  TO   ORIGINALITY.  279 

art,  we  are  in  condition  to  examine  more  carefully  into  the  claims 
to  originality  and  priority  of  the  discoverers  and  inventors. 

Let  us  have  distinct  ideas  in  our  assignment  of  credit.  The  dis- 
covery of  a  law,  or  the  invention  of  a  device,  may  be  strictly  origi- 
nal to  two  or  more  persons.  It  may  be  made  by  one  in  ignorance 
that  it  had  been  made  by  another  before  him,  or  the  two  may  have 
been  coincident  in  time  as  well  as  result.  It  may  have  been  made 
and  never  published  or  communicated  to  others. 

Volta  was  alone  in  the  invention  of  the  pile. 

Sommering  was  alone  in  observing  that  the  current  of  the  vol- 
taic pile  might  be  projected  to  great  distances  with  as  effective 
force  to  produce  chemical  decompositions  as  at  moderate  distances. 

Oersted  was  alone  in  originality  x  and  time  in  observing  the  de- 
flection of  the  needle  by  the  galvanic  current. 

Schweigger  was  alone  in  originality  and  time  in  the  multiplier 
of  insulated  wire. 

Arago  was  alone  in  magnetizing  iron  in  the  axis  of  a  long 
oblique  spiral. 

Sturgeon  was  alone  in  the  electro-magnet  with  the  loose  oblique 
spiral ;  and  later  in  amalgamating  the  zinc  element  of  the  battery. 

Moll  and  Henry  were  coincident  in  the  quantity  magnet  with  a 
single  pair. 

Henry  was  alone  in  the  insulated  concentric  coil  and  multiplied 
windings  applied  to  a  horseshoe-shaped  bar  of  iron  with  a  single 
pair  and  with  many  pairs. 

Henry  was  alone  in  the  insulated  concentric  wire  of  many  wind- 
ings and  battery  of  many  pairs  at  a  distance  from  the  electro- 
magnet. 

Now,  all  these  discoveries,  in  so  far  as  the  attribute  of  original- 
ity is  concerned,  were  in  some  degree  suggested,  somewhat  in  their 
order  of  succession,  by  the  publication  of  the  discoveries  which  pre- 
ceded them. 

Oersted  deflected  a  needle  slowly  with  a  single  wire,  Schweigger 
quickly  with  multiplied  coils. 

Arago  made  straight  hard  iron  (steel)  magnetic  by  a  single  loose 
long  coil. 

Sturgeon  made  a  horseshoe  of  soft  iron  magnetic  with  a  loose 
long  coil  of  sixteen  turns  and  lifted  nine  pounds  in  1825-'26. 
Moll  made  a  closer  single  coil  of  eighty-three  turns  and  lifted  seven- 

1  It  seems  that,  possibly,  Oersted  was  anticipated  by  Romagnesi.     (See  p.  264.) 


280  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 

ty-five  pounds,  and  finally  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds,  in 
1828. 

Henry,  with  greatly  multiplied  concentric  coils,  lifted  more  than 
a  ton  in  1830.  All  these  operated  by  a  battery  of  a  single  pair  of 
plates,  and  little  interval  between  the  battery  and  the  magnet. 

Now,  Henry  started  out,  before  the  publication  of  Moll,  with  a 
new  combination  of  many  pairs,  many  concentric  coils,  and  distance 
between  the  battery  and  the  magnet,  and  found,  as  the  experiment 
seemed  to  show,  that  the  effect  of  the  current  in  magnetizing  soft 
iron  at  this  distance  was  at  least  not  appreciably  less  at  a  distance 
of  one  thousand  and  sixty  feet  than  at  points  near  the  battery. 

WHAT   THE   INVENTOR   OF  THE   ELECTRO-MAGNETIC    RECORDING  TELE- 
GRAPH  MUST   HAVE   KNOWN. 

What  was  needed  to  the  original  conception  of  the  Morse  re- 
cording telegraph  ? 

1.  A  knowledge  that  soft  iron,  bent  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe, 
could  be  magnetized  by  sending  a  galvanic  current  through  a  coil 
Avound  round  the  iron,  and  that  it  would  lose  its  magnetism  when 
the  current  was  suspended. 

2.  A  knowledge  that  such  a  magnet  had  been  made  to  lift  and 
drop  masses  of  iron  of  considerable  weight. 

3.  A  knowledge,  or  a  belief,  that  the  galvanic  current  could  be 
transmitted  through  wires  of  great  length. 

These  were  all.  Now  comes  the  conception  of  devices  for  em- 
ploying an  agent  which  could  prodiice  reciprocal  motion  to  effect 
registration,  and  the  invention  of  an  alphabet.  In  order  to  this  in- 
vention, it  must  be  seen  how  up  and  down — reciprocal — motion 
could  be  produced  by  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  circuit.  Into 
this  simple  band  of  vertical  tracery  of  paths  in  space  must  be 
thrown  the  shuttle  of  time  and  a  ribbon  of  paper.  It  must  be  seen 
how  a  lever-pen,  alternately  dropping  upon,  and  rising  at  defined 
intervals  from,  a  fillet  of  paper,  moved  by  independent  clock-work, 
would  produce  the  fabric  of  the  alphabet  and  writing  and  printing. 

Was  there  any  thing  required  to  produce  these  results  which 
was  not  known  to  Morse? 

Of  the  details  of  scientific  research  bearing  on  electro-mag- 
netism, scattered  through  journals  of  various  languages,  Professor 
Morse  knew  comparatively  little.      He  was  a  liberally  educated 


WHAT   MR.   MORSE   KNEW.  281 

gentleman,  devoted  to  the  art  of  painting.  He  had  somewhat 
unusual  advantages.  He  had  attended  the  courses  of  lectures  of 
Professor  Silliman  and  Professor  Day,  embracing  the  sciences  of 
galvanism  and  electricity,  when  an  under-graduate,  in  1808-'10,  at 
Yale  College.  He  had  been  an  assistant  to  Professor  Silliman  in 
his  laboratory  in  1822  and  the  years  following.  He  had,  at  a  later 
period,  attended  the  lectures  of  Professor  James  Freeman  Dana, 
before  the  Athenaeum  in  New  York,  and  witnessed  an  original  and 
brilliant  course  of  experimental  lectures,  embracing  all  that  was 
known  in  1827  on  electro-magnetism,  with  something  of  prophetic 
suggestion. 

He  knew  generally,  when  he  stepped  on  board  the  Sully,  in 
1832,  that  a  soft-iron  horseshoe-shaped  bar  of  iron  could  be  ren- 
dered magnetic  while  a  current  of  galvanic  electricity  was  passing 
through  a  wire  wound  round  it ;  and  he  knew  that  electricity  had 
been  transmitted,  apparently  instantaneously,  through  wires  of 
great  length,  by  Franklin  and  others.  In  the  course  of  conver- 
sation on  board  that  vessel,  the  topic  of  the  velocity  of  the  electric 
current  arose.  In  the  leisure  of  ship-life,  the  idea  of  a  recording 
electric  telegraph  seized  Professor  Morse's  mind,  and  he  gave  ex- 
pression to  his  conviction  that  it  was  possible.  As  it  was  possible 
to  dispatch  and  to  arrest  the  current,  he  conceived  that  some  de- 
vice could  be  found  for  compelling  it  to  manifest  itself  by  this  inter- 
mittent action,  and  produce  a  record. 

He  knew,  for  he  had  witnessed  it  years  before,  that,  by  means 
of  a  batter}'-  and  an  electro-magnet,  reciprocal  motion  could  be  pro- 
duced. He  knew  that  the  force  which  produced  it  could  be  trans- 
mitted along  a  wire.  He  believed  that  the  battery  current  could  be 
made,  through  an  electro-magnet,  to  produce  physical  effects  at  a 
distance.  He  saw  in  his  mind's  eye  the  existence  of  an  agent  and 
a  medium  by  which  reciprocal  motion  could  be  not  only  produced 
but  controlled  at  a  distance.  The  question  that  addressed  itself  to 
him  at  the  outset  was  naturally  this :  "  How  can  I  make  use  of  the 
simple  up-and-down  motion  of  opening  and  closing  a  circuit  to  write 
an  intelligible  message  at  one  end  of  a  wire  and  at  the  same  time 
print  it  at  the  other  ?  " 

If  we  pause  a  moment  to  consider  that  in  our  ordinary  writing 
with  a  pen  upon  paper  we  must  employ  at  least  a  hundred  differ- 
ently shaped  and  proportioned  lines,  and  produce  them  by  many 
hundred  combinations  of  nerve  and  muscular  effort,  and  that  in 
printing  we  must  have  not  less  than  about  thirty-six  letters  and 


282  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

figures,  we  shall  appreciate  the  grandeur  of  Morse's  conception,  in 
which  any  message  whatever  could  be  written  at  one  end  of  the 
wire  and  printed  with  perfect  distinctness  at  the  other,  for  perma- 
nent preservation,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  words  a  minute.  Like 
manjr  a  kindred  work  of  genius,  it  was  in  nothing  more  wonderful 
than  in  its  simplicity.  First,  he  caused  a  continuous  ribbon  or 
strip  of  paper  to  move  under  a  pencil  by  clock-work,  that  could  be 
wround  up.  The  paper  moved  horizontally.  The  pencil  moved  only 
up  and  down ;  when  resting  on  the  paper  it  made  a  mark — if  for  an 
instant  only,  a  dot ;  if  for  a  longer  time,  a  line.  When  lifted  from 
the  paper  it  left  a  blank.  Here  were  three  elements — dots,  lines, 
and  spaces — which,  interwoven  with  intervals  of  time,  could  either 
of  them  be  repeated,  or  they  could  be  combined  variously  with  each 
other  to  produce  groups  that  should  stand  for  letters. 

The  grandeur  of  this  wonderful  alphabet  of  dots,  lines,  and 
spaces,  has  not  been  fully  appreciated.  It  has  been  translated  from 
one  sense  to  another.  In  the  Morse  telegraph  it  may  be  used,  and 
is  used,  by  the  sight,  the  touch,  the  taste,  the  hearing,  and  the 
sense  of  feeling.1 

Bain  succeeded  in  using  the  current  of  electricity  without  an 
electro-magnet,  but  he  had  to  borrow  Morse's  alphabet.  Thomp- 
son's reflecting  galvanometer,  used  b}7  the  Atlantic  cable,  although 
a  visual  semaphore,  employs  the  Morse  alphabet. 

Sir  William  Thompson  has  recently  succeeded  in  converting  his 
wonderfully  sensitive  apparatus  into  a  recording  telegraph,  with  the 
Morse  alphabet. 

We  are  no  longer  surprised  when  we  find  that  Steinheil,  at 
the  head  of  German  telegraphy,  advised  the  abandonment  of  his 
own  most  ingenious  and  elaborate  apparatus,  and  the  adoption  of 
the  Morse  system  and  its  alphabet.  Nor  do  we  wonder  at  its  gen- 
eral adoption  throughout  the  world. 

All  concede  the  conception  of  the  written  and  recorded  alpha- 
bet and  the  mode  of  printing  to  Morse  on  board  the  Sully.  This 
conception  presupposes  the  use  of  the  electrical  current,  the  employ- 

1  The  taste  is  occasionally  taken  advantage  of  where  accidents  occur  on  the 
line  of  railroads  and  telegraphs,  where  a  skillful  operator  happens  to  be  present. 
He  cuts  the  wire,  establishes  metallic  communication  with  the  earth,  and  signals  by 
uniting  and  separating  the  end  of  the  severed  wire  near  the  station,  with  the  metal- 
lic conductor  leading  to  the  earth.  He  receives  the  message  in  answer  by  placing 
his  tongue  between  the  two  metallic  points,  receiving  the  shocks  and  observing  the 
intervals  between  them,  which  correspond  with  those  produced  by  the  key  at  the 
station.  * 


INDEBTEDNESS  TO   OTHERS.  283 

merit  of  the  alternate  activity  and  repose  of  the  current,  and  an 
apparatus  for  breaking  and  closing  the  circuit  at  determined  inter- 
vals. 

THE   NEED    OF    AN   INVENTOR. 

The  indebtedness  of  Professor  Morse,  as  an  inventor,  to  others 
mav  be  regarded  as  of  two  kinds.  There  were  the  results  of  scien- 
tific research  and  discovery  made  by  men  who  had  gone  before  him, 
and  with  which  he  was,  in  general  terms,  familiar.  Then  there  was 
the  cooperation  of  assistants  whom  he  took  into  his  confidence  and 
compensated  for  their  services. 

He  completed  the  plan  of  his  alphabet,  his  mode  of  writing 
and  printing,  and  committed  them  to  paper,  on  board  the  Sully,  in 
1832,  and  exhibited  a-  working  model  of  his  conception  in  action  in 
1835 ;  and  a  model,  but  not  in  action,  of  the  relay  to  various  per- 
sons in  1835  and  1836.  His  alphabet,  his  new  mode  of  writing  and 
printing,  were  clear-cut,  realized  conceptions  ;  but  to  perfect  the 
apparatus  involved  resources  which  he  had  not.  There  were  no 
shops  at  that  time  to  which  he  might  go  for  the  ready  purchase  of 
electro-magnets,  batteries,  insulated  wires,  etc.  A  blacksmith  must 
be  employed  to  bend  an  iron  rod  to  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  and 
the  wire  must  be  wound  by  hand.  Nor  were  there  at  hand  facilities 
for  repairs,  or  professors  accomplished  and  ready  to  advise  in  the 
science  scarcely  yet  developed  enough  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  in- 
ventor. There  was  not  a  constant  battery.  There  was,  indeed,  the 
battery  of  many  pairs  (Cruikshank's),  and  Sturgeon  had  produced 
his  electro-magnet  in  1825.     But  the  new  art  required  an  inventor. 

The  substitution  by  Henry  of  the  concentric  multiplier,  in 
place  of  the  loose,  oblique  coil  of  Sturgeon,  reduced  the  strength 
of  the  battery  necessarily  required ;  and  his  employment  of  a  bat- 
tery of  many  pairs  in  place  of  a  single  pair  having  the  same  surface, 
which  projected  the  current  through  greater  length  of  wire,  and  so 
made  possible  the  magnetizing  of  iron  at  a  distance,  revealed  the 
direction  in  which  development  was  to  tak%  place.  This  disclosed 
a  principle  on  which  the  registering  apparatus  could  be  worked  at 
a  distance.     But  still  there  was  needed  an  inventor. 

Not  one  of  all  the  brilliant  scientific  men  who  have  attached 
their  names  to  the  history  of  electro-magnetism  had  brought  the 
means  to  produce  the  practical  registering  telegraph.  Some  of 
them  had  ascended  the  tower  that  looked  out  on  the  field  of  con- 
quest.    Some  of  them  brought  keener  vision  than  others.     Some  of 


284  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

them  stood  higher  than  others.  But  the  genius  of  invention  had 
not  recognized  them.  There  was  needed  an  inventor.  Now,  what 
sort  of  a  want  is  this  ? 

There  was  required  a  rare  combination  of  qualities  and  condi- 
tions. There  must  be  ingenuity  in  the  adaptation  of  available 
means  to  desired  ends ;  there  must  be  the  genius  to  see  through 
non-essentials  to  the  fundamental  principle  on  which  success  de- 
pends ;  there  must  be  a  kind  of  skill  in  manipulation ;  great  pa- 
tience and  pertinacity;  a  certain  measure  of  culture;  and  the  invent- 
or of  a  recording  telegraph  must  be  capable  of  being  inspired  by 
the  grandeur  of  the  thought  of  writing,  figuratively  speaking,  with 
a  pen  a  thousand  miles  long — with  the  thought  of  a  postal  system 
without  the  element  of  time.  Moreover,  the  person  who  is  to  be 
the  inventor  must  be  free  from  the  exactions  of  well-compensated, 
every-day  absorbing  duties — perhaps  he  must  have  had  the  final 
baptism  of  poverty. 

Now,  the  inventor  of  the  registering  telegraph  did  not  rise 
from  the  perusal  of  any  brilliant  paper ;  he  happened  to  be  at 
leisure  on  shipboard,  ready  to  contribute  and  share  in  the  after- 
dinner  conversation  of  a  ship's  cabin,  when  the  occasion  arose. 

Morse's  electro-magnetic  telegraph  was  mainly  an  invention 
employing  power  and  agencies,  through  mechanical  devices,  to 
produce  a  given  end.  It  involved  the  combination  of  the  results 
of  the  labors  of  others  with  a  succession  of  special  contrivances  and 
some  discoveries  of  the  inventor  himself.  There  was  an  ideal  whole 
almost  at  the  outset,  but  involving  great  thought  and  labor  and 
patience  and  invention  to  produce  an  art  harmonious  in  its  organi- 
zation and  action. 


CHAPTEE    YIJI. 

1832-1838. 

ARRIVAL  IN  NEW  YORK — THE  BEOTHEES'  TESTIMONY — MOULD  AND  TYPE 
THE  FIEST  THINGS  MADE  FOE  THE  TELEGRAPH — CASTINGS  PRESEEVED — 
STRUGGLES  OF  THE  INVENTOE — POYEETY  AND  DISTRESS— HIS  BEOTHEES' 
SYMPATHY  AND  AID — MAKING  THE  TELEGEAPHIO  INSTEUMENT — AT  THE 
LATHE  —  FAITH  IN  GOD  AND  HIMSELF  —  EEJEOTED  AS  ONE  OF  THE 
PAINTEES  OF  A  PIOTUEE  FOE  THE  CAPITOL  —  AETISTS'  SYMPATHY  — 
ELECTED   PEOFESSOE   IN  TJNIVEESITY   OF  NEW   YORK — BOOMS   IN   BUILDING 

— APPAEATUS  —  COOKS    HIS    OWN    FOOD    IN    HIS    ROOM ANNOUNCEMENT 

OF   HIS   INVENTION FRENCH    IDEA    OF   TELEGRAPH PEOFESSOE    GALE'S 

STATEMENT — DANIEL  HUNTINGTON HAMILTON   FISH EEV.  MR.   SEELYE 

COMMODORE    STARBUCK ROBERT    G.    RANKIN REY.    DR.    H.    B.    TAPPAN 

ALFRED   YADL   BECOMES    A   PARTNER LETTEE    TO    SECEETAEY    OF     TEEAS- 

URY — SECRETARY'S  REPORT  TO  CONGRESS — PROFESSOR  GALE  A  PARTNER 
— THE  INSTRUMENT  AT  SPEEDWELL  —  THREE  MILES  OF  WIRE  —  EXPERI- 
MENTS— EXHIBITION  IN  NEW  YORK  —  TEN  MILES  OF  WIRE  —  FIRST  DIS- 
PATCH  PRESERVED EXHIBITED  TO  THE    FRANKLIN   INSTITUTE — :BEPOET — 

THE    INSTEUMENT    IN   WASHINGTON — EXHIBITED   TO    THE    PRESIDENT    AND 

CABINET HON.    F.     O.     J.    SMITH PROFESSOR     MORSE'S    LETTERS    TO    MR. 

SMITH REPORT    OF    COMMITTEE    OF     COMMERCE — PARTNERSHIP    WITH    MR. 

SMITH — LETTERS   TO   VAIL — PEEPAEATIONS    FOR  A  JOURNEY   TO   EUROPE. 

TT^HE  Sully  reached  the  wharf  at  the  foot  of  Rector  Street, 
J-      New  York,  November  15,  1832.     The  two  brothers  of 
Mr.  Morse,  Sidney  E.  and  Richard  C.  Morse,  were  there  to  meet 
and  welcome  him  on  his  arrival.     His  brother  Riehard  says  : 

"  Hardly  had  the  usual  greetings  passed  between  us  three  broth- 
ers, and  while  on  our  way  to  my  house,  before  he  informed  us  that 
he  had  made,  during  his  voyage,  an  important  invention,  which 
had  occupied  almost  all  his  attention  on  shipboard — one  that 
would  astonish  the  world,  and  of  the  success  of  which  he  was  per- 


286  LIFE   0F   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

fectly  sanguine  ;  that  this  invention  was  a  means  of  communicating 
intelligence  by  electricity,  so  that  a  message  could  be  written  down 
in  a  permanent  manner,  by  characters,  at  a  distance  from  the 
writer.  He  took  from  his  pocket  and  showed  from  his  sketch-book, 
in  which  he  had  drawn  them,  the  kind  of  characters  he  proposed  to 
use.  These  characters  were  dots  and  spaces,  representing  the  ten 
digits  or  numerals ;  and  in  the  book  were  sketched  other  parts  of 
his  electro-magnetic  machinery  and  apparatus,  actually  drawn  out 
in  his  sketch-book." 

His  brother  Sidney  says  : 

"  He  was  full  of  the  subject  of  the  Telegraph  during  the  walk 
from  the  ship,  and  for  some  days  afterward  could  scarcely  speak 
about  any  thing  else.  He  expressed  himself  anxious  to  make  appa- 
ratus and  try  experiments,  for  which  he  had  had  no  materials  or  facili- 
ties on  shipboard.  In  the  course  of  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  he 
made  a  kind  of  cogged  or  saw-toothed  type,  the  object  of  which,  I 
understood,  was  to  regulate  the  interruptions  of  the  electric  current, 
so  as  to  enable  him  to  make  dots,  and  regulate  the  length  of  marks 
or  spaces  on  the  paper  upon  which  the  information  transmitted  by 
his  telegraph  was  to  be  recorded.  He  proposed  at  that  time  a 
single  circuit  of  wire,  and  only  a  single  circuit,  and  letters,  words, 
and  phrases,  were  to  be  indicated  by  numerals,  and  these  numerals 
were  to  be  indicated  by  dots  and  other  marks  and  spaces  on  paper. 
It  seemed  to  me  that,  as  wire  was  cheap,  it  would  be  better  to 
have  twenty-four  wires,  each  wire  representing  a  letter  of  the  alpha- 
bet, but  "my  brother  always  insisted  upon  the  superior  advantages 
of  his  single  circuit." 

Without  delay  Mr.  Morse  proceeded  to  construct  the  instru- 
ment which  was  to  test  the  practicability  of  his  invention.  He 
was  now  an  inmate  of  his  brother  Richard's  house,  and  there  he 
resided  several  months.  Mrs.  Morse  states  that  he  was,  imme- 
diately after  his  arrival,  engaged  in  melting  lead  and  casting  it 
into  moulds,  making  forms  which  he  called  type.  She  says — 
and  her  memory  was  doubtless  sharpened  by  the  unlucky  acci- 
dent she  mentions — that  "  he  melted  the  lead,  which  he  used, 
over  the  fire  in  the  grate  of  my  front  parlor,  and,  in  his  oper- 
ation of  casting  the  type,  he  spilled  some  of  the  heated  metal 
upon  the  drugget,  or  loose  carpeting  before  the  fireplace,  and 
upon  a  flag-bottomed  chair,  upon  which  his  mould  was  placed." 


FORLORN  SITUATION.  287 

This  was  the  first  step  that  Mr.  Morse  took  in  the  actual  con- 
struction of  his  electro-telegraphic  instrument.  Some  of  the 
first  forms  or  type  thus  made  by  casting  melted  lead  into  a 
mould  prepared  for  receiving  them,  he  "presented  to  the  writer 
of  this  memoir,  who  deposited  them  with  the  New  York  His- 
torical Society,  to  be  preserved  in  the  archives  of  that  insti- 
tution. 

From  this  hour  began  a  struggle  that  lasted  twelve  years, 
more  severe,  heroic,  and  triumphant,  than  the  annals  of  any 
other  invention  furnish  for  the  warning  and  encouragement 
of  genius.  With  his  mind  absorbed  in  this  one  idea  of  a 
recording  telegraph,  and  wholly  dependent  upon  his  profession 
as  an  artist,  it  was  impossible  to  pursue  his  art  with  the 
enthusiasm  and  industry  essential  to  success.  Nor  would  his 
invention  have  been  perfected  while  he  continued  his  devotion 
to  his  profession  as  an  artist.  His  situation  was  forlorn  in 
the  extreme.  The  father  of  three  little  children,  now  mother- 
less, his  pecuniary  means  exhausted  by  his  residence  in  Europe, 
unable  to  pursue  his  art  without  sacrificing  his  invention, 
he  was  at  his  wits'  ends.  He  had  visions  of  usefulness,  by  the 
invention  of  a  Telegraph  that  should  bring  the  ends  of  the  earth 
into  instant  intercourse.  Thoughts  of  fame  came  to  him  by  day 
and  night,  and  a  lawful  ambition  was  kindled.  He  was  poor, 
and  knew  that  wealth,  as  well  as  usefulness  and  fame,  was  with- 
in his  reach.  He  had  long  received  assistance  from  his  father 
and  brothers,  when  his  profession  did  not  supply  the  needed 
means  of  support  for  himself  and  family,  but  it  seemed  like 
robbery  to  take  the  money  of  others  to  expend  upon  experi- 
ments, the  success  of  which  he  could  not  expect  them  to  believe 
in  until  he  could  give  practical  evidence  that  the  instrument 
could  do  the  work  proposed.  It  was  the  old  story  repeated, 
and  to  be  repeated,  of  genius  contending  with  poverty.  He 
knew  what  rapid  progress  was  now  made  in  science  and  art ; 
the  idea  which  he  had  started  might  spread  like  electricity  itself, 
far  and  wide;  the  danger  was  great  that  some  one  else,  with 
more  time  and  means,  would  seize  the  thought,  reduce  it  to 
practice,  and  present  it  to  the  world,  while  he  was  brooding 
over  it  in  melancholy  indecision  and  helplessness.  His  letters 
to  friends  in  former  years  very  frequently  indicated  a  tendency 


288  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

to  despondency.  He  was  now  sinking  very  low.  The  appre- 
hension that  he  might  not  be  able  to  go  on  with  his  work  filled 
him  at  times  with  anguish.  His  brothers  comforted,  encouraged, 
and  cheered  him.  In  "the  house  of  his  brother  Richard  he 
found  a  home,  and  the  tender  care  that  he  required.  Sidney, 
the  other  brother,  lent  him  the  resources  of  a  powerful  intellect. 
With  them  it  was  his  habit  to  consult  with  the  greatest  free- 
dom, telling  them  all  the  difficulties  he  encountered,  and  the 
steps  that  he  must  mount  to  reach  the  height  of  his  great  con- 
ception. 

Just  "before  he  left  Europe  to  return  home,  he  had  written 
to  his  brothers,  and  these  were  his  sad  words  :  "  I  have  fre- 
quently felt  melancholy  in  thinking  of  my  prospects  for  en- 
couragement when  I  return,  and  your  letter  found  me  in  one  of 
those  moments.  You  cannot,  therefore,  conceive  with  what 
feelings  I  read  your  offer  of  a  room  in  your  new  house.  Give  me 
a  resting-place,  and  I  will  yet  move  the  country  in  favor  of  the 
arts.  I  return  with  some  hopes,  but  many  fears.  Will  my 
country  employ  me  on  works  which  may  do  it  honor  ?  I  want 
a  commission  from  Government  to  execute  two  pictures  from 
the  life  of  Columbus,  and  I  want  eight  thousand  dollars  for 
each,  and  on  these  two  I  will  stake  my  reputation  as  an  artist." 

Two  or  three  years  were  passed  in  this  melancholy  mood, 
his  profession  as  an  artist  taking  him  from  place  to  place,  as  he 
had  commissions  that  required  him  to  reside  for  a  time  here 
and  there.  Small  opportunity  was  allowed  him  to  pursue  his 
vision  of  the  Telegraph.  "  During  this  time,"  he  says,  "  I  never 
lost  faith  in  the  practicability  of  the  invention,  nor  abandoned 
the  intention  of  testing  it  as  soon  as  I  could  command  the 
means." 

On  the  corner  of  Nassau  and  Beekman  Streets  his  brothers 
afterward  erected  a  building  in  which  were  the  offices  of  the 
newspaper  of  which  they  were  the  editors  and  proprietors. 
In  the  fifth"  story  of  this  building  a  room  was  assigned  to 
him,  which  for  a  long  time  was  his  study,  studio,  bedchamber, 
parlor,  kitchen,  drawing-room,  and  workshop.  On  one  side 
of  the  room  stood  the  little  cot  on  which  he  slept,  when  sleep 
was  kind  enough  to  visit  him,  in  the  brief  hours  which  he 
allowed  himself  for  repose.     On  the  other  side  of  the  room,  by 


M0E8E  MAKING  HIS  OWN  INSTEUMENT. 


HIS   MANUAL   LABOR.  289 

ft 

the  window,  stood  his  lathe,  with  which  he,  his  own  mechani- 
cian and  workman,  as' well  as  inventor,  turned  the  brass  appa- 
ratus necessary  for  him  to  use  in  the  construction  of  his  instru- 
ment. He  had,  with  his  own  hands,  first  whittled  the  models ; 
then  with  the  models  he  made  the  moulds  and  the  castings.  In 
the  lathe,  with  the  graver's  tool,  he  gave  them  polish  and  finish. 
Into  this  room  were  brought  to  him,  from  day  to  day,  crackers 
and  the  simplest  food,  which,  with  tea,  prepared  by  himself, 
sustained  his  life,  while  he  toiled  incessantly  to  give  form  and 
being  to  the  idea  that  possessed  him. 

To  mingle  with  the  world  in  the  pursuit  of  his  favorite  art, 
or  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  social  life,  of  which  no  man  was 
more  fond,  would  divert  his  mind  from  the  work  in  which  he 
was  absorbed,  while  patiently  and  believingly  he  hoped  to  reach 
the  grand  result.  He  had  faith  in  God,  and  strong  confidence 
in  his  own  ability  eventually  to  make  the  instrument  practically 
successful.  He  knew  what  he  had  done  before.  Nothing  ap- 
peared to  him  wanting  except  the  pecuniary  means  to  sustain 
him  to  the  horn'  of  accomplishment.  If  he  should  die  before  it 
was  done,  his  conception  would  perish  with  him.  .  Stimulated 
by  these  anticipations  and  apprehensions,  he  studied  the  strictest 
economy  in  food  and  dress,  dependent  now  almost  exclusively 
upon  his  brothers  for  the  scanty  supply  which  he  was  willing  to 
receive  while  engaged  in  a  work  which  to  all  others  seemed 
visionary. 

In  the  midst  of  this  conflict,  the  Government  was  offering  to 
American  artists,  to  be  selected  by  a  committee  of  Congress, 
commissions  to  paint  pictures  for  the  panels  in  the  Rotunda  of 
the  Capitol.  Morse  was  anxious,  as  we  have  already  seen,  to  be 
employed  upon  one  or  more,  of  them.  The  artists  of  the  country 
urged  his  selection.  He  was  the  President  of  the' National 
Academy  of  Design,  and  there  was  an  eminent  fitness  in  calling 
him  to  this  national  work.  No  artist  in  the  United  JStates,  ex- 
cept Allston,  his  teacher  and  friend,  had  so  high  and  so  wide  a 
reputation  as  Morse,  and  Allston  urged  the  appointment  of 
Morse,  declining  to  take  one  of  the  commissions  that  was  offered 
to  himself.  John  Quincy  Adams,  ex-President  of  the  United 
States,  and  now  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  on  the  committee  to  whom  this  subject  was  referred,  submit- 
19 


290  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

ted  a  resolution  in  the  House  that  foreign  artists  be  allowed  to 
compete  for  these  commissions,  and  in  support  of  his  resolution 
alleged  that  there  were  no  American  artists  competent  to  exe- 
cute the  paintings.  This  allegation  gave  great  and  just  offence 
to  the  artists  and  the  public.  A  severe  and  masterly  reply  to 
the  remarks  of  Mr.  Adams  appeared  in  the  New  York  Evening 
Post.  This  reply  was  written  by  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  but  it 
was  attributed  to  Mr.  Morse,  whose  pen  was  well  known  to  be  as 
skillful  as  his  pencil.  So  far  from  being  its  author,  Mr.  Morse 
did  not  know  that  Mr.  Adams  had  made  the  offensive  remarks 
until  Mr.  Cooper  came  and  read  to  him  the  reply  in  the  Post. 
But  it  was  generally  understood  that  Mr.  Morse  was  regarded  by 
Mr.  Adams  as  the  author,  and  that  in  consequence  of  that  belief 
the  name  of  Mr.  Morse  was  rejected  by  the  committee.  He 
never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  that  blow.  Forty  years  af- 
terward he  could  not  speak  of  it  without  emotion.  He  had 
consecrated  the  previous  years  of  his  life  to  preparation  for  such 
a  work.  His  brethren  of  the  profession  had  accorded  to  him 
the  highest  position  in  their  guild.  His  ambition  had  fastened 
upon  this  as  the  fitting  opportunity  to  place  before  his  country- 
men, in  the  Capitol,  the  greatest  achievement  of  his  genius  and 
skill.  His  teacher  and  friend,  "Washington  Allston,  wrote  to  him 
these  sympathetic  lines : 

"  I  have  learned  the  disposition  of  the  '  pictures.'  I  had  hoped 
to  find  your  name  among  the  commissioned  artists;  but  I  was 
grieved  to  find  that  all  my  efforts  in  your  behalf  have  proved  fruit- 
less. I  know  what  your  disappointment  must  have  been  at  this  re- 
sult, and  most  sincerely  do  I  sympathize  with  you.  That  my  efforts 
were  both  sincere  and  conscientious  I  hope  will  be  some  consola- 
tion to  you.  But  let  not  this  disappointment  cast  you  down,  my 
friend.  You  have  it  still  in  your  power  to  let  the  world  know  what 
you  can  do.  Dismiss  it,  then,  from  your  mind,  and  determine  to 
paint  all  the  better  for  it.     God  bless  you  ! 

"  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"Washington  Aixston." 

But  it  was  well  for  him,  and  his  country,  and  the  world,  that 
the  artist  was  disappointed :  Morse  the  painter  became  Morse 
the  inventor.  He  had  indeed  been  for  some  years  plodding  on 
with  his  invention,  earning  his  daily  bread  with  his  brash,  and 


SYMPATHY   OF  ARTISTS.  291 

by  giving  lessons  in  art,  but  never  abandoning  the  idea  that  the 
Telegraph  was  yet  to  be  accomplished.  His  brother  artists  were 
grieved  at  the  rejection  of  their  President  by  the  Government, 
and  they  made  an  expression  of  their  chagrin  and  sympathy  by 
such  a  testimonial  as  is  doubtless  without  a  parallel  in  the  history 
of  the  arts.  General  Cummings,  in  his  "  Annals  of  the  Acad- 
emy," gives  the  facts  in  these  words : 

"  The  writer  called  a  meeting  of  artists  at  his  house,  March  17th 
— suggested  and  arranged  an  association  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
funds,  in  fifty-dollar  shares,  for  procuring  Morse  to  paint  an  histori- 
cal picture — the  title,  '  A  Joint-stock  Association  of  Artists  for  pro- 
curing Morse  to  paint  an  Historical  Picture.'  Certificates  were  im- 
mediately prepared  and  subscribers  solicited.  In  a  few  days  the 
writer  had  the  satisfaction  of  obtaining  such  to  the  amount  of  five 
hundred  dollars.  John  L.  Morton,  by  his  exertions,  added  another  five 
hundred.  The  efforts  of  others  in  a  short  time  increased  that  amount 
to  two  thousand  dollars.  At  that  point  a  great  addition  was  at  once 
made  to  the  fund.  A  gentleman  well  known,  but  who  declined  to 
have  his  name  made  public,  subscribed  one  thousand — thus  making 
a  total  of  three  thousand  dollars  ;  and  Mr. ,  of  Brooklyn,  gen- 
erously offered  to  contribute,  free  of  charge,  canvas,  and  all  material 
required  in  the  execution  of  the  work.  Thus  armed,  the  writer  and 
John  L.  Morton  waited  on  Morse,  and  communicated  the  result — the 
first  knowledge  he  had  of  the  undertaking.  The  effect  was  electrical 
— it  aroused  him  from  his  depression,  and  he  exclaimed,  '  that 
never  had  he  read  or  known  of  such  an  act  of  professional  generos- 
ity ; '  and  that  he  was  fully  determined  to  paint  the  picture — his 
favorite  subject,  'The  Signing  of  the  First  Compact  on  board  the 
Mayflower ' — not  of  small  size,  as  requested,  but  of  the  size  of  the 
panels  in  the  Rotunda.  That  was  immediately  assented  to  by  the 
committee,  thinking  it  possible  that  one  or  the  other  of  the  pic- 
tures so  ordered  might  fail  in  execution — in  which  case  it  would 
afford  favorable  inducements  to  its  substitution,  and  of  course  much 
to  Mr.  Morse's  profit — as  the  artists  from  the  first  never  contem- 
plated taking  possession  of  the  picture  so  executed ;  it  was  to  remain 
with  Mr.  Morse,  and  for  his  use  and  benefit.  Two  or  three  install- 
ments were  collected  and  paid  him,  when  his  departure  for  Europe, 
in  the  furtherance  of  his  Telegraph — the  success  of  which  has  '  won 
him  world-renowned  reputation ' — caused  a  suspension  of  the  paint- 
ing, and  delay  was  requested  and  acceded  to  by  the  subscribers." 


292  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

"When  Mr.  Morse  determined  to  go  abroad,  lie  wrote  to  Mi*. 
Cummings  as  follows : 

"  Circumstances  relating  to  the  Telegraph,  invented  by  me  in 
1832,  will  require  my  attention  for  an  indefinite  time,  and  I  am 
about  to  visit  Europe,  principally  in  reference  to  matters  in  connec- 
tion with  this  invention.  At  the  same  time,  indeed,  I  have  in  view 
seme  studies  connected  with  the  picture  which  the  association  have 
commissioned  me  to  paint  for  them.  Yet,  I  ought  not  to  conceal 
from  the  gentlemen  who  have  so  generously  formed  the  association, 
that  circumstances  may  arise,  in  relation  to  the  Telegraph,  which 
may  make  it  a  paramount  duty,  to  myself  and  my  country,  to  sus- 
pend for  a  season  the  commission  with  which  they  have  honored 
me." 

Finding  that  be  could  not  execute  tbe  painting,  and  wishing 
to  relieve  himself  of  the  position  in  which  he  then  stood,  Mr. 
Morse  returned  to  the  stockholders  the  amount  in  full,  with 
interest,  and  canceled  the  obligation. 

In  the  year  1835  Mr.  Morse  was  appointed  Professor  of  the 
Literature  of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  the  New  York  City  Uni- 
versity. Before  the  apartments  were  completly  finished  he  re- 
moved from  Greenwich  Lane  to  the  third  floor,  front  rooms, 
in  the  north  wing  of  the  University  building,  looking  out  upon 
Washington  Square. 

"  There,"  he  says,  "  I  immediately  commenced,  with  very  limited 
means,  to  experiment  upon  my  invention.1  My  first  instrument  was 
made  up  of  an  old  picture  or  canvas  frame  fastened  to  a  table ;  the 
wheels  of  an  old  wooden  clock,  moved  by  a  weight  to  carry  the 
paper  forward ;  three  wooden  drums,  upon  one  of  which  the  paper 
was  wound  and  passed  over  the  other  two ;  a  wooden  pendulum 
suspended  to  the  top  piece  of  the  picture  or  stretching  frame,  and 
vibrating  across  the  paper  as  it  passes  over  the  centre  wooden  drum ; 
a  pencil  at  the  lower  end  of  the  pendulum,  in  contact  with  the  paper ; 
an  electro-magnet  fastened  to  a  shelf  across  the  picture  or  stretching- 
frame,  opposite  to  an  armature  made  fast  to  the  pendulum ;  a  type 
rule  and  type  for  breaking  the  circuit,  resting  on  an  endless  band, 
composed  of  carpet-binding,  which  passed  over  two  wooden  rollers, 
moved  by  a  wooden  crank,  and  carried  forward  by  points  projecting 

1  See  appendix  A  for  illustrated  history  of  the  invention. 


HIS  FIRST  APPARATUS.  293 

from  the  bottom  of  the  rule  downward  into  the  carpet-binding ;  a 
lever,  with  a  small  weight  on  the  upper  side,  and  a  tooth  projecting 
downward  at  one  end,  operated  on  by  the  type,  and  a  metallic  fork 
also  projecting  downward  over  two  mercury-cups,  and  a  short  cir- 
cuit of  wire,  embracing  the  helices  of  the  electro-magnet  connected 
with  the  positive  and  negative  poles  of  the  battery  and  terminating 
in  the  mercury-cups.  When  the  instrument  was  at  rest  the  circuit 
was  broken  at  the  mercury -cups ;  as  soon  as  the  first  type  in  the 
type-rule  (put  in  motion  by  turning  the  wooden  crank)  came  in  con- 
tact with  the  tooth  on  the  lever,  it  raised  that  end  of  the  lever  and 
depressed  the  other,  bringing  the  prongs  of  the  fork  down  into  the 
mercury,  thus  closing  the  circuit ;  the  current  passing  through  the 
helices  of  the  electro-magnet  caused  the  pendulum  to  move  and  the 
pencil  to  make  an  oblique  mark  upon  the  paper,  which,  in  the 
mean  time,  had  been  put  in  motion  over  the  wooden  drum.  The 
tooth  in  the  lever  falling  into  the  first  two  cogs  of  the  types,  the  cir- 
cuit was  broken  when  the  pendulum  returned  to  its  former  position, 
the  pencil  making  another  mark  as  it  returned  across  the  paper. 
Thus,  as  the  lever  was  alternately  raised  and  depressed  by  the  points 
of  the  type,  the  pencil  passed  to  and  fro  across  the  slip  of  paper 
passing  under  it,  making  a  mark  resembling  a  succession  of  Vs. 
The  spaces  between  the  types  caused  the  pencil  to  mark  horizontal 
lines,  long  or  short,  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  spaces. 
With  this  apparatus,  rude  as  it  was,  and  completed  before  the  first 
of  the  year  1836, 1  was  enabled  to  and  did  mark  down  telegraphic  in- 
telligible signs,  and  to  make  and  did  make  distinguishable  sounds  for 
telegraphing;  and,  having  arrived  at  that  point,  I  exhibited  it  to 
some  of  my  friends  early  in  that  year,  and  among  others  to  Professor 
Leonard  D.  Gale,  who  was  a  college  professor  in  the  university.1 
I  also  experimented  with  the  chemical  power  of  the  electric  current 
in  1836,  and  succeeded  in  marking  my  telegraphic  signs  upon  paper 
dipped  in  turmeric  and  a  solution  of  the  sulphate  of  soda  (as  well  as 
other  salts),  by  passing  the  current  through  it.  I  was  soon  satisfied, 
however,  that  the  electro-magnetic  power  was  more  available  for 
telegraphic  purposes  and  possessed  many  advantages  over  any  other, 
and  I  turned  my  thoughts  in  that  direction.  Early  in  1836  I  pro- 
cured forty  feet  of  wire,  and  putting  it  in  the  circuit  I  found  that  my 
battery  of  one  cup  was  not  sufficient  to  work  my  instrument.  This 
result  suggested  to  me  the  probability  that  the  magnetism  to  be  ob- 
tained from  the  electric  current  would  diminish  in  proportion  as  the 

1  See  page  299. 


294  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.    B.   MOKSE. 

circuit  was  lengthened,  so  as  to  be  insufficient  for  any  practical  pur- 
poses at  great  distances ;  and  to  remove  that  probable  obstacle  to 
my  success  I  conceived  the  idea  of  combining  two  or  more  circuits 
together  in  the  manner  described  in  my  first  patent,  each  with  an 
independent  battery,  making  use  of  the  magnetism  of  the  current  on 
the  first  to  close  and  break  the  second ;  the  second,  the  third,  and 
so  on.  This  contrivance  was  fully  set  forth  in  my  patents.  My 
chief  concern,  therefore,  on  my  subsequent  patents  was  to  ascertain 
to  what  distance  from  the  battery  sufficient  magnetism  could  be  ob- 
tained to  vibrate  a  piece  of  metal,  knowing  that,  if  I  could  obtain 
the  least  motion  at  the  distance  of  eight  or  ten  miles,  the  ultimate 
object  was  within  my  grasp.  A  practical  mode  of  communicating 
the  impulse  of  one  circuit  to  another,  such  as  that  described  in  my 
patent  of  1840,  was  matured  as  early  as  the  spring  of  1837,  and  ex- 
hibited then  to  Professor  Gale,  my  confidential  friend. 

"  Up  to  the  autumn  of  1837  my  telegraphic  apparatus  existed  in 
so  rude  a  form  that  I  felt  a  reluctance  to  have  it  seen.  My  means 
were  very  limited — so  limited  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  con- 
structing an  apparatus  of  such  mechanical  finish  as  to  warrant  my 
success  in  venturing  upon  its  public  exhibition.  I  had  no  wish  to 
expose  to  ridicule  the  representative  of  so  many  hours  of  laborious 
thought.  Prior  to  the  summer  of  1837,  at  which  time  Mr.  Alfred 
Vail's  attention  became  attracted  to  my  Telegraph,  I  depended  upon 
my  pencil  for  subsistence.  Indeed,  so  straitened  were  my  circum- 
stances that,  in  order  to  save  time  to  carry  out  my  invention  and  to 
economize  my  scanty  means,  I  had  for  many  months  lodged  and 
eaten  in  my  studio,  procuring  my  food  in  small  quantities  from  some 
grocery,  and  preparing  it  myself.  To  conceal  from  my  friends  the 
stinted  manner  in  which  I  lived,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  bringing  my 
food  to  my  room  in  the  evenings,  and  this  was  my  mode  of  life  for 
many  years." 

In  the  year  1853,  Professor  Morse  alluded  to  these  days  of 
trial  in  some  remarks  at  a  meeting  of  the  Association  of  the 
Alumni  of  the  University  of  ]STew  York  City : 

"  Yesternight,  on  once  more  entering  your  chapel,  I  saw  the 
same  marble  staircase  and  marble  floors  I  once  so  often  trod,  and  so 
often  with  a  heart  and  head  overburdened  with  almost  crushing- 
anxieties.  Separated  from  the  chapel  by  but  a  thin  partition  was 
that  room  I  occupied,  now  your  Philomathean  Hall,  whose  walls — 
had  thoughts  and  mental  struggles,  with  the  alternations  of  joys 


INTENTION  OF  THE  RELAY.  295 

and  sorrows,  the  power  of  being  daguerreotyped  upon  them — 
would  show  a  thickly-studded  gallery  of  evidence  that  there  the 
Briarean  infant  was  born  who  has  stretched  forth  his  arms  with  the 
intent  to  encircle  the  world.  Yes,  that  room  of  the  University  was 
the  birthplace  of  the  Recording  Telegraph.  Attempts,  indeed, 
have  been  made  to  assign  to  it  other  parentage,  and  to  its  birth- 
place other  localities.  Personally,  I  have  very  little  anxiety  on  this 
point,  except  that  the  truth  should  not  suffer ;  for  I  have  a  con- 
sciousness which  neither  sophistry  nor  ignorance  can  shake,  that 
that  room  is  the  place  of  its  birth,  and  a  confidence,  too,  that  its 
cradle  is  in  hands  that  will  sustain  its  rightful  claim." 

"  In  1835,"  says  Professor  Horsford,  "  Morse  made  his  discovery 
of  the  relay,  the  most  brilliant  of  all  the  achievements  to  which  his 
name  must  be  forever  attached.  It  was  the  discovery  of  a  means  by 
which  the  current,  which  through  distance  from  its  source  had  be- 
come feeble,  could  be  reenforced  or  renewed.  This  discovery,  ac- 
cording to  the  different  objects  for  which  it  is  employed,  is  vari- 
ously known  as  the  registering  magnet,  the  local  circuit,  the  margi- 
nal circuit,  the  repeater,  etc.  It  made  transmission  from  one  point 
on  a  main  line  through  indefinitely  great  distances,  and  through  an 
indefinite  number  of  branch  lines,  and  to  an  indefinite  number  of 
way-stations,  and  registration  at  all,  possible  and  practicable,  from 
a  single  act  of  a  single  operator." 

Professor  Morse  also  exhibited  to  Professor  Horsford  one  of 
the  instruments  which  illustrated  his  inventive  genius.  It  re- 
sembled, in  external  appearance,  a  small  melodeon,  having  a  key- 
board, on  which  were  the  letters,  the  figures,  periods,  commas,  etc. 
These  keys  were  levers.  The  ends  of  the  levers,  distant  from  the 
seat  of  the  operator,  were  in  connection  with  brass  circular  disks, 
upon  the  rims  of  which  were  prominences  and  depressions  of  une- 
qual length,  so  arranged  that  the  prominences  would  close  and  the 
depressions  open  the  magnetic  circuit,  and  thus  magnetize  and  de- 
magnetize a  bar  of  soft  iron.  When  magnetized,  the  bar  of  iron 
drew  to  itself  one  end  of  a  lever,  having  an  iron  armature,  to  the 
other  end  of  which  a  pencil  or  pen  was  attached,  the  point  of  which, 
by  this  action  of  the  magnet,  was  pressed  against  a  moving  ribbon 
of  paper ;  when  the  bar  was  demagnetized,  the  lever  was  restored 
to  its  original  position  by  a  spring,  and  the  pencil  lifted  from  the 
paper.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  an  arrangement  of  prominences  and 
depressions,  or  conductors  and  non-conductors,  on  the  brass  circles 
might  be  so  contrived  that  each  key  should  produce  its  own  par  tic- 


296  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

ular  set  of  lines,  dots,  and  spaces.  This  was  the  first  practical 
Registering  Telegraph.  Its  invention  dates  October,  1832,  on  the 
Sully.     Its  first  testing  was  made  in  1835. 

The  piano  key-board  of  Morse,  and  its  complex  devices  for  in- 
terrupting and  closing  the  circuit,  gave  place,  as  the  result  of  prac- 
tical experiment,  before  the  issue  of  the  patent,  to  the  very  simple 
device  of  the  single  key,  with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  The  pencil 
and  pen  gave  place  to  a  stylus — a  simple,  hard  point,  resting  upon 
a  ribbon  of  paper,  moving  at  a  uniform  rate,  immediately  over  a 
groove.  His  plan,  from  the  outset,  contemplated  a  single  current 
and  circuit.  After  the  discovery  of  Steinheil,  that  the  earth  might 
be  used  for  a  part  of  the  circuit,  Morse  adopted  the  arrangement  of 
a  single  line  of  wire  between  the  stations. 

"In  1836,  and  the  early  part  of  1837,"  Professor  Morse  says, 
"  I  directed  my  experiments  mainly  to  modifications  of  the  marking 
apparatus,  contrivances  for  using  fountain-pens,  marking  with  a 
,hard  point  through  pentagraphic  or  blackened  paper,  at  one  time 
on  a  revolving  disk,  spirally  from  the  centre,  at  another  on  a  cylin- 
der, by  which  means  a  large,  ordinary  sheet  of  paper  might  be  so 
written  upon  that  it  could  be  read  as  a  commonplace-book,  and 
bound  for  reference  in  volumes,  and  devising  modes  of  marking 
upon  chemically-prepared  paper.  As  my  means  and  the  duties  of 
my  profession  would  admit,  the  spring  and  autumn  of  1837  were 
employed  in  improving  the  instrument,  varying  the  modes  of  writ- 
ing, experimenting  with  plumbago  and  varkms  kinds  of  ink  or  col- 
oring-matter, substituting  a  pen  for  a  pencil,  and  devising  a  mode 
of  writing  on  a  whole  sheet  of  paper  instead  of  on  a  strip  of  rib- 
bon ;  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  August  or  the  beginning  of  Sep- 
tember of  that  year,  the  instrument  was  shown  in  the  cabinet  of 
the  University  to  numerous  visitors,  operating  through  a  circuit  of 
seventeen  hundred  feet  of  wire  running  back  and  forth  in  that 
room. 

"  At  this  date  (early  in  1837)  the  public  attention  had  been 
drawn  to  the  subject  of  telegraphs  by  rather  pompous  announce- 
ments of  marvelous  improvements  by  two  French  gentlemen  of  the 
names  of  Gronon  and  Servell,  improvements  so  ambiguously  de- 
scribed and  mystified,  that  I  was  deceived  by  them  into  the  belief 
that  their  invention  must  be  an  electric  telegraph. 

"  Newly-invented  Telegraph. — We  take  the  following  from 
a  "Washington  letter  in  the  JBaltimore  Patriot :  '  Mr.  Gonon  and 
his  associate,  Mr.  Servell,  have,  after  many  years'  application  to  the 


FIKST  PUBLIC  ANNOUNCEMENT.  297 

subject,  invented  an  important  S}7stem  of  telegraphs,  which  casts 
into  the  shade  every  thing  of  the  same  kind  that  has  yet  been  at- 
tempted. By  their  admirable  plan,  they  can  communicate  every 
kind  of  information,  word  by  word,  and  punctuate  the  same,  with- 
out using  more  signals  than  words,  and  with  as  much  rapidity  as  a 
person  can  write  or  even  speak!  They  have  received  the  most 
flattering  encouragement  from  those  literary  and  scientific  gentle- 
men to  whom  they  have  explained  the  system,  and  not  a  doubt  is 
entertained  that  it  will  accomplish  the  purposes  of  the  inventors, 
and  realize  all  that  has  been  anticipated  for  it.  Mr.  Gonon  assures 
me  that  he  will  be  able  to  communicate  a  dispatch  of  one  hundred 
words  from  New  York  to  New  Orleans  in  half  an  hour! — and 
those  who  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  system  confirm  his 
promises.  How  elementary  does  every  other  system  appear,  in 
comparison  to  that  which  can  accomplish  such  an  object !  The 
imagination  is  overpowered  in  contemplating  the  consequences  of 
such  an  achievement  of  human  ingenuity.  Distance  is  annihilated. 
Thousands  of  miles  no  longer  divide  us.  "We  know  on  the  instant, 
as  it  were,  the  actions,  the  wishes,  the  determinations  of  our  fellow- 
beings  of  other  States.  Fortunate  it  is  that  we  live  in  an  age  for 
whose  intellectual  progress  nothing  is  too  ripe.' 

"My  brother,  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Observer,  copied  the 
above  announcement  into  his  paper,  and,  in  a  few  words,  stated  the 
fact  of  the  existence  of  my  invention,  and  showed  how,  in  one 
mode,  electricity  might  be  made  to  answer  the  purpose  of  tele- 
graphic communication — a  mode  of  his  own — not  attempting  to  de- 
scribe mine ;  and  the  following  was  the  first  public  mention  of  the 
Morse  Telegraph  : 

" '  We  know  nothing  of  the  telegraph  of  Messrs.  Gonon  and 
Servell,  except  what  is  related  in  the  above  paragraph  ;  but  we  do 
know  that  a  gentleman  of  our  acquaintance,  several  years  since, 
suggested  that  intelligence  might  be  communicated  almost  in- 
stantaneously, hundreds  if  not  thousands  of  miles,  by  means  of 
very  fine  wires,  properly  coated  to  protect  them  from  moisture,  and 
extending  between  places  thus  widely  separated.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  electric  fluid  occupies  no  perceptible  time  in  passing  many 
miles  on  a  wire,  and,  if  it  is  possible  by  connecting  one  end  of  the 
wire  with  an  electrical  or  galvanic  battery  to  produce  any  sensible 
effect  whatever  at  the  other,  it  is  obvious  that,  if  there  are 
twenty-four  wires,  each  representing  a  letter  of  the  alphabet, 
they  may  be  connected  with  the  battery  successively,  in  any 
order,  and,  if  so  connected  in  the  order  of  the  letters  of  any  word 
or  sentence,  that  word  or  sentence  could  be  read  or  written  by  a 
person  standing  at  the  other  end  of  the  wires.  All  the  letters 
of  a  paragraph  in  a  newspaper  could  thus  be  touched  successively 
by  a  man  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  contents,  verbatim  et  literatim, 
be  convened  to  New  York  as  fast  as  a  compositor  could  set  up  the 


298  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

type  !  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  time  may  be  near  when  speeches 
in  Congress,  taken  down  by  reporters,  and  conveyed  by  these 
"  electric  telegraphs  "  to  New  York  or  New  Orleans,  may  be  in  type, 
printed,  circulated,  and  read  within  a  few  hours  after  the  voice  of 
the  speaker  has  ceased  at  Washington.  The  wires  necessary  for  a 
distance  of  a  hundred  miles  need  not  weigh  many  pounds,  and  if  in- 
closed in  an  India-rubber  tube,  and  supported  on  high  poles  erected 
along  the  route,  at  intervals  of  four  or  five  hundred  feet,  could  be 
extended  through  an  immense  distance  at  a  trifling  expense.  The 
feasibility  of  the  project  depends  entirely  upon  the  practicability 
of  producing  any  sensible  effect  at  one  end  of  a  long  wire,  by  con- 
necting the  other  end  with  an  electrical  or  galvanic  battery.' 

"  The  improvements  of  the  French  gentlemen,  promising  such 
miraculous  results,  proved,  on  inquiry,  to  be  only  some  modification 
of  the  now  almost  universally-exploded  aerial  telegraph,  improve- 
ments upon  Chappe's  semaphore,  and  having  no  relation  to  the 
Electric  Telegraphs  of  modern  days." 

Whatever  it  was,  the  plan  of  the  Frenchmen  commanded 
the  attention  of  Congress ;  a  bill  was  introduced  to  refund  to  its 
projectors  the  money  they  had  expended  in  experiments,  but  it 
has  passed  out  of  sight,  and  the  "  impossible  "  mode  of  Professor 
Morse  connects  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 

The  recollections  of  those  who  were  witnesses  of  Professor 
Morse's  experiments,  or  of  their  results,  form  the  most  valuable 
portion  of  this  history,  and,  though  necessarily  repetitious,  are 
here  recorded. 

Professor  L.  D.  Gale  gives  the  minutest  account  of  the  birth  of 
the  invention.  He  says  :  "  I  was  a  colleague  professor  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  City  of  New  York,  in  January,  1836,  with  Professor 
Morse,  who  had  rooms  in  the  University  building.  During  the 
month  of  January  he  invited  me  into  his  private  room  in  the  Uni- 
versity, where  I  saw  for  the  first  time  certain  apparatus  consti- 
tuting his  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  The  invention  at  that  time 
consisted  of  the  following  pieces  of  apparatus : 

"  First.  A  train  of  clock- wheels,  being  part  of  a  common  wooden 
clock,  adapted  to  regulate  the  motion  of  a  strip  of  paper,  or  ribbon 
formed  of  strips  of  paper  pasted  together,  end  to  end,  about  one  and 
a  half  inch  wide. 

"  Second.  Three  cylinders  or  drums  of  wood,  arranged  as  in  the 
accompanying  drawings  of  the  apparatus,  which  drawings  represent 
the  apparatus  essentially  as  then  constructed,  to  wit :  A,  B,  C,  are 


PROFESSOR  GALE'S  ACCOUNT. 


299 


the  cylinders ;  A  is  the  paper  cylinder  from  which  the  paper  is  un- 
rolled, passing  over  cylinder  B  to  cylinder  C,  which  is  connected 
with  and  moved  by  the  clock  machinery  of  D,  which  is  the  wooden 


clock  of  which  I  spoke,  and  which  was  moved  by  the  weight  E.  A 
wooden  pendulum,  F,  of  the  shape  delineated,  was  suspended  over 
the  centre  of  cylinder,  B  having  its  pivot  at/     This  pendulum  had 


300  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

its  motion  at  right  angles  or  across  the  paper,  when  the  paper  was 
in  motion.  In  the  lower  part  of  the  pendulum,  through  two  cross- 
pieces,  was  fixed  a  pencil-case,  in  which  a  pencil  moved  easily  up 
and  down,  and  was  kept  in  constant  contact  with  the  paper  by  a 
light  weight,  g.  At  h  was  a  projecting  shelf  from  the  frame  XX, 
upon  which  shelf  was  an  electro-magnet  fixed,  while  the  armature  to 
be  attracted  by  the  said  magnet  was  fixed  upon  the  pendulum.  The 
wires  or  conductors  from  the  helices  of  the  magnet  passed,  one  to 
one  pole  of  a  single-pair  galvanic  battery,  I,  while  the  other  wire 
passed  to  a  cup  of  mercury,  k,  at  the  portrule.  The  other  pole  of 
the  battery  was  connected  by  a  wire  to  the  other  cup  of  mercury,  I. 

"  Third.  The  portrule,  represented  below  the  table.  This  portrule 
was  a  rude  frame,  containing  two  cylinders,  LL,  about  two  inches 
diameter  and  two  inches  long;  one  of  them  was  turned  by  a  crank, 
and  they  were  connected  by  a  band  of  green-worsted  binding  about 
one  and  a  half  inch  in  diameter;  M  was  the  rule  or  composing- 
stick  ;  it  was  made  by  two  small  thin  rules  about  two  feet  long,  side 
by  side,  but  separated  about  the  eighth  of  an  inch  from  each  other, 
forming  a  sort  of  trough  in  which  were  set  up  the  type  hereafter, to 
be  described,  the  cogs  of  which  type  are  seen  projecting  on  the  top 
of  the  rule,  M.  At  N  two  standards  were  raised  from  the  sides  of 
the  long  frame  of  the  portrule  and  united  at  the  top,  in  which  stand- 
ards was  suspended  a  lever,  00.  At  one  end  of  this  lever  was  a 
fork  of  copper  wire,  to  be  plunged,  when  the  lever  was  depressed, 
into  the  two  cups  of  mercury,  k  and  I  •  the  other  end  of  the  lever 
bore  a  weight  to  keep  that  end  down,  and  beneath  the  weight  was  a 
tooth  like  those  upon  the  keys  of  a  hand-organ. 

"  Fourth.  There  was  a  series  of  pieces  of  thin  type-metal,  which 
Professor  Morse  called  type,  and  which  he  showed  me  also  in  draw- 
ings in  a  sketch-book,  which  drawings  he  informed  me  he  had  made 
on  board  the  ship.  These  are  accurately  represented  in  the  sub- 
joined drawing.  They  consisted  of  eleven  pieces,  having  from  one 
(1)  to  five  (5)  cogs  each,  except  one,  which  was  used  as  a  space ;  the 
first  five  numbers  consisted  of  cogs,  from  one  to  five  respectively, 
with  a  short  space  after ;  the  second  five  numbers  consisted  also  of 
cogs  from  one  to  five  respectively,  with  a  long  space  after,  a  space 
double  the  length  of  the  first. 

"  The  operation  of  the  apparatus  when  used  was  this :  Suppose 
that  the  numbers  456,  320,  and  4,  were  to  be  the  numbers  desired  to 
be  sent,  the  type  4,  5,  6,  were  set  up  in  the  rule  M ;  after  which  a. 
space  was  put  to  separate  the  whole  number  from  the  next,  and  so 


PROFESSOR   GALE'S   ACCOUNT.  3Q1 

on.  The  rule,  M,  was  then  placed  on  the  band  of  the  portrule,  and 
by  turning  the  crank  the  rule  was  sent  gradually  forward  ;  the  cogs 
of  the  type  operating  the  lever,  O  O,  to  break  and  close  the  circuit  of 
the  battery,  J.  When  the  circuit  was  closed,  the  magnet,  h,  attracted 
the  pendulum,  F,  causing  a  movement  of  the  pencil,  g,  of  about  a 
fourth  of  an  inch.  The  pencil  being  in  contact  with  the  paper,  if 
the  paper  moved  in  the  direction  of  the  arrow,  or  vice  versa,  a  con- 
tinuous straight  line  was  marked  upon  the  paper,  while  the  pendulum 
was  stationary  either  at  one  end  or  the  other  limit  of  its  motion,  but 
when  attracted  by  the  magnet  from  one  limit  to  the  other,  and  sud- 
denly released  by  the  cessation  of  the  magnetic  force,  it  marked  a 
V-shaped  point,  as  in  the  '  example  of  imprinting '  in  the  drawing, 
and  the  successive  breakings  and  closings  of  the  circuit  by  the  cogs 
of  the  type  caused  the  points  to  be  impressed  or  marked  upon  the 
moving  paper  in  the  manner  there  shown.  By  reading  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  V-shaped  point  or  points  the  figures  intended  were  readily 
recognized. 

"During  the  year  1836,  and  beginning  of  1837,  the  studies  of 
Professor  Morse  on  his  telegraph  I  found  much  interrupted  by 
his  attention  to  his  professional  duties.  I  understood  that  want 
of  pecuniary  means  prevented  him  from  procuring  to  be  made 
such  mechanical  improvements,  and  such  substantial  workmanship, 
as  would  make  the  operation  of  his  invention  more  exact.  In 
the  months  of  March  and  April,  1837,  the  announcement  of  an 
extraordinary  telegraph  on  the  visual  plan  (as  it  afterward  proved 
to  be),  the  invention  of  two  French  gentlemen,  of  the  names 
of  Gonon  and  Servell,  was  going  the  rounds  of  the  papers.  The 
thought  occurred  to  me,  as  well  as  to  Professor  Morse  and  some 
others  of  his  friends,  that  the  invention  of  his  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graph had  somehow  become  known,  and  was  the  origin  of  the  new 
telegraph  thus  conspicuously  announced.  This  announcement  at 
once  aroused  Professor  Morse  to  renewed  exertions  to  bring  the 
new  invention  creditably  before  the  public,  and  to  consent  to  a 
public  announcement  of  the  existence  of  his  invention.  From  April 
to  September,  1837,  Professor  Morse  and  myself  were  engaged  to- 
gether in  the  work  of  preparing  magnets,  winding  wire,  construct- 
ing batteries,  etc.,  in  the  Uuniversity,  for  an  experiment  on  a  larger 
but  still  very  limited  scale,  in  the  little  leisure  that  each  had  to 
spare,  and  being  at  the  same  time  much  cramped  for  funds.  The  la- 
bors of  Professor  Morse  at  this  period  were  mostly  directed  to  modi- 
fications of  his  instruments  for  marking,  contriving  the  best  modes 


302  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

of  marking,  varying  the  pencil,  the  pen,  using  plumbago,  and  ink,  and 
varying  also  the  form  of  the  paper,  from  a  slip  of  paper  to  a  sheet. 
The  latter  part  of  August,  1837,  the  operation  of  the  instruments 
was  shown  to  numerous  visitors  at  the  University.  It  was  early  a 
question  between  Professor  Morse  and  myself,  where  was  the  limit 
of  the  magnetic  power  to  move  a  lever.  I  expressed  a  doubt 
whether  a  lever  could  be  moved  by  this  power  at  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles,  and  my  settled  conviction  was  that  it  could  not 
be  done  with  sufficient  force  to  mark  characters  on  paper  at  one 
hundred  miles'  distance.  To  this  Professor  Morse  was  accustomed 
to  reply, '  If I  can  succeed  in  working  a  magnet  ten  miles,  I  can 
go  round  the  globe?  The  chief  anxiety,  at  this  stage  of  the  inven- 
tion, was  to  ascertain  the  utmost  limits  of  distance  at  which  Mr. 
Morse  could  work  or  move  a  lever  by  magnetic  power.  He  often 
said  to  me,  '  It  matters  not  how  delicate  the  movement  may  be,  if 
I  can  obtain  it  at  all,  it  is  all  I  want?  Professor  Morse  often  re- 
ferred to  the  number  of  stations  which  might  be  required,  and  which, 
he  observed,  would  add  to  the  complication  and  expense.  He  al- 
ways expressed  his  confidence  of  success  in  propagating  magnetic 
power  through  any  distance  of  electric  conductors  which  circum- 
stances might  render  desirable.  This  plan  was  thus  often  explained 
to  me :  '  Suppose,'  said  Professor  Morse,  '  that  in  experimenting  on 
twenty  miles  of  wire  we  should  find  that  the  power  of  magnet- 
ism is  so  feeble  that  it  will  but  move  a  lever  with  certainty  a  hair's 
breadth  ;  that  would  be  insufficient,  it  may  be,  to  write  or  print,  yet 
it  would  be  sufficient  to  close  and  break  another  or  a  second  circuit 
twenty  miles  farther,  and  this  second  circuit  could  be  made,  in  the 
same  manner,  to  break  and  close  a  third  circuit  twenty  miles  farther  ; 
and  so  on  around  the  globe.' 

"  This  general  statement  of  the  means  to  be  resorted  to,  now 
embraced  in  what  is  called  the  receiving  magnet  (relays),  to  render 
practical  writing  or  printing  by  telegraph,  through  long  distances, 
was  shown  to  me  more  in  detail  early  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
1837. 

"  The  apparatus  was  arranged  on  a  plan  substantially  as  indi- 
cated in  the  drawings.  One  (1)  is  a  battery  at  one  terminus  of  a 
line  of  conductors  representing  twenty  miles  in  length,  from  one  pole 
of  which  the  conductor  proceeds  to  the  helix  of  ah  electro-magnet 
at  the  other  terminus  (the  helix  forming  part  of  the  conductor) ; 
thence  it  returns  to  the  battery  end,  terminating  in  a  mercury-cup,  o. 
From  the  contiguous  mercury-cup,  p,  a  wire  proceeds  to  the  other 


EXHIBITION   OF  THE   TELEGRAPH.  303 

pole  of  the  battery ;  when  the  fork  of  the  lever,  c,  unites  the  two 
cups  of  mercury  the  circuit  is  complete,  and  the  magnet,  b,  is  charged, 
and  attracts  the  armature  of  the  lever,  d,  which  connects  the  circuit 
of  battery  2  in  the  same  manner,  which  again  operates  in  turn  the 


lever,  e,  twenty  miles  farther,  and  so  on.  This  was  the  plan  then 
and  there  revealed  and  shown  to  me  by  Professor  Morse,  and  which, 
so  far  as  I  know,  has  constituted  an  essential  part  of  his  electro- 
magnetic telegraph  from  that  date  to  the  present  time. 

"On  Saturday,  the  2d  day  of  September,  1837,  Professor  Dau- 
beny,  of  the  English  Oxford  University,  being  on  a  visit  to  this 
countrj'-,  was  invited  with  a  few  friends  to  see  the  operation  of  the 
telegraph,  in  its  then  rude  form,  in  the  cabinet  of  the  New  York 
University,  where  it  then  had  been  put  up  with  a  circuit  of  1,700 
feet  of  copper  wire,  stretched  back  and  forth  in  that  long  room. 
Professor  Daubeny,  Professor  Torrey,  and  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  were 
present,  among  others.  This  exhibition  of  the  telegraph,  although 
of  very  rude  and  imperfectly-constructed  machinery,  demonstrated 
to  all  present  the  practicability  of  the  invention,  and  it  resulted  in 
enlisting  the  means,  the  skill,  and  the  zeal  of  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  who, 
early  the  next  week,  called  at  the  rooms  and  had  a  more  perfect 
explanation  from  Professor  Morse  of  the  character  of  the  invention. 
The  doubt  to  be  dispelled  in  Mr.  Vail's  mind  was  whether  the 
power  by  magnetism  could  be  propelled  to  such  a  distance  as  to  be 
practically  effective.  This  doubt  was  dissipated  in  a  few  moments' 
conversation  with  Professor  Morse,  and  I  have  ever  been  under  the 
full  conviction  that  it  was  the  means  then  disclosed  by  Professor 
Morse  to  Mr.  Vail,  to  wit,  the  plan  of  repeating  the  power  of 
magnetism  at  any  distance  required,  that  induced  Mr.  Alfred  Vail, 
and  his  brother,  Mr.  George  Vail,  at  once  to  interest  themselves  in 
the  invention,  and  to  furnish  Professor  Morse  with  the  means, 
material,  and  labor,  for  an  experiment  on  a  larger  scale." 

The  writer  of  this  memoir  having  had  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance of  more  than  thirty  years  with  Robert  G.  Rankin,  Esq., 
whose  residence  was  formerly  on  Washington  Square,  on  which 


304  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

also  stands  the  University,  and  knowing  his  scientific  attain- 
ments and  early  acquaintance  with  Professor  Morse's  experi- 
ments, addressed  to  Mr.  Kankin  a  letter  of  inquiry,  to  which  he 
sent  the  following  reply : 

"Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  April  25,  1873. 

"  Professor  Morse  was  one  of  the  purest  and  noblest  men  of  any 
age.  I  believe  I  was  among  the  earliest  outside  of  his  family  circle 
to  whom  he  communicated  his  design  to  encircle  the  globe  with 
wire.  I  was  some  years  since  called  upon  as  a  witness  in  the  great 
Louisville  suit,  but  my  testimony  on  that  trial  was  made  before  a 
commission  from  the  court,  and  was  confined  to  technical  answers 
(in  the  form  of  an  affidavit)  to  written  interrogations,  and  of  course 
I  was  restricted  in  my  testimony  from  testifying  to  much  I  might 
have  said,  and  would  have  been  pleased  to  say,  and  I  rejoice  in 
the  opportunity  of  giving  my  recollections.  Some  time  in  the  fall 
of  1835  I  was  passing  along  the  easterly  walk  of  Washington  Pa- 
rade-ground, leading  from  Waverly  Place  to  Fourth  Street,  when  I 
heard  my  name  called.  On  turning  round,  I  saw,  over  the  picket- 
fence,  an  outstretched  arm,  from  a  person  standing  in  the  middle  or 
main  entrance-door  of  the  unfinished  University  building  of  New 
York,  and  immediately  recognized  the  professor,  who  beckoned  me 
toward  him.  On  meeting  and  exchanging  salutations — and  you 
know  how  genial  his  were — he  took  me  by  the  arm,  and  said: 

" '  I  wish  you  to  go  up  into  my  sanctum  and  examine  a  piece  of 
mechanism,  which,  if  you  may  not  believe  in,  you,  at  least,  will  not 
laugh  at,  as  I  fear  some  others  will.  I  want  you  to  give  me  your 
frank  opinion,  as  a  friend,  for  I  know  your  interest  in  and  love  of 
the  applied  sciences.' 

"  On  entering  the  sanctum  in  the  third  story  of  the  finished  part 
of  the  building,  the  first  thing  my  eye  fell  upon  was  an  instrument 
not  dissimilar  in  outward  appearances  to  one  of  our  modern 
melodeons,  with  a  sort  of  key-board,  like  a  movable  series  of 
wooden  strips.  Around  the  room  were  placed  coils  of  wire,  and 
many  tools  and  articles  generally  used  for  mechanical  purposes,  be- 
sides jars,  apparently  of  chemicals,  and  implements  usually  asso- 
ciated with  galvanic  experiments.     My  first  exclamation  was  : 

" '  Well,  professor,  what  are  you  at  now  ?  magnetism,  electrici- 
ty, music '  (for  I  supposed  the  latter  machine  was  some  musical  in- 
strument) ? 

"His  reply  was — 


THE  NATURAL  AND  MORAL.  305 

"  '  Well,  now,  let  me  do  the  talking,  and  you  may  ask  questions 
after  I  am  through.  You  see  those  coils  ?  well,  they  contain  a 
continuous  uninterrupted  line  of  wire  of '  (so  many — I  forget  how 
many)  '  thousands  of  feet '  (one  or  more  miles  in  length).  '  You  see 
that  battery  there  ? — this  the  positive  pole,  that  the  negative  pole, 
all  connected  with  that  key-board,  and  those  keys  are  to  connect 
and  interrupt  the  circuit,  and  in  so  doing  produce  the  symbols  of  let- 
ters ;  although  this  instrument  must  be  simplified,  and  is  not  yet 
what  I  want.' 

"  He  made  many  explanations  respecting  the  process  of  con- 
ductivity and  continuity.  A  long  silence  on  the  part  of  each  en- 
sued, which  was  at  length  broken  by  my  exclamation — 

" '  Well,  professor,  you  have  a  pretty  play  ! — theoretically  true, 
but  practically  useful  only  as  a  mantel  ornament,  or  for  a  mistress 
in  the  parlor  to  direct  the  maid  in  the  cellar !  But,  professor,  cui 
bono  ?  In  imagination  one  can  make  a  new  earth,  and  improve  all 
the  land  communications  of  our  old  one ;  but,  my  unfortunate  prac- 
ticality stands  in  the  way  of  my  comprehension  as  yet.' 

"  We  then  had  a  long  conversation  on  the  subject  of  magnetism 
and  its  modifications,  and,  if  I  do  not  recollect  the  very  words  which 
clothed  his  thoughts,  they  were  substantially  as  follows :  He  had 
been  long  impressed  with  the  belief  that  God  had  created  the  great 
forces  of  Nature  not  only  as  manifestations  of  his  own  infinite 
power,  but  as  expressions  of  good-will  to  man,  to  do  him  good,  and 
that  every  one  of  God's  great  forces  could  yet  be  utilized  for  man's 
welfare ;  that  modern  science  was  constantly  evolving  from  the 
hitherto  hidden  secrets  of  Nature  some  new  development  promotive 
of  human  welfare,  and  that  at  no  distant  day  magnetism  would  do 
more  for  the  advancement  of  human  sociology  than  any  of  the  ma- 
terial forces  now  known ;  that  he  would  scarcely  dare  to  compare 
spiritual  with  material  forces,  yet  that  analogically  magnetism  would 
do  in  the  advancement  of  human  welfare  what  the  Spirit  of  God 
would  do  in  the  moral  renovation  of  man's  nature ;  that  it  would 
educate  and  enlarge  the  forces  of  the  world.  He  then  went  on  to 
say  that  he  believed  he  had  discovered  a  practical  way  of  using 
magnetism  as  a  line  or  means  of  communication,  and  interchange 
of  thought  in  written  language,  upon  every  and  all  pursuits  and 
subjects  that  engage  the  human  mind,  irrespective  of  distance  and 
time  save  that  required  for  manipulation,  and  that  it  would  ulti- 
mately become  a  daily  instrumentality  in  domestic  as  well  as  pub- 
lic life.  He  said  he  had  felt  as  if  he  was  doing  a  great  work  for 
20 


306  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

God's  glory  as  well  as  for  man's  welfare;  that  such  had  been  his 
long-cherished  thought.  His  whole  soul  and  heart  appeared  filled 
with  a  glow  of  love  and  good-will,  and  his  sensitive  and  impas- 
sioned nature  seemed  almost  to  transform  him  in  my  eyes  into  a 
prophet. 

"  We  gradually  came  back  to  the  practicalities  of  the  matter 
before  us,  and  after  a  while  I  exclaimed  : 

" '  But  now,  professor,  how  about  rivers,  and  oceans,  and  deserts, 
and  bridges,  and  unpopulated  regions,  for  you  know  there  are  a  few 
of  such  left  on  this  globe  of  ours  ? ' 

"  He  replied,  substantially,  that,  if  his  discovery  was  founded  on 
truth,  that  truth  would  find  a  means  of  passing  under,  over,  and 
through  all  such  obstacles. 

"  We  had  a  prolonged  discussion,  my  own  skepticism  intensified, 
perhaps,  by  his  earnestness,  and  then  gradually  flickering  out  like  a 
painter's  bow,  with  the  receding  sun's  rays.  Theoretically,  I  ad- 
mitted his  correctness ;  but  doubts  of  its  practicability  had  not  yet 
yielded  to  full  belief.  Yet  there  gradually  loomed  up  before  my 
mind  a  vision,  dim,  it  is  true,  yet  outlined  in  some  great  future; 
a  coming  magnitude  I  could  not  fully  comprehend ;  a  sort  of  mighty 
handwriting  on  the  surface  -  walls  of  this  great  globe  of  ours, 
prophesying  the  commingling  and  unification  of  nations;  of  the 
gospel,  on  some  kind  of  heaven-spread  wings,  flitting  to  and  fro 
over  the  earth,  and  ignorant  and  uncivilized  humanity  brought  into 
subjection  to  our  heaven-born  Christianity. 

"  I  had  frequent  and  earnest  interviews  with  the  professor  for 
years  after,  and  I  need  not  add  that  I  was  a  believer  in  '  Morse's 
Telegraph.'  I  recollect  well  the  discussions  we  had  in  regard  to 
modes  of  transmission,  in  carrying  the  wires  under  or  over  the  sur- 
face, crossing  draw-bridges,  and  have  vivid  recollections  of  (sug- 
gested) lofty  spars,  like  ships'  masts,  and  he  proposed  crossing 
Hudson  River  by  wires  from  Storm  King  to  the  east  shore ;  and 
earnest  talk  and  cipherings  on  the  tensile  strength  and  form  of 
wires,  or  chains,  of  sundry  self  weight-bearing  conductors.  But 
the  world  knows  the  skepticism  that  enshrouded  even  the  national 
wisdom  in  Congress,  continued  for  years,  and  the  almost  heart  and 
soul  rending  trials  the  professor  passed  through,  and  when  he  at 
length  showed  practically  to  the  world  '  what  hath  God  wrought ' 
through  him,  and  the  many  that  endeavored  to  detract  from  his 
well-earned  fame.  It  will  take  generations  yet  to  come  to  commen- 
surate their  conditions  with  his  inventions. 


REV.   DR.   TAPPAN'S   TESTIMONY.  307 

"  It  is  among  the  most  delightful  of  my  '  recollections '  of  the 
Professor — and  I  have  very  often  related  them  to  friends — that  I 
scarce  recollect  a  conversation  on  the  great  subject — the  last  at  his 
own  house,  not  long  prior  to  his  death — that  he  did  not  in  some 
way  suggest  the  thought  of  God's  wondrous  goodness  in  enduing 
the  insensate  matter  of  earth  with  such  an  energizing  material  force 
as  magnetism,  and  permitting  him  to  be  an  instrument  of  utilizing 
it  for  the  welfare  of  man.     '  Si  Dens  nobiscnm,  quis  contra  nos  ? ' " 

This  conversation  with  Mr.  Rankin  occurred  before  the  in- 
ventor had  his  instrument  in  working  order.  His  colleague, 
Rev.  Henry  B.  Tappan,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and  subsequently  Presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  Michigan,  an  eminent  philosophical 
Divine,  having  met  Professor  Morse  in  Berlin  in  the  year  1868, 
referred,  in  conversation,  to  the  fact  that  he  was  one  of  the 
early  witnesses  of  the  operation  of  the  Telegraph.  In  reply  to 
a  note  from  Professor  Morse,  Dr.  Tappan  wrote : 

"  The  University  was  opened  in  the  autumn  of  1832.  I  was  one 
of  the  first  professors  elected.  In  the  same  year  you  returned  from 
Europe.  Some  time  after  your  return,  and  when  you  yourself  had 
been  elected  a  Professor,  you  related  to  me,  in  a  free,  familiar,  and 
extended  conversation,  how  your  mind  had  been  occupied  during 
your  last  voyage  with  the  idea  of  transmitting  and  recording  words 
through  distance  by  means  of  an  electro-magnetic  arrangement. 
The  idea,  you  said,  had  haunted  you,  whether  you  lay  in  your  berth 
or  walked  the  deck,  and  that  you  had,  at  length,  arrived  at  a  defi- 
nite conception  of  the  required  arrangement.  I  cannot  recall  all 
the  details  of  this  explanation ;  I  well  recollect  that  it  contained 
the  germ  of  what  you  afterward  so  successfully  accomplished. 

"In  1835  you  had  advanced  so  far  that  you  were  prepared  to 
give,  on  a  small  scale,  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  possibility 
of  transmitting  and  recording  words  through  distance,  by  means  of 
an  electro-magnetic  arrangement.  I  was  one  of  the  limited  circle 
whom  you  invited  to  witness  the  first  experiments.  In  a  long  room 
of  the  University  you  had  wires  extended  from  end  to  end  where 
the  magnetic  apparatus  was  arranged.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me 
to  describe  particulars  which  have  now  become  so  familiar  to  every 
one.  The  fact  which  I  now  recall  with  the  liveliest  interest,  and 
which  I  mentioned  in  conversation  at  Mr.  Bancroft's  as  one  of  the 
choicest  recollections  of  my  life,  was  that  of  the  first  transmission 
and  recording  of  a  telegraphic  dispatch.     I  suppose,  of  course,  that 


308  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

you  had  already  made  these  experiments  before  the  company  ar- 
rived whom  you  had  invited.  But  I  may  claim  to  have  witnessed 
the  first  transmission  and 'recording  of  words  by  lightning  ever 
made  public.  All  who  were  present  were  invited  to  write  and 
send  off  dispatches  from  one  end  of  the  room  to  be  recorded  at  the 
other.  I  recollect  full  well  my  delight  at  hearing  the  words  which 
I  silently  gave  in  at  one  end,  accurately  read  off  from  the  strip  of 
paper  at  the  other.  The  fact  was  established  that  words — that 
the  thoughts,  of  course,  expressed  by  words,  could  be  communicated 
and  recorded  with  lightning-speed  from  one  place  to  another.  It 
was  one  of  those  startling  facts  which  -open  to  us  immeasurable 
consequences  ;  and  justify  the  imagination  in  its  pictures  of  the 
future,  and  make  our  dreams  but  struggles  to  anticipate  surpassing 
realities. 

"  Permit  me,  also,  to  say  that  I  most  sincerely  sympathized  in 
the  triumph  you  had  won ;  and  that  to  me  it  was  a  reflection  full 
of  satisfaction  that  you,  a  friend  of  the  philosophic  dreamer  and 
poet  Coleridge,  and  the  early  associate  of  Leslie  and  Allston,  had, 
while  wandering  among  the  forms  of  ideal  beauty,  found  a  most 
stupendous  practical  fact ;  thus  repeating  what  men  are  so  slow  to 
believe,  and  yet  which  so  frequently  appears,  as  in  Michael  Angelo, 
Milton,  and  Fulton,  that  he  who  pursues  the  Beautiful  may  also 
think  the  True,  and  accomplish  the  Good.  The  arrangement  which 
you  exhibited,  on  the  above-mentioned  occasion,  as  well  as  the  mode 
of  receiving  the  dispatches,  were  substantially  the  same  as  that 
which  you  now  employ.  I  feel  certain  that  you  had  then  already 
grasped  the  whole  invention,  however  you  may  have  since  perfected 
the  details.  I  met  you,  afterward,  when  you  were  engaged  in  mak- 
ing a  larger  experiment  by  laying  the  wires  underground  between 
Washington  and  Baltimore — an  experiment  whose  failure  led  to  a 
most  important  result  —  that  of  putting  into  practice  your  early 
mode  of  the  elevation  of  the  wires  upon  poles  in  the  open  air ;  thus 
escaping  the  disturbing  influences  of  the  earth,  and  achieving  the 
most  economic  and  rapid  execution  of  the  work." 

Daniel  Huntington,  one  of  the  great  artists  of  our  country, 
was  at  this  time  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Morse,  and  this  is  his  testimony : 

"  I  studied  my  profession  with  Professor  Morse,  and  was  his 
pupil  from  the  month  of  May,  1833,  to  the  1st  of  May,  1835,  occu- 
pying rooms  with  him,  first  in  Greenwich  Lane,  and  afterward  at 
the  New  York  City  University,  where  he  removed,  early  in  the  au- 


DANIEL   HUNTINGTON.  309 

tunm  of  1835,  into  his  newly-prepared  rooms  in  that  building,  on 
Washington  Square.  At  the  time  Professor  Morse  removed  into  his 
new  rooms,  which  were  in  the  third  story  front,  of  the  north  wing, 
that  part  of  the  building  was  not  finished  ;  the  lower  rooms  particu- 
larly, and  the  stairway  into  the  third  story,  were  unfinished.  While 
Professor  Morse  was  in  Greenwich  Lane  he  seemed  particularly 
impatient  to  get  into  his  new  rooms,  in  order  to  put  into  operation 
his  plan  for  an  electric  telegraph,  allusions  to  which  he  occasionally 
made.  He  had  no  sooner  removed  into  the  rooms  in  the  University 
than  he  constructed  an  instrument  which  showed  how  he  intended 
marking  characters  for  letters  at  a  distance  ;  I  distinctly  remember 
the  general  appearance  of  the  instrument  and  the  kind  of  characters 
which  it  marked.  The  drawing  1  calls  to  my  mind,  as  a  familiar  ac- 
quaintance, the  appearance  of  the  instrument.  I  am  quite  sure  that 
I  saw  the  instrument  in  operation  some  months  previous  to  the 
time  of  my  leaving  Professor  Morse.  On  the  15th  of  November, 
1835,  I  took  a  room  at  the  University  by  myself,  which  I  hired, 
and  my  recollection  is,  that  I  saw  that  instrument  in  operation  at  or 
about  the  time  I  took  that  room.     I  cannot  state  the  precise  date." 

This  intelligent  testimony  of  Mr.  Huntington  makes  it  as 
certain  as  human  testimony  can  make  any  thing,  that  the  instru- 
ment was  in  actual  operation  in  the  year  1835. 

Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  Secretary  of  State,  being  present  at  a 
banquet  tendered  to  Professor  Morse,  in  Paris,  in  1858,  gave 
his  pleasant  recollections : 

"  It  was  in  early  boyhood,  under  my  father's  roof,  that  I  made 
the  acquaintance  of  our  guest,  then  eminent  in  his  profession  as  an 
artist,  and  at  the  head  of  the  National  Academy  ,of  Design.  I  soon 
learned  to  appreciate  and  admire  his  intelligence,  his  amiability, 
and  his  worth.  To  a  friendly  intercourse  thus  established,  and 
much  cherished  on  my  part,  I  was  indebted  for  an  early  expla- 
nation of  his  discovery,  soon  after  his  return  from  Europe,  in  1832. 
Some  time  afterward,  in  the  early  part  of  1836,  in  a  room  in  the 
New  York  University,  I  witnessed  the  telegraph  in  operation,  re- 
cording messages,  transmitted  through  some  mile  or  more  of  wire, 
suspended  in  successive  turns  around  the  walls ;  there  was  a  small 
battery  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  and  a  sort  of  clock-work  ma- 
chinery in  another,  and  the  mysterious  little  click,  click,  click,  of 

1  See  the  drawing  in  Dr.  Gale's  statement. 


310  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  former  produced  a  simultaneous  record  on  the  other.  Theorj' 
was  reduced  to  practice,  and  the  telegraph  demonstrated  its  effi- 
ciency. During  the  winter  of  1844-'45,  Professor  Morse  was  a 
frequent  (as  he  was  ever  a  welcome)  visitor  in  my  apartment,  in 
Washington.  The  practicability  of  transmitting  signs  by  sub- 
merged wires  had  been  then  demonstrated  ;  but  the  distance  to 
which  they  might  be  transmitted  was  of  course  still  a  problem. 
Mr.  Morse,  however,  unhesitatingly  predicted  the  direct  communi- 
cation between  Europe  and  America  y  he  told  me  that  I  would 
probably  live  to  witness  it." 

Rev.  Mr.  Seeley,  of  the  American  chapel  in  Paris,  said  at 
the  same  dinner : 

"It  seems  but  yesterday  that  I  was  a  freshman  in  the  New 
York  City  University,  and  our  honored  guest  Professor  of  the  Fine 
Arts  in  the  institution,  and  President  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Design  in  the  same  city.  At  that  time  the  Professor  was  reported 
to  be  engaged  in  labors  which  pertained  to  science  rather  than  to 
art ;  and  there  was  many  an  ominous  shake  of  the  head,  accompa- 
nied by  expressions  of  apprehension  that  one  of  the  best  artists  of 
our  country  was  sacrificing  his  genius  to  a  chimera.  He  persisted, 
however,  and  one  afternoon  in  the  spring,  or  early  summer  of 
1836,  I  had  the  privilege  of  witnessing  an  experiment  made  by  him 
in  a  large  room  of  the  University  building.  There  was  present  the 
Professor,  with  one  or  two  assistants,  and  several  leading  gentle- 
men of  the  city.  A  line  of  slender  wire,  one  mile  in  length,  was 
stretched  around  the  room  in  a  remarkable  manner.  .  .  .  To  one  end 
of  the  wire  was  attached  a  pen  or  pencil,  which  was  held  over  a 
strip  of  white  paper.  .  .  .  The  professor  proposed  to  demonstrate 
the  possibility  of  transmitting  and  recording  messages,  verbatim  et 
literatim,  over  any  length  of  wire.  Some  one  whispered  a  sentence 
in  his  ear,  and  in  a  few  seconds  the  white  paper  at  the  opposite 
end  of  the  line  was  covered  with  broken  lines.  Time  passed  over, 
when  one  day  in  1842  I  entered  one  of  the  upper  lofts  of  the  build- 
ing in  which  the  New  York  Observer  was  published,  and  found  our 
Professor  of  the  Fine  Arts  superintending  experiments  in  the  manu- 
facture of  submarine  cables.  For  he  had  already  projected  the  ex- 
tension of  telegraphic  lines  under  water" 

Commodore  Shubrick,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  in  a  let- 
ter dated  Washington,  D.  C,  October  5,  1860,  writes  to  Pro- 
fessor Morse : 


THE   TELEGRAPH  MADE.  311 

"I  have  a  distinct  recollection  that  in  the  winter  of  1835, 
being  in  the  city  of  New  York,  I  was  walking  with  our  lamented 
friend,  the  late  Fenimore  Cooper,  when  we  met  you,  and  you  in- 
vited us  to  your  room  in  the  University,  and  that  you  then  and 
there  showed  us  the  operation  of  your  telegraphic  instrument.  The 
fact  is  impressed  on  my  mind  by  the  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Cooper 
on  the  wonderful  effects  which  would  grow  out  of  the  discovery,  if 
successful  (of  which  he  seemed  to  have  no  doubt),  on  the  inter- 
communication of  the  world.  I  have  frequently  seen  Mr.  Paul  F. 
Cooper,  son  of  our  late  friend,  wTho  recollects  having  seen  the  oper- 
ation of  your  instrument  during  the  same  winter,  though  he  was 
then  a  small  boy." 

The  Professor  took  possession  of  bis  rooms  in  the  Uni- 
versity in  the  year  1835,  where  he  set  up  bis  rude  appa- 
ratus, and  called  in  bis  friends  to  see  its  operation.  There  be 
wrought  through  the  year  1836,  probably  the  darkest  and  long- 
est year  of  bis  life,  giving  lessons  to  pupils  in  the  art  of  paint- 
ing while  bis  mind  was  in  the  throes  of  the  great  invention.  He 
needed  only  the  means  to  demonstrate,  on  a  scale  to  command 
attention,  that  be  had  reached  a  result  of  incalculable  interest 
and  advantage  to  the  human  race.  Professor  Gale  has  told  us 
of  the  struggles  of  Professor  Morse  during  that  year ;  of  the  ne- 
cessary occupation  of  bis  mind  with  the  instruction  of  students, 
and  his  utter  inability,  from  the  want  of  money,  to  bring  bis  in- 
vention before  the  public.  In  1835  Dr.  Tappan  and  others  bad 
seen  the  apparatus  at  work  and  writing  substantially  in  the 
same  manner  as  it  writes  now.  "  The  words  which  I  silently 
gave  at  one  end  were  accurately  read  off  from  the  strip  of  paper 
at  the  other,"  says  Dr.  Tappan.  Up  to  this  hour  no  human  aid 
had  been  rendered  to  the  solitary  inventor.  The  instrument 
was  constructed.  The  alphabet  was  formed.  The  writing  at  a 
distance  was  done.  The  Telegraph  was  made.  It  was  suscep- 
tible of  vast  improvements ;  they  have  been  in  progress  up  to 
this  time,  and  will  be  continued  so  long  as  art  and  science  ad- 
vance. But  as  the  invention  was  original  with  Professor  Morse, 
so  the  execution  was  his,  and  his  only.  This  declaration  deserves 
the  more  emphasis  because  every  thing  essential  to  the  complete- 
ness of  the  Telegraph  was  afterward  claimed  by  or  for  others ! 
But  we  have  seen,  and  proved  by  the  most  competent  witnesses, 


312  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

that  when  the  Telegraph  was  first  exhibited  by  Professor  Morse, 
and  before  he  had  called  in  the  aid  of  any  other  hand  or 
mind,  it  was  a  complete  instrument,  with  a  complete  alphabet, 
doing  the  same  work  that  is  done  with  the  Morse  instrument 
to-day. 

Among  the  spectators  of  the  successful  operation  of  the  in- 
strument on  the  2d  day  of  September,  1837,  was  Alfred  Yail. 
He  was  bom  in  Morris  County,  New  Jersey,  in  1807,  and  was 
graduated  at  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  1836. 
When  he  first  saw  the  experiments  of  the  Telegraph  in  the  rooms 
of  Professor  Morse  he  grasped  the  idea,  and  formed  an  instant 
resolution  to  pursue  the  subject.  The  only  point  on  which  he 
desired  satisfaction,  and  at  the  same  point  all  appeared  to  hesi- 
tate, was  the  possibility  of  no  limit  to  the  distance  through  which 
the  current  of  electricity  would  flow.  This  was  the  link  to  con- 
nect experiment  with  success.  If  this  link  failed,  the  whole 
thing  was  a  failure. 

It  was  plain  enough  that  the  Telegraph  was  a  completed 
fact.  Morse  had  made  an  instrument  by  which  words  were 
written  at  a  distance,  in  characters  intelligible  to  himself  and- 
easily  learned  by  others.  Such  an  instrument  was  now  in  oper- 
ation. Men  of  science  and  men  of  business  had  seen  it  and 
wondered.  Before  their  eyes  had  been  stretched  a  wire  1,700 
feet  in  length,  and,  with  the  instrument  which  Morse  had  con- 
structed and  was  now  using,  words  were  silently  but  evidently 
written  down  at  one  extremity  of  the  wire,  when  communicated 
at  the  other.  The  semaphores  or  signals  of  other  electricians  re- 
quired watching,  and  the  signals  were  slowly  interpreted.  Morse 
wrote  and  registered  his  messages.  The  work  was  done  and 
recorded.  It  was  a  writing-at-a-distance  machine ;  a  Telegraph ; 
the  only  Telegraph  !  But  the  grand  question  to  be  decided  by 
experiment,  as  Morse  had  already  demonstrated  to  his  own 
satisfaction  and  that  of  others,  was  the  possibility  of  indefinite 
propagation.  Here  came  in  his  relay — a  conception  and  pro- 
duction scarcely  less  important  than  the  instrument  itself.  Mr. 
Yail  would  have  this  point  clearly  illustrated  and  settled,  and 
he  would  then  cheerfully  adopt  the  professor's  favorite  remark, 
that,  "  if  he  could  succeed  in  working  it  ten  miles,  he  could  make 
it  go  around. the  globe." 


THE   VAILS   OF  SPEEDWELL.  3 13 

"The  relay"  says  Professor  Horsford,  "is  a  discovery  as  well 
as  a  device  or  a  series  of  devices  or  inventions.  It  had  its  birth  in 
the  effort  to  answer  the  question,  How  can  the  current,  which  has 
become  feeble  through  distance  from  the  battery,  be  reenforcedf 
There  was  need  of  some  principle  akin  to  that  which  supplies  a 
locomotive  and  train  with  fuel,  water,-  and  oil,  without  stopping. 
The  stopping  consumes  time.  To  be  obliged  to  repeat  the  message 
every  few  miles  would  be  to  abandon  it.  It  would  be  expensive  as 
well  as  time-consuming.  Now,  the  reenforcement  of  the  current  at 
a  distance  from  the  prime  station,  through  the  very  instrumentalit}T 
of  the  message  sent,  is  an  absolute  new  departure.  It  is  a  grand 
idea  primarily,  and  secondarily  it  involves  inventions  of  mechanical 
devices  to  effect  several  things.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  wanted 
an  electro-magnet  at  the  second  station,  operated  through  the  bat- 
tery at  the  primary  station.  This  magnet  must  draw  its  armature 
not  to  the  face  of  the  magnet,  but  only  very  near  it,  and  in  so 
doing  close  the  circuit.  This  takes  place  with  the  closing  of  the 
first  circuit.  In  opening  the  first  circuit,  the  second  circuit  is 
opened  at  the  same  instant,  and  the  magnet  at  the  second  station 
with  the  arrest  of  the  current  loses  its  magnetism.  Now  a  self- 
acting,  adjustable  spring  draws  the  armature  away  from  the  face 
of  the  magnet,  through  a  space  very  narrow,  but  adequate  to  break 
the  circuit  at  the  second  station.  Here  are  the  fewest  elements  of 
the  relay.  It  involves  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  circuit,  by  an 
act  going  out  from  the  primary  station.  The  relay  of  Professor 
Morse  opens  and  closes  in  connection  with  a  conductor  of  an  inten- 
sity battery,  operating  through  a  long  conductor  upon  a  distant 
magnet."  This  was  the  invention  of  Professor  Morse  described  by 
Professor  Gale  in  his  statement  already  recited  in  this  chapter. 

Mr.  Yail,  having  become  thoroughly  satisfied  on  this  point, 
embarked  in  the  enterprise.  His  father,  Judge  Stephen  Yail, 
and  bis  brother,  George  Yail,  were  proprietors  of  extensive 
iron  and  brass  works  at  Speedwell,  Morris  County,  New  Jersey. 
The  fact  that  the  family  were  engaged  in  such,  manufactures, 
led  the  young  man  to  entertain  the  idea  of  engaging  in  the  con- 
struction of  instruments  to  be  used  in  the  development  of  the 
Telegraph.  Before  going  to  the  University  he  bad  taken  deep 
interest  in  the  business  of  his  father  and  brother :  the  making 
of  steam-engines  and  machinery  that  required  the  use  of  both 
iron  and  brass ;  he  bad  been  specially  engaged  in  the  brass- 


314  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

foundery,  and  had  become  noted  for  his  skill  in  working  in  that 
metal.  With  mechanical  genius  and  fondness  also  for  study, 
with  a  taste  alike  for  art  and  science,  he  was  emphatically  the 
man  to  be  associated  with  the  professor,  himself  an  illustrious 
example  of  art  and  science  combined.  The  young  man,  ardent, 
hopeful,  and  sincere,  was  hot  long  in  bringing  both  his  father 
and  brother  to  see  with  him  the  magnificent  possibilities  of  the 
electric  telegraph  for  usefulness  in  the  commerce  and  inter- 
course of  mankind.  They  not  only  approved  and  encouraged 
the  resolution  of  their  son  and  brother  to  identify  himself  with 
the  Telegraph,  and  to  devote  his  life  to  its  service,  but  they, 
with  enterprise  and  faith  in  its  ultimate  fruits,  promised  the 
necessary  funds  to  make  the  experiments  which  were  essential 
to  insure  confidence  in  the  public  mind.  Many  years  afterward 
Professor  Morse,  in  the  height  of  his  success,  and  crowned  with 
the  honors  of  his  country  and  of  distant  nations,  spoke  of  this 
young  man  in  these  words  : 

"  Alfred  Yail,  then  a  student  in  the  University,  and  a  young 
man  of  great  ingenuity,  having  heard  of  rny  invention,  came  to 
my  rooms  and  I  explained  it  to  him,  and  from  that  moment  he 
has  taken  the  deepest  interest  in  the  Telegraph.  Finding  that 
I  was  unable  to  command  the  means  to  bring  my  invention 
properly  before'  the  public,  and  believing  that  he  could  com- 
mand those  means  through  his  father  and  brother,  he  expressed 
the  belief  to  me,  and  I  at  once  made  such  an  arrangement  with 
him  as  to  procure  the  pecuniary  means  and  the  skill  of  these 
gentlemen.  It  is  to  their  joint  liberality,  but  especially  to  the 
attention,  and  skill,  and  faith  in  the  final  success  of  the  enter- 
prise maintained  by  Alfred  Yail,  that  is  due  the  success  of  my 
endeavors  to  bring  the  Telegraph  at  that  time  creditably  before 
the  public." 

With  this  young  and  ingenious  student  Professor  Morse 
entered  into  partnership,  assigning  to  him  one-fourth  interest  in 
the  patent-right  to  be  secured  for  the  invention. 

On  the  10th  of  March,  1837,  the  Honorable  Levi  Woodbury, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  in  consequence 
of  the  reports  that  had  reached  the  country  of  various  schemes 
of  telegraphing  proposed  in  Europe,  had  issued  the  following : 


THE   SECRETARY'S   CIRCULAR.  315 

"  Circular  to  certain  Collectors  of  the   Customs,  Commanders  of 
Revenue   Cutters,  and  other  Persons. 

■   "  Treasury  Department,  March  10,  183V. 

"  With  the  view  of  obtaining  information  in  regard  '  to  the  pro- 
priety of  establishing  a  system  of  telegraphs  for  the  United  States,' 
in  compliance  with  the  request  contained  in  the  annexed  resolution 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  adopted  at  its  last  session,  I  will 
thank  you  to  furnish  the  Department  with  your  opinion  upon  the 
subject.  If  leisure  permits,  you  would  oblige  me  by  pointing  out 
the  manner,  and  the  various  particulars,  in  which  the  system  may  be 
rendered  most  useful  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  and 
the  public  generally.  It  would  be  desirable,  if  in  your  power,  to  pre- 
sent a  detailed  statement  as  to  the  proper  points  for  the  location, 
and  distance  of  the  stations  from  each  other,  with  general  rules  for 
the  regulation  of  the  system,  together  with  your  sentiments  as  to 
the  propriety  of  connecting  it  with  any  existing  department  of  the 
Government,  and  some  definite  idea  of  the  rapidity  with  which  in- 
telligence could  ordinarily,  and  also  in  urgent  cases,  be  communi- 
cated between  distant  places.  I  wish  you  to  estimate  the  probable 
expense  of  establishing  and  supporting  telegraphs,  upon  the  most 
approved  system,  for  any  given  distance,  during  any  specified 
period. 

"It  would  add  to  the  interest  of  the  subject  if  you  would  offer 
views  as  to  the  practicability  of  uniting,  with  a  system  of  telegraphs 
for  communication  in  clear  weather  and  in  the  daytime,  another  for 
communication  in  fogs,  by  cannon,  or  otherwise ;  and,  in  the  night, 
by  the  same  mode,  or  by  rockets,  fires,  etc. 

"  I  should  be  gratified  by  receiving  your  reply  by  the  1st  of  Oc- 
tober next. 

"Levi  Woodbury, 

"  /Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 

To  this  circular  Professor  Morse  replied  four  days  before  his 
partnership  was  formed  with  Mr.  Yail : 

S.  F.  B.  Morse  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

"  New  York  City  University,  September  27,  1837. 
"  Dear  Sir  :  In  reply  to  the  inquiries  which  you  have  done  me 
the  honor  to  make,  in  asking  my  opinion  '  of  the  propriety  of  estab- 
lishing a  system  of  telegraphs  for  the  United  States,'  I  would  say, 


316  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

in  regard  to  the  general  question,  that  I  believe  there  can  scarcely 
be  two  opinions,  in  such  a  community  as  ours,  in  regard  to  the  ad- 
vantage which  would  result,  both  to  the  Government  and  the  public 
generally,  from  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  communication  by 
which  the  most  speedy  intercourse  may  be  had  between  the  most 
distant  parts  of  the  country.  The  mail  system,  it  seems  to  me,  is 
founded  on  the  universally  admitted  principle  that  the  greater  the 
speed  with  which  intelligence  can  be  transmitted  from  point  to 
point,  the  greater  is  the  benefit  derived  to  the  whole  community. 
The  only  question  that  remains,  therefore,  is,  what  system  is  best 
calculated,  from  its  completenesss  and  cheapness,  to  effect  this  de- 
sirable end  ? 

"  With  regard  to  telegraphs  constructed  on  the  ordinary  princi- 
ples, however  perfected  within  the  limits  in  which  they  are  necessa- 
rily confined,  the  most  perfect  of  them  are  liable  to  one  insurmount- 
able objection — they  are  useless  the  greater  part  of  the  time.  In 
foggy  weather,  and  ordinarily  during  the  night,  no  intelligence  can 
be  transmitted.  Even  when  they  can  transmit,  much  time  is  con- 
sumed in  communicating  but  little,  and  that  little  not  always  precise. 

"  Having  invented  an  entirely  new  mode  of  telegraphic  commu- 
nication, which,  so  far  as  experiments  have  yet  been  made  with  it, 
promises  results  of  almost  marvelous  character,  I  beg  leave  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Department  a  brief  account  of  its  chief  characteristics. 

"  About  five  years  ago,  on  my  voyage  from  Europe,  the  electri- 
cal experiment  of  Franklin,  upon  a  wire  some  four  miles  in  length, 
was  casually  recalled  to  my  mind  in  conversation  with  one  of  the 
passengers,  in  which  experiment  it  was  ascertained  that  the  elec- 
tricity traveled  through  the  whole  circuit  in  a  time  not  appreciable, 
but  apparently  instantaneous.  It  immediately  occurred  to  me  that, 
if  the  presence  of  electricity  could  he  made  visible  in  any  desired 
'part  of  this  circuit,  it  would  not  be  difficidt  to  construct  a  system 
of  signs  by  which  intelligence  could  be  instantaneously  transmit- 
ted. The  thought,  thus  conceived,  took  strong  hold  of  my  mind  in 
the  leisure  which  the  voyage  afforded,  and  I  planned  a  system  of 
signs,  and  an  apparatus  to  carry  it  into  effect.  I  cast  a  species  of 
type,  which  I  had  devised  for  this  purpose,  the  first  week  after  my 
arrival  home  ;  and,  although  the  rest  of  the  machinery  was  planned, 
yet,  from  the  pressure  of  unavoidable  duties,  I  was  compelled  to 
postpone  my  experiments,  and  was  not  able  to  test  the  whole  plan 
until  within  a  few  weeks.  The  result  has  realized  my  most  sanguine 
expectations. 


PROFESSOR  MORSE'S   REPLY.  31? 

"  As  I  have  contracted  with  Mr.  Alfred  Vail  to  have  a  complete 
apparatus  made  to  demonstrate  at  Washington  by  the  1st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1838,  the  practicability  and  superiority  of  my  mode  of  tele- 
graphic communication  by  means  of  electro-magnetism  (an  appa- 
ratus which  I  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  exhibiting  to  you),  I  will 
confine  myself  in  this  communication  to  a  statement  of  its  peculiar 
advantages. 

"First.  The  fullest  and  most  precise  information  can  be  almost 
instantaneously  transmitted  between  any  two  or  more  points  be- 
tween which  a  wire  conductor  is  laid :  that  is  to  say,  no  other  time 
is  consumed  than  is  necessary  to  write  the  intelligence  to  be  con- 
veyed, and  to  convert  the  words  into  the  telegraphic  numbers.  The 
numbers  are  then  transmitted  nearly  instantaneously  (or,  if  I  have 
been,  rightly  informed  in  regard  to  some  recent  experiments  in  the 
velocity  of  electricity,  two  hundred  thousand  miles  in  a  second)  to 
any  distance,  where  the  numbers  are  immediately  recognized,  and 
reconverted  into  the  words  of  the  intelligence. 

"  Second.  The  same  full  intelligence  can  be  communicated  at 
any  moment,  irrespective  of  the  time  of  day  or  night,  or  state  of  the 
weather.  This  single  point  establishes  its  superiority  to  all  other 
modes  of  telegraphic  communication  now  known. 

"  Third.  The  whole  apparatus  will  occupy  but  little  space 
(scarcely  six  cubic  feet,  probably  not  more  than  four) ;  '  and  it  may, 
therefore,  be  placed,  without  inconvenience,  in  any  house. 

"Fourth.  The  record  of  intelligence  is  made  in  a  permanent 
manner,  and  in  such  a  form  that  it  can  be  at  once  bound  up  in 
volumes,  convenient  for  reference,  if  desired. 

"  Fifth.  Communications  are  secret  to  all  but  the  persons  for 
whom  they  are  intended. 

"  These  are  the  chief  advantages  of  the  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graph over  other  kinds  of  telegraphs,  and  which  must  give  it  the 
preference,  provided  the  expense  and  other  circumstances  are  rea- 
sonably favorable. 

"  The  newness  of  the  whole  plan  makes  it  not  so  easy  to  esti- 
mate the  expense,  but  an  approach  to  a  correct  estimate  can  be 
made. 

"  The  principal  expense  will  be  the  first  cost  of  the  wire  or  me- 
tallic conductors  (consisting  of  four  lengths),  and  the  securing  them 
against  injury.  The  cost  of  a  single  copper  wire  one-sixteenth  of 
an  inch  diameter  (and  it  should  not  be  of  less  dimensions),  for  four 

1  It  now  occupies  a  space  ten  inches  long,  eight  inches  high,  and  five  wide. 


318  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

hundred  miles,  was  recently  estimated  in  Scotland  to  be  about  one 
thousand  pounds  sterling,  including  the  solderings  of  the  wire  to- 
gether ;  that  is,  about  six  dollars  per  mile  for  one  wire,  or  twenty- 
four  dollars  per  mile  for  the  four  wires.  I  have  recently  contracted 
for  twenty  miles  of  copper  wire,  No.  18,  at  forty  cents  per  pound. 
Each  pound,  it  is  estimated,  contains  ninety-three  feet,  which  gives 
a  result  coinciding  with  the  Scotch  estimate,  if  one  dollar  and  sixty 
cents  per  mile  be  added  for  solderings. 

"  The  preparation  of  the  wire  for  being  laid  (if  in  the  ground) 
comprehends  the  clothing  of  the  wires  with  an  insulating  or  non- 
conducting substance ;  the  encasing  them  in  wood,  clay,  stone,  iron, 
or  other  metal  •  and  the  trenching  of  the  earth  to  receive  them.  In 
this  part  of  the  business  I  have  no  experience  to  guide  me,  the 
whole  being  altogether  new.  I  can,  therefore,  only  make  at  present 
a  rough  estimate.  Iron  tubes  inclosing  the  wires,  and  filled  in  with 
pitch  and  resin,  would  probably  be  the  most  eligible  mode  of  secur- 
ing the  conductors  from  injury,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  would  be 
the  most  costly.  Iron  tubes  of  one  and  one-half  inch  diameter,  I 
learn,  can  be  obtained,  at  Baltimore,  at  twenty-eight  cents  per  foot. 
The  trenching  will  not  be  more  than  three  cents  for  two  feet,  or 
about  seventy-five  dollars  per  mile.  This  estimate  is  for  a  trench 
three  feet  deep  and  one  and  one-half  wide.  There  is  no  grading  • 
the  trench  may  follow  the  track  of  any  road,  over  the  highest  hills 
or  lowest  valleys.  Across  rivers,  with  bridges,  the  circuit  may 
easily  be  carried,  inclosed  beneath  the  bridge.  Where  the  stream 
is  wide,  and  no  bridge,  the  circuit,  inclosed  in  lead,  may  be  sunk  to 
the  bottom. 

"  If  the  circuit  is  laid  through  the  air,  the  first  cost  would  doubt- 
less be  much  lessened.  This  plan  of  making  the  circuit  has  some 
advantages,  but  there  are  also  some  disadvantages;  the  chief  of 
which  latter  is,  that,  being  always  in  sight,  the  temptation  to  injure 
the  circuit  to  mischievously  disposed  persons,  is  greater  than  if  it 
were  buried  out  of  sight  beneath  their  feet.  As  an  oflfset,  however, 
to  this,  an  injury  to  the  circuit  is  more  easily  detected.  With  re- 
gard to  danger  from  wantonness,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  say  that 
the  same  objection  was  originally  made  in  the  several  cases,  succes- 
sively, of  water-pipes,  gas-pipes,  and  railroads ;  and  yet  we  do  not 
hear  of  wantonness  injuring  any  of  these.  Stout  spars  of  some 
thirty  feet  in  height,  well  planted  in  the  ground,  and  placed  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  apart,  would,  in  this  case,  be  required, 
along  the  tops  of  which  the  circuit  might  be  stretched.     Fifteen  such 


ESTIMATED   COST.    •  3 19 

spars  would  be  wanted  to  a  mile.  This  mode  would  be  as  cheap, 
probably,  as  any  other,  unless  the  laying  of  the  circuit  in  water 
should  be  found  to  be  most  eligible.  A  series  of  experiments  to  ascer- 
tain the  practicability  of  this  mode,  I  am  about  to  commence  with 
Professor  Gale,  of  our  University,  a  gentleman  of  great  science,  and 
to  whose  assistance,  in  many  of  my  late  experiments,  I  am  greatly 
indebted.  We  are  preparing  a  circuit  of  twenty  miles.  The  result 
of  our  experiments  I  will  have  the  honor  of  reporting  to  you. 

"  The  other  machinery,  consisting  of  the  apparatus  for  transmit- 
ting and  receiving  the  intelligence,  can  be  made  at  a  very  trifling 
cost.  The  only  parts  of  the  apparatus  that  waste  or  consume  mate- 
rials, are  the  batteries,  which  consume  acid  and  zinc,  and  the  regis- 
ter, which  consumes  paper  for  recording,  and  pencils  or  ink  for 
marking. 

"The  cost  oi  printing,  in  the  first  instance,  of  a  telegraphic  dic- 
tionary, should  perhaps  also  be  taken  into  the  account,  as  each 
officer  of  the  Government,  as  well  as  many  others,  would  require  a 
copy,  should  this  mode  of  telegraphic  communication  go  into  effect. 
This  dictionary  would  contain  a  vocabulary  of  all  the  words  in  com- 
mon use  in  the  English  language,  with  the  numbers  regularly  affixed 
to  each  word. 

"  The  stations  in  the  case  of  this  telegraph  may  be  as  numerous 
as  are  desired ;  the  only  additional  expense  for  that  purpose  being  the 
adding  of  the  transmitting  and  receiving  apparatus  to  each  station. 

"  The  cost  of  supporting  a  system  of  telegraphs  on  this  plan 
(when  a  circuit  is  once  established)  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  much 
less  than  on  the  common  plans ;  yet,  for  want  of  experience  in  this 
mode,  I  would  not  affirm  it  positively. 

"  As  to  '  the  propriety  of  connecting  the  system  of  telegraphs 
with  any  existing  department  of  Government,'  it  would  seem  most 
natural  to  connect  a  telegraphic  system  with  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment ;  for,  although  it  does  not  carry  a  mail,  yet  it  is  another  mode 
of  accomplishing  the  principal  object  for  which  the  mail  is  estab- 
lished, to  wit :  the  rapid  and  regular  transmission  of  intelligence. 
If  my  system  of  telegraphs  should  be  established,  it  is  evident  that 
the  telegraph  would  have  but  little  rest,  day  or  night.  The  advan- 
tage of  communicating  intelligence  instantaneously,  in  hundreds  of 
instances  of  daily  occurrence,  would  warrant  such  a  rate  of  postage 
(if  it  may  be  so  called)  as  would  amply  defray  all  expenses  of  the 
first  cost  of  establishing  the  system,  and  of  guarding  it,  and  keeping 
it  in  repair. 


320  LIFE  OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  As  every  word  is  numbered,  an  obvious  mode  of  rating  might 
be,  a  charge  of  a  certain  amount  on  so  many  numbers.  I  presume 
that  five  words  can  certainly  be  transmitted  in  a  minute ;  for,  with 
the  imperfect  machinery  I  now  use,  I  have  recorded  at  that  rate, 
at  the  distance  of  half  a  mile. 

"  In  conclusion,  I  would  say,  that  if  the  perfecting  of  this  new 
system  of  telegraphs  (which  may  justly  be  called  the  American 
Telegraph,  since  I  can  establish  my  claims  to  priority  in  the  inven- 
tion) shall  be  thought  of  public  utility,  and  worthy  the  attention  of 
Government,  I  shall  be  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  of  personal  ser- 
vice and  of  time  to  aid  in  its  accomplishment. 

"  In  the  mean  time  I  remain,  sir,  with  sincere  respect  and  high 
personal  esteem, 

"  Your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"Sam'l  F.  B.  Morse. 
"Hon.  Levi  "Woodbury, 

"  Secretary  of  the  Treasury" 

Professor  Morse  then  filed  in  the  Patent-Office  at  "Washing- 
ton  the  following  petition  : 

That  your  petitioner  has  invented  a  new  method  of  transmitting 
and  recording  intelligence  by  means  of  electro-magnetism,  which 
he  denominates  the  American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  etc. 

Petition  dated  September  28,  1837. 
SPECIFICATION   OF   THE   AMERICAN    ELECTRO-MAGNETIC    TELEGRAPH. 

To  all  whom  it  may  concern :  Be  it  known  that  I,  Samuel  F. 
B.  Morse,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  county  and  State  of  New 
York,  have  invented  a  new  method  of  transmitting  and  recording 
intelligence  by  means. of  electro-magnetism,  which  I  call  the  Ameri- 
can Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  and  I  do  hereby  declare  that  the 
following  is  a  full  and  exact  description  of  said  telegraph,  so  far  as 
it  is  at  present  completed.  The  nature  of  my  invention  consists  in 
laying  an  electric  or  galvanic  circuit,  or  conductors,  of  any  length, 
to  any  distance.  These  conductors  may  be  made  of  any  metal, 
such  as  copper  or  iron  wire,  or  strips  of  copper  or  iron,  or  of  cord, 
or  twine,  or  other  substances,  gilt,  silvered,  or  covered  with  any 
thin  metal  leaf,  properly  insulated,  in  the  ground,  or  through  or  be- 
neath the  water,  or  through  the  air,  and  by  causing  the  electric  or 
galvanic  current  to  pass  through  the  circuit  by  means  of  any  gen- 
erator of  electricity,  to  make  use  of  the  visible  signs  of  the  presence 
of  electricity  in  any  part  of  the  said  circuit  to  comnnmicate  any  in- 
telligence from  one  place  to  another.     To  make  the  said  visible 


MORSE'S   CAVEAT.  321 

signs  of  electricity  available  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  have 
invented  the  following  apparatus,  namely : 

1.  A  system  of  signs,  by  which  numbers,  and  consequently 
words  and  sentences,  are  signified. 

2.  A  set  of  type,  adapted  to  regulate  and  communicate  the 
signs,  with  cases,  for  convenient  keeping  of  the  type,  and  rules,  in 
which  to  set  up  the  type. 

3.  An  apparatus  called  the  portrule,  for  regulating  the  move- 
ment of  the  type-rules,  which  rules,  by  means  of  the  type,  in  their 
turn  regulate  the  times  and  intervals  of  the  passage  of  electricity. 

4.  A  register  which  records  the  signs  permanently. 

5.  A  dictionary  or  vocabulary  of  words,  numbered  and  adapted 
to  this  system  of  telegraph. 

6.  Modes  of  laying  conductors  to  preserve  them  from  injury. 

1.  The  System  of  Signs. 

The  signs  are  the  representatives  first  of  numerals,  and  are  as 
follows :  The  single  numerals  are  represented  by  ten  marks,  such  as 
dots,  lines,  or  punctures,  varied  thus :  A  single  mark  signifies  the 
numeral  one ;  two  marks,  two/  three  marks,  three/  four  marks, 
four  ;  five  marks,  five  ;  six  marks,  six  ;  seven  marks,  seven  ;  eight 
marks,  eight;  nine  marks,  nine;  and  ten  marks,  ten,  or  cipher. 
The  cipher  is  also  signified  by  a  single  mark  differently  placed 
from  the  rest.  The  numerals  are  separated  from  each  other  by  short 
intervals,  so  that  they  would  be  represented  in  the  different  ways, 
shown  in  Example  1,  of  the  annexed  drawing.  The  compound 
numbers  are  separated  from  each  other  by  long  intervals ;  for  exam- 
ple, the  compound  number  324,  compounded  of  3,  and  2,  and  4,  and 
the  compound  number  516,  compounded  of  5,  and  1,  and  6,  would 
be  represented  as  shown  in  Fig.  1,  Example  2. 

The  sign  for  cipher  (  I    A    /),  or  (  "hf —  ),  or  ( ),  placed 

before  a  number,  signifies  that  that  number  is  to  be  read  as  a  num- 
ber, and  not  as  the  representative  of  a  word,  thus :  "  Send  56 
copies,"  would  be  thus  represented  :  Suppose  the  word.  "  send  "  to 
be  represented  by  the  number  21,  and  the  word  "  copies  "  by  34, 
then  the  sentence  would  be  written  as  in  Fig.  2,  Example  2.  Thus 
all  numbers,  and  consequently  all  words,  are  easily  represented. 

2.  The  Type. 

A  set  of  type,  made  of  thin  metal,  such  as  type-metal,  brass, 
iron,  or  other  material,  consists  of  twelve  different  pieces,  of  the 
figure  and  dimensions  represented  in  Example  3  of  the  annexed 
drawing. 

The  rest  is  for  the  lever  (hereinafter  described)  to  rest  upon  pre- 
vious to  beginning  to  communicate.  Each  type  has  a  notch  or  in- 
dentation corresponding  to  its  denomination,  and  the  short  space 
in  addition.  The  number  of  each  type  is  marked  upon  that  part 
occupied  for  the  space,  or  interval ;  the  cipher  is  either  marked  by 
21 


322  MFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   HOUSE. 

the  type  with  ten  notches,  or  with  the  type  of  a  single  tooth,  be- 
tween two  sunken  spaces.  Two  additional  pieces,  making  fourteen 
in  all,  are,  first,  the  space,  or  long  interval,  placed  between  separate 
and  compound  numbers;  and,  second,  the  stop,  or  long  type,  which 
throws  up  the  lever  upon  a  detent,  until  wanted  again. 

The  cases  are  of  wood,  or  other  suitable  material,  with  small  com- 
partments of  the  exact  length  of  each  type,  for  the  greater  con- 
venience in  distributing  them. 

The  rules  are  of  wood,  metal,  or  other  suitable  material,  and  are 
formed  about  three  feet  long,  and  with  a  groove  in  which  to  place 
the  type  as  represented  in  Example  4.  The  rule  is  furnished  with 
cogs,  for  the  purpose  of  being  moved  by  a  pinion-wheel. 

3.  The  Portrule. 

The  portrule  is  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  rule,  when  pre- 
pared with  its  type.  It  consists — 1.  Of  a  small  lever,  somewhat 
like  the  levers  to  the  keys  of  a  hand-organ,  but  with  the  power  be- 
tween the  fulcrum  and  the  weight.  The  lever  is  made  to  rise  or 
fall  by  passing  the  rule  with  its  type  beneath  the  projection  or 
single  cog  in  the  lever,  which  cog  falls  into  each  notch  and  rises  on 
each  tooth  of  the  type.  The  lever  is  made  a  portion  of  the  circuit 
by  affixing  a  small  portion  of  the  conductor  to  it,  with  a  joint  at 
the  hinge-end  of  the  lever,  moving  in  mercury,  or  otherwise  con- 
nected, so  that  the  circuit  be  not  interrupted.  The  other  end  of 
the  small  portion  of  the  circuit  is  at  the  end  of  the  lever,  which 
has  the  most  motion,  and,  by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  lever,  is 
made  to  break  and  close  the  circuit  at  the  desired  times.  The 
movable  point  of  the  conductor  closes  the  circuit  either  by  a  touch, 
either  into  mercury,  which  holds  the  other  extremity  of  the  circuit, 
or  upon  a  plate  of  copper,  silver,  or  other  metal  attached  to  the  said 
extremity. 

The  rule  is  made  to  pass  with  regularity,  as  to  space  and  time, 
beneath  the  lever,  by  means  of  a  pinion-wheel  fitting  into  the  cogs 
of  the  rule,  which  wheel  is  made  to  revolve  either  by  a  crank  moved 
by  the  hand,  or  by  other  power,  in  any  of  the  well-known  and  common 
mechanical  methods. 

The  rule  is  kept  in  its  course  by  a  channel,  or  ways,  made  for 
that  purpose.     The  portrule  sends  the  intelligence. 

4.  The  Register. 

The  register,  at  any  distance  from  the  portrule,  receives  and  re- 
cords the  intelligence,  and  is  thus  constructed :  1.  An  electro-mag- 
net, made  in  any  of  the  usual  modes  of  forming  it,  such  as  winding 
insulated  copper  wire,  or  strips  of  copper,  or  tin-foil,  or  other  metal, 
around  a  bar  of  soft  iron,  either  straight  or  bent  into  a  circular 
form,  has  the  two  extremities  of  the  coils  connected  with  the  cir- 
cuit or  conductors,  so  that  the  coils  round  the  magnet  make  part  of 
the  circuit.     The  power  of  this  magnet  is  applied — 2.  To  a  lever,  or 


THE   FIRST   CAVEAT.  323 

pendulum,  by  affixing  to  the  said  lever,  or  pendulum,  the  armature  of 
the  magnet,  or  short  bar  of  iron,  at  such  a  distance  that  the  electro- 
magnet will  readily  attract  it.  A  small  weight,  or  spring,  keeps 
the  lever  and  armature  from  the  magnet  when  the  magnet  is  not  in 
action.  To  the  lever,  or  pendulum,  is  attached — 3.  A  pencil,  or 
fountain  pen,  or  a  small  printing-wheel,  or  any  other  marking  ma- 
terial. This  pencil,  or  other  marking  material,  is  made  to  mark 
upon — 4.  A  light  cylinder  of  a  size  to  hold  a  convenient  sheet  of 
paper,  which  is  wrapped  around  it.  The  cylinder  is  made  to  re- 
volve, as  to  time  and  place,  slowly  and  regularly  upon  its  arbor,  or 
shaft,  by  means  of  clock-machinery,  and  to  advance  a  short  dis- 
tance upon  the  staff  every  revolution  by  means  of  a  screw  and  cog 
apparatus,  so  that  a  line  formed  by  a  stationary  point  above  the 
cylinder  describes  upon  it  a  spiral  or  screw  line.  The  point  of  the 
pencil,  or  other  marking  material,  is  kept  in  contact  with  the  sur- 
face of  the  paper  upon  the  cylinder  either  by  its  own  weight  or 
by  a  small  weight  attached  to  it ;  or,  when  the  printing-wheel  is 
used,  the  wheel  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  paper  by  the  mag- 
net, when  required  to  mark.  5.  A  bascide,  or  method  of  changing 
the  poles  of  the  magnet,  after  every  stroke  of  the  lever,  is  affixed  to 
the  magnet,  and  regulated  by  the  movement  of  the  lever.  6.  An 
alarm  apparatus,  to  give  notice  that  a  communication  is  about  to  be 
made,  is  also  affixed,  and  is  made  to  strike  or  give  notice  at  the  first 
movement  of  the  lever.  To  each  register  are  attached  duplicate  cylin- 
ders, for  the  convenience  of  continued  writing,  so  that  when  one  cylin- 
der is  filled,  the  other  cylinder,  by  a  shifting  apparatus,  begins  to  re- 
ceive the  marks.  The  paper,  when  ready  to  be  removed  from  the 
cylinder,  forms  a  regular  page,  prepared  for  binding  in  a  volume. 

5.   The  Dictionary,  or  Vocabulary. 

The  dictionary  is  a  complete  vocabulary  of  words  alphabetically 
arranged  and  regularly  numbered,  beginning  with  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  so  that  each  word  in  the  language  has  its  telegraphic 
number.  The  modes  which  I  propose  of  laying  the  circuit,  and  of 
insulating  the  wires  and  conductors,  are  various.  The  wires  may 
be  insulated  by  winding  each  wire  with  silk,  cotton,  flax,  or  hemp, 
and  then  dipping  them  into  a  solution  of  caoutchouc,  or  into  a  solu- 
tion of  shellac,  or  into  pitch  or  resin  and  caoutchouc.  They  may  be 
laid  through  the  air,  inclosed  above  the  ground,  in  the  ground,  or  in 
the  water.  When  through  the  air,  they  may  be.  insulated  by  a  cover- 
ing that  shall  protect  them  from  the  weather,-  such  as  cotton,  flax,  or 
hemp,  and  dipped  into  any  solution  which  is  a  non-conductor,  and 
elevated  upon  pillars.  When  inclosed  above  the  ground,  they  may 
be  laid  in  tubes  of  iron  or  lead,  and  these  again  may  be  inclosed 
in  wood,  if  desirable.  When  laid  in  the  ground,  they  may  be 
inclosed  in  iron,  leaden,  wooden,  or  earthen  tubes,  and  buried  be- 
neath the  surface.  Across  rivers  the  circuit  may  be  carried  beneath 
the  bridges,  or,  where  there  are  no  bridges,  inclosed  in  lead  or  iron 


324  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  sunk  at  the  bottom,  or  stretched  across,  where  the  banks  are 
high,  upon  pillars  elevated  on  each  side  of  the  river. 

What  I  claim  as  my  invention,  and  desire  to  secure  by  letters- 
patent,  and  to  protect  for  one  year,  by  a  caveat,  is,  a  method  of  re- 
cording permanently ',  by  electrical  signs,  which,  by  means  of  metallic 
wires,  or  other  good  conductors  of  electricity,  convey  intelligence  be- 
tween two  or  moreplaces. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I,  the  said  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  hereto  sub- 
scribe my  name,  in  the  presence  of  the  witnesses  whose  names  are 
hereunto  subscribed,  on  the  3d  day  of  October,  A.  d.  1837. 

Saml.  F.  B.  Morse. 

Signed  in  our  presence  : 

Alex.  J.  Davis,  ) 
E.  0.  Martin.      ) 

Six  days  after  the  partnership  with  Mr.  Vail  was  formed,  Mr. 
Morse  wrote  to  him :  "  I  have  only  that  which  is  agreeable  to  tell 
you.  Since  you  were  here,  I  have  had  a  most  satisfactory  letter 
from  Hon.  W.  C.  Rives,  and  also  from  Captain  Pell,  who  was  the 
commander  of  the  Sully  on  my  passage  home.  They  both  have 
given  me  most  unqualified  testimony  to  the  priority  of  my  inven- 
tion on  board  the  ship.  We  have  also  had  a  visit  from  Dr.  Jones,  of 
the  Patent-Office,  one  of  the  examiners  of  patents,  for  many  years, 
at  Washington. 

"  He  expressed  great  satisfaction  at  the  Telegraph,  and  seemed 
highly  gratified  that  I  intended  to  exhibit  it  at  Washington. 

"  I  have  dispatched  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  have  the  papers  and  drawings  nearly  ready  for  the  Patent- 
Office.  They  will  be  on  their  way,  probably,  on  Monday,  or,  at 
farthest,  on  Tuesday. 

IHP  "  If  you  intend  to  do  any  thing  in  England  or  France,  no 
time  is  to  be  lost,  ^Jgfl 

"  I  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  execute  the  commission  with  re- 
spect to  the  portraits,  any  time  after  next  week,  and  hope  to  find 
the  machinery  in  a  state  of  such  advancement  that  we  may  have 
time  before  the  winter  session  to  become  perfectly  familiar  with  it, 
so  as  to  strike  conviction  at  once  into  the  minds  of  the  members  of 
Congress,  when  we  exhibit  its  powers  before  the  powers  that  be. 

"Professor  Gale's  services  will  be  invaluable  to  us,  and, I  am 
glad  he  is  disposed  to  enter  into  the  matter  with  zeal.  The  more  I 
think  of  the  whole  matter,  the  more  I  am  convinced  that,  if  it  is 
perseveringly  pushed  at  the  moment  (so  favorable  on  many  ac- 
counts to  its  adoption  by  Government),  the  result  will  be  all  that 
we  ought  to  wish  for.     We  want  the  wire.     We  are  ready  for  some 


SPECULATORS  AND   THE   TELEGRAPH.  325 

important  experiments  necessary  to  establish  with  certainty  some 
points  not  yet  established,  by  experiment.  The  law  of  the  magnetic 
influence  at  a  distance  is  not  yet  discovered,  and  your  twenty  miles 
of  wire  may  enable  us  to  make  this  discovery  and  to  keep  ahead  of 
our  European  rivals,  as  well  as  to  proceed  with  certainty  in  'our 
other  arrangements." 

The  preparation  of  a  dictionary  of  the  Telegraph  was  now  a 
work  to  which  the  inventor  gave  much  of  his  time.  This  was 
to  contain  a  list  of  words  to  which  reference  could  be  made  by 
figures  and  combinations  of  figures,  so  that  a  message  might  be 
transmitted  with  the  least  possible  labor  and  in  the  shortest 
time,  yet  perfectly  intelligible. 

Instantly  upon  the  new  Telegraph's  becoming  a  subject  of 
discussion,  its  importance  in  commerce  suggested  itself  to  the 
active  mercantile  mind.  Before  a  wire  had  been  stretched 
along  a  line  of  travel,  and  while  Professor  Morse  was  impatient 
with  the  manufacturers,  who  could  not  produce  wire  as  fast  as 
he  wished,  he  was  approached  by  speculative  men,  who  would 
have  a  private  line,  which  they  could  use  for  their  own  pur- 
poses. He  alludes  to  their  proposals  in  the  first  of  the  letters 
to  Mr.  Yail,  which  follow  : 

"  October  11,  1837. — I  have  been  consulted  (in  confidence), 
that  is  {between  us  all),  on  the  subject  of  a  secret  communication  of 
some  two  hundred  miles,  the  particulars  of  which  I  must  leave  till 
I  see  you.  If  our  water  experiment  succeeds,  I  think  we  shall 
have  immediately  a  commission  of  the  kind  in  question.  But  be 
close  on  the  subject,  for  it  is  essential  to  its  success  that  it  be 
secret.  Verbum  sat.  I  am  not  idle,  I  assure  you.  You  can  have 
little  conception  of  the  labor  of  the  dictionary.  I  am  up  early 
and  late,  yet  its  progress  is  slow ;  but  I  shall  not  now  leave  it  till 
it  is  complete.  I  have  received  the  notice  from  the  Patent-Office 
that  the  caveat  is  regularly  filed,  and  all  is  right  there.  .  .  ." 

"  October  14,  1837. — The  dictionary  occupies  now  all  my  time. 
It  is  a  most  tedious,  never-ending  work.  Yet  I  find  that  practice 
gives  me  facilities,  and  I  hope  soon  to  complete  it.  You  will  be 
pleased  with  my  plan  of  the  permanent  dictionary,  which  I  have 
drawn  out  ready  to  show  you  when  I  see  you.  I  bring  the  whole 
within  the  consulting  face  of  twenty-three  by  twenty-six  inches." 

"October  24,  1837. — The  reels  have  arrived  safely,  and  we  ad- 


326  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

mire  the  workmanship  of  them  exceedingly ;  they  are  exactly  right. 
We  have  already  wound  nearly  four  miles  upon  one  reel,  which  will 
hold  five  miles.  The  wire  is  all  wound  with  cotton,  and  is  all  in 
our  room.  The  wire  proves  to  be  not  good /  it  is  made  of  bad 
copper,  and  is  brittle,  and  in  short  lengths ;  we  have  much  trouble 
and  consume  much  time  in  soldering  it,  etc.  The  spark  passes 
freely  as  yet — three  and  a  half  miles — and  magnetizes  well  at  that 
distance,  though  evidently  with  diminished  strength,  which  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  there  is  a  limit  somewhere.  We  have  just 
heard  that  Professor  Wheatstone  has  tried  an  experiment  with  his 
method — twenty  miles — with  success ;  we  have  therefore  nothing 
to  fear.  We  also  learn  that  he  has  sent,  to  take  out  a  patent,  to 
this  country.  My  caveat  will  be  in  his  way.  Professor  Locke,  of 
Cincinnati,  who  has  just  returned,  tells  us  all  this,  and  he  knows 
Wheatstone  and  his  whole  plan,  and  says  there  are  no  less  than 
six  disputants  for  the  priority  of  the  invention  in  England.  He 
also  says  that  no  one  of  the  European  plans  pretends  to  record 
permanently ;  that  mine  is  decidedly  superior  iu  that  respect,  and 
peculiar.  ... 

"  The  dictionary  is  at  last  done.  You  cannot  conceive  how 
much  labor  there  has  been  in  it ;  but  it  is  accomplished,  and  we 
can  now  talk  or  write  any  thing  by  numbers." 

Professor  Morse  went  over  to  Morristown,  and  on  bis  re- 
turn wrote  to  Mr.  Yail  that  Professor  Gale  was  sending  the 
current  through  ten  miles  of  wire : 

"  November  13,  1837. — I  arrived  just  in  time  to  see  the  experi- 
ment Professor  Gale  was  making  with  the  entire  ten  miles,  and  you 
will  be  gratified  and  agreeably  surprised  when  I  inform  you  that 
the  result  now  is,  that  with  a  little  addition  of  wire  to  the  coils  of 
the  small  magnet,  which  I  had  all  along  used,  the  power  was  as 
great  apparently  through  ten  as  through  three  miles.  This  result 
has  surprised  us  all,  yet  there  is  no  mistake,  and  I  conceive  settles 
the  whole  matter.  The  battery  of  large  plates  is,  however,  abso- 
lutely needed ;  for  now  the  small  plates  burn  the  mercury,  which 
must  be  remedied  by  using  larger  plates.  If  we  had  the  remaining 
ten  miles,  it  would  doubtless  be  much  more  satisfactory  to  the  com- 
mittee of  Congress. 

"  With  respect  to  an  experiment  at  Speedwell,  Dr.  Gale  thinks 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  transporting  a  couple  of  miles  of  wire, 
wound  off  on  one  of  the  other  reels ;  with  this  we  could  perforin  all 


LETTER   TO   THE   SECRETARY.  327 

that  is  necessary  to  show  the  efficiency  of  the  Telegraph,  and  the 
Doctor  is  willing  to  accompany  me  out,  or  to  come  out  when  all 
things  are  ready.  So  the  new  room  may  be  prepared  if  you  think 
best,  and  we  will  talk  from  your  father's  to  your  brother's  house ;  T 
can  bring  out  the  dictionary  when  I  come,  or  when  you  come  in. 

"  The  plan  of  casting  the  zinc  on  the  copper,  the  doctor  says,  is 
just  the  thing.  The  trough  I  have  rudely  drawn  on  the  other  leaf; 
its  size  must  be  regulated  by  the  size  and  number  of  the  plates.  The 
troughs  (there  should  be  two  for  fifty  plates  each)  ought  to  be  of 
mahogany,  and  you  will  require  some  tar  and  rosin  to  put  the  plates 
and  trough  in  order.  The  plates  may  be  one-quarter  of  an  inch 
from  each  other.  I  am  going  down-town  to  inquire  about  copper, 
zinc,  etc.  The  connection  at  the  portrule  I  shall  make  with  mer- 
cury.    Leave  that  part  till  I  see  you." 

In  November  Professor  Morse  wrote  again  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury : 

"New  Tore,  November  28,  1837. 

"  Mv  dear  Sir  :  In  my  letter  to  you  in  answer  to  the  circular 
respecting  telegraphs,  which  you  did  me  the  honor  to  send  me,  I 
promised  to  advise  you  of  the  result  of  some  experiments  about  to 
be  tried  with  my  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  I  informed  you  that  I 
had  succeeded  in  marking  permanently  and  intelligibly  at  the  dis- 
tance of  half  a  mile. 

"  Professor  Gale,  of  our  University,  and  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  of  the 
Speedwell  Iron- Works,  near  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  are  now  asso- 
ciated with  me  in  the  scientific  and  mechanical  parts  of  the  inven- 
tion. We  have  procured  several  miles  of  wire,  and  I  am  happy  to 
announce  to  you  that  our  success  has,  thus  far,  been  complete.  At  a 
distance  of  five  miles,  with  a  common  Cruikshank's  battery  of 
eighty-seven  plates  (four  by  three  and  a  half  inches  each  plate),  the 
marking  was  as  perfect  on  the  register  as  in  the  first  instance  of 
half  a  mile.  We  have  recently  added  five  miles  more,  making  in  all 
ten  miles,  with  the  same  result  ■/  and  we  have  now  no  doubt  of  its 
effecting  a  similar  result  at  any  distance.  I  also  stated  to  you,  sir, 
that  machinery  was  in  progress  of  making,  with  which,  so  soon  as  it 
should  be  completed,  I  intended  to  proceed  to  Washington,  to  ex- 
hibit the  powers  of  the  invention  before  you  and  other  members  of 
the  Government.  I  had  hoped  to  be  in  Washington  before  the  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  but  I  find  that  the  execution  of  new  machinery 
is  so  uncertain  in  its  time  of  completion  that  I  shall  be  delayed, 


328  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

probably,  until  the  beginning  of  the  year.  What  I  wish  to  learn 
from  you,  sir,  is,  How  late  in  the  session  can  I  delay  my  visit, 
and  yet  be  in  season  to  meet  the  subject  of  telegraphs,  when  it  shall 
be  presented  by  your  report  to  Congress  ?  I  am  anxious,  of  course, 
to  show  as  perfect  an  instrument  as  possible,  and  would  wish  as 
much  time  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  it  as  can  be  allowed  with- 
out detriment  to  my  interests  as  an  applicant  for  the  attention  of 
Government  to  the  best  plan  of  a  telegraph.  I  am,  my  dear  sir, 
with  the  greatest  respect  and  personal  esteem,  your  most  obedient 
servant,  Sam'l  F.  B.  Morse. 

"Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  P 

THE   FIRST   COMMUNICATION   TO   CONGRESS. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  December  11,  1837,  submit- 
ted the  following  report  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives : 

"Treasury  Department,  December  6,  1837. 

"  Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  present  this  report  in  compliance  with 
the  following  resolution,  which  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
on  the  3d  of  February  last,  viz. :  '  Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  be  requested  to  report  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, at  its  next  session,  upon  the  propriety  of  establishing  a  sys- 
tem of  telegraphs  for  the  United  States.'  Immediately  after  its 
passage  I  prepared  a  circular,  with  the  view  of  procuring,  from  the 
most  intelligent  sources,  such  information  as  would  enable  Congress, 
as  well  as  the  Department,  to  decide  upon  the  propriety  of  establish- 
ing a  system  of  telegraphs.  It  seemed  also  important  to  unite  with 
the  inquiry  the  procurement  of  such  facts  as  might  show  the  ex- 
pense attending  different  systems ;  the  celerity  of  communication  hy 
each  ;  and  the  useful  objects  to  be  accomplished  by  their  adoption. 
A  copy  of  the  circular  is  annexed  (1). 

"  The  replies  have  been  numerous,  and  many  of  them  are  very 
full  and  interesting.  Those  deemed  material  are  annexed,  num- 
bered two  to  eighteen,  inclusive.  From  these  communications,  and 
such  other  investigations  as  the  pressure  of  business  has  enabled  me 
to  make,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  tele- 
graphs for  the  United  States  would  be  useful  to  commerce  as  well 
as  the  Government.  It  might  most  properly  be  made  appurtenant 
to  the  Post-OflGce  Department,  and,  during  war,  would  prove  a  most 
essential  aid  to  the  military  operations  of  the  country.     The  ex- 


PROFESSOR   GALE   A  PARTNER.  329 

pense  attending  it  is  estimated  carefully  in  some  of  the  documents 
annexed  ;  but  it  will  depend  much  upon  the  kind  of  system  adopted ; 
upon  the  extent  and  location  of  the  lines  first  established ;  and  the 
charges  made  to  individuals  for  communicating  information  through 
it  which  may  not  be  of  a  public  character.  On  these  points,  as  the 
Department  has  not  been  requested  to  make  a  report,  no  opinion  is 
expressed ;  but  information  concerning  them  was  deemed  useful  as  a 
guide  in  deciding  on  the  propriety  of  establishing  telegraphs,  and  was, 
therefore,  requested  in  the  circular  before  mentioned.  Many  useful 
suggestions  in  relation  to  the  subject  will  be  found  in  the  correspond- 
ence annexed,  and  in  the  books  there  referred  to.  The  Department 
would  take  this  occasion  to  express,  in  respect  to  the  numerous  gen- 
tlemen whose  views  are  now  submitted  to  Congress,  its  high  appre- 
ciation and  sincere  acknowledgments  for  the  valuable  contributions 
they  have  made  on  a  subject  of  so  much  interest.  I  remain,  very 
respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Levi  Woodbury, 

"  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
"Hon.  J.  K.  Polk, 

"  Speaker  of  the  Souse  of  Representatives" 

Professor  L.  D.  Gale  was  now  made  a  partner  with  Profess- 
or Morse  and  Mr.  Yail,  and  a  series  of  experiments  was  entered 
upon  at  the  Speedwell  Iron-Works,  for  the  purpose  of  still  fur- 
ther improving  and  testing  the  system  and  the  machinery  essen- 
tial for  success.  While  here,  in  the  midst  of  the  factories  and 
engaged  with  Mr.  Yail  in  the  perfection  of  his  instruments,  the 
Professor's  old  love  for  his  pencil  is  strong  upon  him,  and  he 
is  employed  in  painting  the  portraits  of  the  family.  An  exten- 
sive building,  originally  designed  for  a  cotton-factory,  furnished 
a  convenient  place  for  the  extension  of  the  wires.  Young  Alfred 
Yail,  fired  with  the  same  enthusiasm  that  had  sustained  the  in- 
ventor through  so  many  years  of  discouragement  and  struggle, 
wrought  night  and  day  upon  the  instrument  to  bring  it  as  nearly 
as  possible  to  perfection.  The  instrument  thus  produced  is  still 
in  existence,  and  was  exhibited  near  the  close  of  the  life  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  when,  in  the  presence  of  applauding  thousands,  he 
sat  on  the  platform  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  when  his  statue  had  been 
inaugurated  in  the  Central  Park,  and  with  his  own  fingers  sent 


330  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

telegraphic  messages  across  the  continent  and  the  ocean  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  instrument  being  completed  with  the 
aid  of  Judge  Stephen  Yail,  Hon.  George  Yail,  M.  C,  and  Mr. 
Alfred  Yail,  the  first  experiment  was  made  with  three  miles  of 
coated  copper  wire,  stretched  around  a  room  of  the  factory  in 
Speedwell,  on  the  6th  day  of  January,  1838. 

The  Morristown  Journal  made  a  report  of  the  experiment 
in  these  words : 

"  It  is  with  some  degree  of  pride,  we  confess,  that  it  falls  to  our 
lot  first  to  announce  the  complete  success  of  this  wonderful  piece  of 
mechanism,  and  that  hundreds  of  our  citizens  were  the  first  to  wit- 
ness its  surprising  results.  No  place  could  have  been  found  more 
suitable  to  pursue  the  course  of  experiments  necessary  to  perfect- 
ing the  detail  of  machinery  than  the  quiet  retirement  of  the  Speed- 
well works,  replete  as  they  are  with  every  kind  of  convenience 
which  capital  and  mechanical  skill  can  supply.  Professor  Morse 
has  quietly  pursued  the  great  object  which  for  a  considerable  time 
has  engaged  his  attention,  and  has  finally  succeeded  in  carrying 
it  out  into  sucessful  practice,  aided  by  the  ingenuity  of  Mr.  Alfred 
Yail.  Others  may  have  suggested  the  possibility  of  conveying  in- 
telligence by  electricity,  but  this  is  the  first  instance  of  its  actual 
transmission  and  permanent  record. 

"  The  Telegraph  consists  of  four  parts  : 

"  1.  The  Battery — A  Cruikshank's  galvanic  trough  of  sixty 
pair  of  plates,  seven  by  eight  and  a  half  inches  each. 

"  2.  The  Portrule — An  instrument  which  regulates  the  motion 
of  the  rule.  The  rule  answers  to  the  stick  of  the  printers,  and  in 
it  the  type  representing  the  numbers  to  be  transmitted  are  passed 
beneath  the  lever,  which  closes  and  breaks  the  circuit. 

"  3.  The  Register — An  instrument  which  receives  and  records 
the  numbers  sent  by  the  portrule  from  any  distant  station. 

"  4.  A  Dictionary — Containing  a  complete  vocabulary  of  all  the 
words  in  the  English  language,  regularly  numbered. 

"The  communication  which  we  saw,  made  through  a  distance  of 
two  miles,  was  the  following  sentence:  ''Railroad  cars  just  ar 
rived,  345  passengers.'' 

"  These  words  were  put  into  numbers  through  the  dictionary ; 
the  numbers  were  set  up  in  the  telegraph  type  in  about  the  same 
time  ordinarily  occupied  in  setting  up  the  same  in  a  printing-office. 
They  were  then  all  passed,  complete,  by  the  portrule  in  about  half 
a  minute,  each  stroke  of  the  lever  of  the  portrule  at  one  extremity 
marking  on  the  register  at  the  other,  a  distance  of  two  miles,  instan- 
taneously. We  watched  the  spark  at  one  end,  and  the  mark  of  the 
pencil  at  the  other,  and  they  were  as  simultaneous  as  if  the  lever 
itself  had  struck  the  mark.  The  marks  or  numbers  were  easily 
legible,  and  by  means  of  the  dictionary  were  resolved  again  into 
words." 


THE   FIRST   MESSAGE   PRESERVED.  331 

The  instrument  was  now  ready  to  be  submitted  to  the  public. 
Professor  Morse  would  show  it  first  to  a  few  intelligent  and  ap- 
preciating friends  in  New  York.  With  this  object  in  view,  he 
issued  invitations,  of  which  the  following,  to  General  Cum- 
mings,  is  a  copy : 

"  Professor  Morse  requests  the  honor  of  Thomas  S.  Cummings, 
Esq.,  and  family's  company  in  the  Geological  Cabinet  of  the  Uni- 
versity, Washington  Square,  to  witness  the  operation  of  the  elec- 
tro-magnetic Telegraph,  at  a  private  exhibition  of  it  to  a  few 
friends,  previous  to  its  leaving  the  city  for  Washington. 

"  The  apparatus  will  be  prepared  at  precisely  twelve  o'clock,  on 
Wednesday,  24th  instant.  The  time  being  limited,  punctuality  is 
specially  requested. 

"New  York  University,  January  22,  1838." 

A  large  and  intelligent  company,  including  many  of  the 
most  learned  and  influential  citizens  attended,  in  response '  to 
similar  invitations.  Some,  who  were  present,  have  given  their 
recollections  of  that  eventful  day ;  of  the  modest,  quiet  self- 
possession  of  the  inventor,  now  submitting  to  the  scrutiny  of 
skeptics  and  objectors  the  result  of  his  patient  years  of  toil. 
Gentlemen  were  requested  to  give  brief  dispatches,  which  were 
sent  over  the  coil  of  wire,  and  read  by  one  who  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  words  that  had  been  given  to  the  operator.  Aston- 
ishment was  the  sensation  of  the  hour.  The  work  bordered 
upon  the  miraculous.  "  To  see  is  to  believe,"  but  this  result 
staggered  the  faith  of  spectators.  General  Cummings  had  re- 
cently been  promoted  to  a  military  command,  and,  in  allusion 
perhaps  to  that  fact,  one  of  his  friends  present  wrote,  and  Pro- 
fessor Morse  manipulated  the  instrument  to  transmit,  a  sentence, 
which  was  produced  in  telegraphic  characters,  and  read : 

"  Attention,  the  Universe  ! 
By  Kingdoms,  Sight  Wheel  ! " 

Letter  by  letter,  word  by  word,  the  sentence  was  written  with 
the  four  fingers  of  the  telegraph,  so  that  it  was  produced  four 
times,  on  the  strip  of  paper  that  was  moved  by  the  clock-work 
to  receive  the  impression. 

As  this  is  the  first  sentence  that  was  ever  recorded  by  the 
Telegraph,  and  preserved,  a  fac-simile  is  here  given  of  the 


332 


LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 


original,  now  in  the  possession  of  General  Cnmmings. 
upon  one  strip  of  paper  just  thirty-six  inches  in  length. : 


It  is 


at  t  e         n  t  i  o  n 


the  u  n  i 


The  words  were  chosen,  perhaps  playfully,  with  no  thought 
of  their  significance  beyond  the  momentary  impression,  but  the 
one  who  suggested  them  was  undoubtedly  under  the  influence 
of  the  feeling  then  pervading  the  minds  of  all  present,  that 
they  were  standing  on  the  threshold  of  an  event  that  would 
command  the  attention  of  the  world.  And  they  were  not  mis- 
taken. 

The  admiration  of  the  company  was  unbounded.  They 
cheered  the  inventor  with  their  warm  and  loud  congratulations. 
Doubt  was  dispelled.  The  triumph  was  complete.  The  Jour- 
nal of  Commerce  of  January  29,  1838,  had  the  following  notice 
of  the  exhibition  : 


NOTICE   OF  THE   EXHIBITION..  333 

"  The  Telegraph. — We  did  not  witness  the  operation  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse's  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  on  Wednesday  last,  but 
we  learn  that  the  numerous  company  of  scientific  persons  who  were 
present  pronounced  it  entirely  successful.  Intelligence  was  in- 
stantaneously transmitted  through  a  circuit  of  tek  miles,  and 
legibly  written  on  a  cylinder  at  the  extremity  of  the  circuit.  The 
great  advantages  which  must  result  to  the  public  from  this  inven- 
tion will  warrant  an  outlay  on  the  part  of  the  Government  sufficient 
to  test  its  practicability,  as  a  general  means  of  transmitting  intelli- 
gence. Professor  Morse  has  recently  improved  on  his  mode  of 
marking,  by  which  he  can  dispense  altogether  with  the  telegraphic 
dictionary,  using  letters  instead  of  numbers,  and  he  can  transmit 
ten  words  per  minute,  which  is  more  than  double  the  number  which 
can  be  transmitted  by  means  of  the  dictionary." 

The  New  York  Observer  copied  the  above,  and  remarked  : 

"  The  primitive  Telegraph  was  doubtless  that  mentioned  by  Ho- 
mer— the  lighting  of  a  fire  on  a  hill,  to  give  notice  of  the  arrival  of  a 
fleet,  or  of  any  other  expected  event,  of  which  that  had  been  made, 
by  previous  agreement,  the  signal.  As  an  improvement  upon  this, 
one  of  the  Greek  writers  recommends  a  square  vessel,  filled  in  part 
with  water,  with  a  large  cork  floating  upon  it.  Upon  the  side  of 
this  cork  should  be  written  various  sentences,  conveying  expected 
intelligence.  At  a  given  signal  the  water  should  be  drawn  from 
this  vessel,  till  the  sentence  to  be  conveyed  should  be  just  visible  at 
the  top  of  the  vessel,  which  should  be  announced  by  another  signal. 
An  observer  on  a  distant  hill,  furnished  with  a  similar  apparatus, 
by  drawing  water  from  his  vessel  for  the  same  length  of  time, 
would  ascertain  the  sentence  intended  to  be  conveyed.  This  he 
could  in  the  same  manner  transmit  to  another,  and  so  on,  as  far  as 
the  time  should  extend.  The  great  defect  of  the  method  is,  that  no 
intelligence  could  be  conveyed  by  it,  except  such  as  is  anticipated 
and  provided  for.  To  remedy  this  defect  has  been  the  great  object 
of  inventors  of  Telegraphs  to  this  day.  The  most  perfect  system 
yet  in  operation  consists  of  signals  representing  the  nine  digits 
with  the  cipher,  by  the  use  of  which  all  numbers  can  be  transmitted ; 
a  numbered  dictionary  of  sentences,  conveying  all  items  of  infor- 
mation that  can  be  anticipated ;  a  numbered  dictionary  of  words ; 
and  finally,  we  believe,  but  are  not  sure,  the  designation  of  the 
letters  of  the  alphabet  by  numbers.  Much  study  has  been  expended 
and  great  ingenuhy  displayed  in  bringing  this  system  to  perfection. 


334  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

Its  great  and  obvious  defect  is,  that  it  can  be  used  only  in  fair 
weather. 

"  Some  two  or  three  years  since  an  officer  in  the  British  Navy 
announced  the  invention  of  a  code  of  signals  which  should  be  in- 
telligible to  all  nations.  The  details  of  his  plan,  we  think,  have 
never  been  made  public.  The  object  might  be  accomplished  by  a 
telegraphic  or  numbered  dictionary,  translated  into  all  languages, 
so  that  in  all  languages  the  same  number  should  stand  against  a 
word  or  sentence  of  the  same  meaning.  These  numbers  would 
then  resemble  the  Chinese  characters,  in  which  persons  of  different 
nations  may  correspond  without  understanding  each  other's  spoken 
language.  On  this  plan  all  idiomatic  expressions  must  be  avoided, 
and  the  various  inflections  of  words,  to  express  number,  case,  tense, 
etc.,  must  be  gathered  from  the  connection ;  for,  if  all  derived  forms 
of  words  were  inserted  in  the  dictionary,  it  would  make  a  book  of 
monstrous  and  unmanageable  dimensions. 

"  The  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  it  will  be  seen,  possesses  the 
following  important  advantages  over  any  previously  in  use  : 

"  1.  It  is  wholly  independent  of  the  weather.  Clouds,  fogs,,  or  the 
darkness  of  midnight,  are  no  impediment  to  its  operation.  It  is 
often  most  necessary  to  announce  the  arrival,  situation,  and  wants 
of  ships,  when,  from  the  state  of  the  weather,  or  the  darkness  of 
night,  other  telegraphs  are  wholly  useless.  '  Even  in  the  best 
weather,  by  working  at  night  as  well  as  by  day,  twice  as  much  can 
be  done  in  the  twenty-four  hours. 

"  2.  It  conveys  intelligence  with  greater  rapidity.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt,  from  any  facts  or  principles  yet  discovered,  that 
intelligence  may  be  conveyed  from  New  York  to  Washington,  or 
even  to  New  Orleans,  without  any  appreciable  loss  of  time.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  have  an  observatory  every  few  miles,  at  which 
time  is  lost  by  observing  the  signals  and  repeating  them,  that  they 
.may  be  seen  at  the  next  observatory.  Time  is  saved,  too,  by  dis- 
pensing with  the  dictionary. 

"  3.  It  conveys  intelligence  more  perfectly.  It  can  spell  any 
word  correctly.  It  can  give  us  number  and  person,  mood  and 
tense.  If  thought  best,  it  can  give  us  the  punctuation,  and,  in  short, 
furnish  the  copy,  ready  for  the  hands  of  any  printer  who  under- 
stands the  telegraphic  alphabet. 

"  4.  It  conveys  intelligence  with  greater  certainty.  It  doe£  not, 
like  other  telegraphs,  mereby  hoist  up  signals,  which  may  be  seen, 
if  any  one  is  looking  for  them ;  but  it  records  its  message  perma- 


THE   FKANKLIN  INSTITUTE.  335 

nently  on  paper,  where  it  will  remain,  and  may  be  read  at  leisure. 
It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  intelligence  thus  recorded  will  be  much 
more  sure  to  reach  him  to  whom  it  is  sent,  and  to  be  correctly 
interpreted. 

"Nothing  but  an  actual  trial,  on  an  extensive  scale,  and  for 
several  years,  can  show  with  certainty  the  full  advantages  of  this 
invention.  We  think  it  evident,  however,  from  what  has  already 
been  shown,  that  its  value  cannot  fail  to  be  great." 

The  next  step  of  the  inventor  was  to  bring  the  instrument 
to  the  notice  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  With 
boldness  that  speaks  well  for  his  candor  as  well  as  for  his  confi- 
dence in  his  invention,  he  went  to  Philadelphia  and  submitted 
it  to  the  Franklin  Institute  of  that  city.  This  society  was  com- 
posed of  men  eminent  in  science,  and  deeply  imbued  with  the 
philosophic  spirit  of  inquiry  of  the  illustrious  man  whose  name 
it  bears.  There  was  great  fitness  in  first  submitting  to  a  Frank- 
lin Institute  the  first  invention  which  proposed  to  reduce  light- 
ning to  the  service  of  man.  Robert  M.  Patterson,  Esq.,  of 
Philadelphia,  an  active  member  of  the  Franklin  Institute, 
having  heard  of  the  wonderful  invention,  wrote  to  Professor 
Morse,  January  19, 1838,  and  said  to  him : 

"  I  am  pleased  to  hear  that  you  have  brought  your  scheme  for  an 
electro-magnetic  telegraph  to  such  a  degree  of  perfection  that  you 
are  prepared  to  exhibit  its  action,  and  propose  to  show  it  at  Wash- 
ington. Will  you  permit  me  to  ask  you  whether  it  would  be  con- 
venient to  you,  and  consistent  with  your  views,  to  stop  for  a  short 
time  at  Philadelphia  on  your  way,  and  let  it  be  seen  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  Science  and  Arts  of  the  Franklin  Institute  ?  This  com- 
mittee has  taken  an  interest  in  the  subject  of  telegraphs,  and  has 
reported  upon  it  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  They  would  be 
gratified  to  examine  a  scheme  so  eligible  and  plausible  as  that  which 
you  propose." 

The  invitation  was  promptly  accepted,  and  the  exhibition 
was  made  by  Professor  Morse  on  the  8th  of  February,  1838. 
The  committee  reported  their  high  gratification  with  Professor 
Morse's  Telegraph,  and  their  hope  that  the  Government  would 
give  him  the-  means  to  test  it  upon  an  extensive  scale.  The  re- 
port was  signed  by  gentlemen  whose  names  and  position  justly 


336  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MOESE. 

commanded  the  respect  of  the  public.  The  signers  were  :  E.  M. 
Patterson,  chairman;  Roswell  Park,  Sears  C.  Walker,  Isaiah 
Lnkens,  Franklin  Peale,  and  Joseph  Saxton. 

Robert  M.  Patterson  filled  with  eminent  ability  the  professor- 
ships of  Natural  Philosophy,  Chemistry,  and  Mathematics  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania ;  afterward  the  professorship  of  Natural 
Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Virginia ;  and  from  1835  to  1851 
was  Director  of  the  Mint  at  Philadelphia.  He  was  president  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  and  a  leading  member  and  officer 
of  the  Franklin  Institute.  He  was  a  strong  believer  in  the  future 
of  science,  and  ever  ready  to  welcome  with  enthusiasm  the  novelties 
of  inventors. 

Mosivett  Park  was  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  man  of  varied  information,  and 
wrote  a  work  called  "  Pantology,"  a  classification  of  the  branches 
of  human  knowledge. 

Sears  C.  Wctlker  was  Actuary  of  the  Pennsylvania  Life  Insur- 
ance Company ;  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  Philadelphia  High 
School,  and  eminent  in  that  branch  of  science. 

Isaiah  LuJcens  was  a  famous  clock-maker  of  Philadelphia,  the 
constructor  of  the  present  Independence-Hall  (State-House)  clock, 
and  an  extremely  ingenious  mechanician.  He  once,  for  amusement, 
constructed  a  '  perpetual-motion '  machine,  the  secret  motive  power 
of  which  was  a  mystery  that  for  a  time  baffled  the  wise  even. 

FranMin  Peale  was  another  master  in  mechanics.  He  was  for 
over  twenty-one  years  connected  with  the  Philadelphia  Mint,  as 
melter  and  refiner  and  chief  coiner,  and  devised  and  put  into  opera- 
tion the  greater  part  of  the  machinery  still  in  successful  use  there. 

Joseph  Saxton  was  also  eminent  as  a  mechanician.  At  the 
time  of  the  Morse  experiment  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  machinists 
of  the  mint,  but  was  soon  after  transferred  to  Washington,  where 
he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  Weights  and 
Measures,  under  the  Superintendent  of  the  Coast  Survey. 

Professor  Morse  wrote  with  great  enthusiasm  to  his  brothers 
in  New  York,  announcing  his  success  in  Philadelphia,  and  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Sidney,  who  said  : 

"  Your  invention,  measuring  it  by  the  power  which  it  will  give 
man  to  accomplish  his  plans,  is  not  only  the  greatest  invention  of 
this  age,  but  the  greatest  invention  of  any  age.    I  see,  as  an  almost 


BEFORE   THE   PRESIDENT   AND   CABINET.  337 

immediate  effect,  that  the  surface  of  the  earth  will  be  net-worked 
with  wire,  and  every  wire  will  be  a  nerve,  conveying  to  every  part 
intelligence  of  what  is  doing  in  every  other  part.  The  earth  will 
become  a  huge  animal  with  ten  million  hands,  and  in  every  hand  a 
pen  to  record  whatever  the  directing  soul  may  dictate.  No  limit 
can  be  assigned  to  the  value  of  the  invention." 

From  Philadelphia  Mr.  Morse  went  to  Washington,  to  chal- 
lenge the  attention  of  the  Government.  It  was  late  in  the' 
session  of  Congress,  and  every  day  was  precious.  He  obtained 
the  use  of  the  room  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  in  the 
Capitol,  and  into  it  introduced  the  apparatus,  clumsy  and  rude 
indeed,  but  amply  adequate  to  demonstrate  to  all  comers  that  it 
could  write  at  a  distance  /  that  is,  that  he  had  a  real  Telegraph. 
To  this  room  he  invited  members  of  Congress,  foreign  minis- 
ters, and  men  of  science.  They  came  and  saw  and  wandered, 
but  went  away  with  little  faith.  Mr.  Morse  received  the 
following  note,  on  the  day  of  its  date,  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy : 

"  M.  Dickerson  presents  his  respects  to  Dr.  Morse,  and  informs 
him  that  the  President  and  heads  of  department  propose  to  witness 
the  experiments  upon  the  Galvano-Magnetic  Telegraph,  to-morrow 
at  one  o'clock,  February  20,  1838." 

It  was  directed  to  "  Dr.  Morse,  room  of  the  Committee  of 
Commerce,  H.  R."  The  next  day,  February  21st,  Mr.  Yan 
Buren,  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  entire  Cabinet, 
including  John  Forsyth,  Secretary  of  State,  Levi  Woodbury, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  J.  R.  Poinsett,  Secretary  of  War, 
and  M.  Dickerson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  visited  the  room,  and 
saw  the  experiments.  The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Com- 
merce, Hon.  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  had  apprehended  the  greatness  of 
the  coming  event,  and  had  encouraged  Mr.  Morse  to  hope  for 
success.  The  inventor,  nervously  excited,  as  the  eyes  of  the 
Government  and  country  were  now  fixed  upon  him  and  his  in- 
vention, rose  to  the  grandeur  of  the  occasion,  and  with  steady 
hand,  and  modest  but  intelligent  words,  demonstrated  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  the  company,  that  a  Tele- 
graph was  an  accomplished  fact.  The  huge  coil  of  wire  on  the 
reels  contained  a  circuit  of  ten  miles,  and,  as  sentence  after  sen- 
22 


338  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

tenee  was  spoken  at  one  extremity  and  written  down  at  the 
other,  it  was  plain  enough  that  it  would  .work  just  as  well  on  a 
straight  line  in  the  open  air. 

Mr.  Smith,  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce, 
was  in  a  position  to  forward  the  views  of  the  inventor,  and, 
happily  for  him,  appreciated  its  vast  capabilities,  and  lent  his 
great  energies  to  its  advancement.  Before  the  experiments 
were  publicly  made  in  Washington,  Mr.  Smith  had  brought 
Professor  Morse  before  the  committee,  and  inspired  him  with 
so  much  confidence,  that  he  wrote  the  following  letter  : 

S.  F  B.  Morse  to  Hon.  F.   0.  J.  Smith. 

"Washington,  February  15,  1838. 
"  Dear  Sir  :  In  consequence  of  the  conversation  had  with  the 
committee  on  the  subject  of  my  Telegraph,  I  would  state  that  I 
think  it  desirable  that  an  experiment,  on  a  somewhat  extended  scale, 
should  first  be  made  to  test  both  the  practicability  and  the  facility 
of  communicating  intelligence  for  at  least  one  hundred  miles.  The 
experiment  may  proceed,  as  to  cost,  with  perfect  safety  to  the  Gov- 
ernment :  1.  The  wire  for  this  distance,  consisting  of  four  lengths, 
making  a  total  of  four  hundred  miles  of  wire,  might  be  obtained, 
and  receive  its  covering  of  cotton  and  other  insulation.  This  length 
would  amply  suffice  to  ascertain  the  law  of  the  propulsive  power  of 
voltaic  electricity,  and  previous  to  any  measures  being  taken  for 
burying  it  in  the  earth.  So  that,  if  any  unforeseen  difficulty  should 
occur  fatal  to  its  practicability,  the  wire  is  not  consumed  or  lost. 
If  the  expected  success  is  realized,  then,  2.  The  preparation  of  the 
wire  might  be  commenced  for  burying  in  the  earth,  and  being 
found  complete  through  the  whole  route,  the  several  portrules, 
registers,  batteries,  etc.,  might  be  provided  to  put  the  Telegraph 
into  complete  action.  This  experiment  of  one  hundred  miles  would 
furnish  the  data  from  which  to  make  the  estimates  of  a  more  gen- 
eral extension  of  the  system.  If  no  insurmountable  obstacles  pre- 
sent themselves  in  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  none  may  be 
expected  in  one  thousand  or  in  ten  thousand  miles ;  and  then  will 
be  presented  for  the  consideration  of  the  Government  the  propriety 
of  completely  organizing  this  new  telegraphic  system  as  a  part  of 
the  Government,  attaching  it  to  some  department  already  existing, 
or  creating  a  new  one,  which  may  be  called  for  by  the  accumulating 
duties  of  the  present  departments. 


IMMENSE  POWER   OF   THE   TELEGRAPH.  339 

"  It  is  obvious,  at  the  slightest  glance,  that  this  mode  of  instan- 
taneous communication  must  inevitably  become  an  instrument  of 
immense  power,  to  be  wielded  for  good  or  for  evil,  as  it  shall  be 
properly  or  improperly  directed.  In  the  hands  of  a  company  of 
speculators,  who  should  monopolize  it  for  themselves,  it  might  be 
the  means  of  enriching  the  corjDoration  at  the  expense  of  the  bank- 
ruptcy of  thousands ;  and  even  in  the  hands  of  Government  alone, 
it  might  become  a  means  of  working  vast  mischief  to  the  republic. 
In  considering  these  prospective  evils,  I  would  respectfully  suggest 
a  remedy  which  offers  itself  to  my  mind.  Let  the  sole  right  of 
using  the  Telegraph  belong,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Government, 
who  should  grant,  for  a  specified  sum  or  bonus,  to  any  individual 
or  company  of  individuals  who  may  apply  for  it,  and  under  such 
restrictions  and  regulations  as  the  Government  may  think  proper, 
the  right  to  lay  down  a  communication  between  any  two  points, 
for  the  purpose  of  transmitting  intelligence ;  and  thus  would 
be  promoted  a  general  competition.  The  Government  would  have 
a  Telegraph  of  its  own,  and  have  its  modes  of  communicating  with 
its  own  officers  and  agents  independent  of  private  permission,  or 
interference  with  and  interruption  to  the  ordinary  transmissions  on 
the  private  telegraphs.  Thus  there  would  be  a  system  of  checks 
and  preventives  of  abuse,  operating  to  restrain  the  action  of  this 
otherwise  dangerous  power,  within  those  bounds  which  will  per- 
mit only  the  good  and  neutralize  the  evil.  Should  the  Government 
thus  take  the  Telegraph  solely  under  its  own  control,  the  revenue 
derived  from  the  bonuses  alone,  it  must  be  plain,  will  be  of  vast 
amount. 

"From  the  enterprising  character  of  our  countrymen,  shown 
in  the  manner  in  which  they  carry  forward  any  new  project 
which  promises  private  or  public  advantage,  it  is  not  visionary  to 
suppose  that  it  would  not  be  long  ere  the  whole  surface  of  this 
country  would  be  channeled  for  those  nerves  which  are  to  diffuse, 
with  the  speed  of  thought,  a  knowledge  of  all  that  is  occurring 
throughout  the  land ;  making,  in  fact,  one  neighborhood  of  the 
whole  country. 

"  If  the  Government  is  disposed  to  test  this  mode  of  telegraphic 
communication  by  enabling  me  to  give  it  a  fair  trial  for  one  hundred 
miles,  I  will  engage  to  enter  into  no  arrangement  to  dispose  of  my 
rights,  as  the  inventor  and  patentee  for  the  United  States,  to  any  in- 
dividual or  company  of  individuals,  previous  to  offering  it  to  the 
Government  for  such  a  just  and  reasonable  compensation  as  shall  be 


340  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

mutually  agreed  upon.     I  remain,  sir,  respectfully,  your  most  obe- 
dient servant, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

"  To  the  Hon.  F.  0.  J.  Smith,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce  of  the 
House  of  Representatives." 

And  again  lie  wrote  : 

S.  F.  B.  Morse  to  Son.  F.   0.  J.  Smith. 

"Washington,  February  22,  1838. 
"  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  endeavored  to  approach  a  proper  estimate 
of  the  expense  attendant  on  preparing  a  complete  telegraphic  com- 
munication for  some  distance  ;  and,  taking  into  consideration  the 
possibility  that  the  experiment  may  be  conclusively  tried  before  the 
close  of  the  present  session  of  Congress,  I  have  thought  that  an 
appropriation  for  fifty  miles  of  distance  would  test  the  practicability 
of  the  Telegraph  quite  as  satisfactorily  as  one  hundred,  because  the 
obstacles  necessary  to  be  overcome  would  not  be  more  proportion- 
ally in  fifty  than  in  one  hundred;  while  at  the  same  time  the 
double  circuit  necessary  in  the  fifty  miles  would  give  a  single  circuit 
of  one  hundred  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  effect  of  distance  upon 
the  passage  of  electricity.  Fifty  miles  would  require  a  less  amount 
of  appropriation,  and  the  experiment  could  also  be  sooner  brought 
to  a  result : 

Two  hundred  miles  of  wire,  or  wire  for  two  circuits  for  fifty  miles  of  dis- 
tance, including  the  covering  of  the  wire  with  cotton,  at  $100  per 
mile $20,000 

Other  expenses  of  preparation  of  the  wire,  such  as  caoutchouc,  wax,  resin, 

tar,  with  reels  for  winding,  soldering,  etc.,  say  $6  per  mile  .  1,200 

Batteries  and  registers,  with  type,  etc.,  for  two  stations,  and  materials 

for  experimenting  on  the  best  modes  of  magnets  at  long  distances  .     i  800 

Services  of  Professor  Gale  in  the  chemical  department ;  services  of  Mr. 
Alfred  Vail  in  the  mechanical  department ;  services  of  assistants  in 
different  departments  ;  my  own  services  in  superintending  and  di- 
recting the  whole — total 4,000 

Total l  $26,000 

"  This  estimate  is  exclusive  of  expense  necessary  to  lay  down 
the  wire  beneath  the  ground.  This  is  unnecessary  until  the  pre- 
vious preparations  are  found  satisfactory.  I  cannot  say  what  time 
will  be  required  for  the  completion  of  the  circuits  for  fifty  miles. 

1  This  line  could  now  be  constructed  for  less  than  half  the  sum. 


FAVORABLE   REPORT   IN   CONGRESS.  341 

If  the  order  could  be  immediately  given  for  the  wire,  I  think  all 
the  other  matter  connected  with  it  might  be  completed  so  that 
every  thing  could  be  in  readiness  in  three  months.  Much  will 
depend  on  the  punctuality  with  which  contractors  fulfill  their  en- 
gagements in  furnishing  the  wire  and  other  apparatus.  I  remain, 
sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 
"  To  the  Hon.  F.  0.  J.  Smith,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce." 

Professor  Morse  now  submitted  to  Congress  a  respectful 
memorial,  asking  an  appropriation  to  defray  the  expense  of 
subjecting  the  Telegraph  to  actual  experiment  over  a  length 
sufficient  to  establish  its  feasibility,  and  demonstrate  its  value. 
This  petition,  its  substance  being  embraced  in  the  foregoing 
letters  to  the  Hon  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Commerce.  On  the  6th  of  April,  1838,  Mr.  Smith 
made  the  following 

REPORT. 

On  the  3d  of  February,  1837,  the  House  of  Representatives 
passed  a  resolution  requesting  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  re- 
port to  the  House,  at  its  present  session,  upon  the  propriety  of 
establishing  a  system  of  telegraphs  for  the  United  States.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  request,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at  an  early 
day  after  the  passage  of  said  resolution,  addressed  a  circular  of  in- 
quiry to  numerous  scientific  and  practical  individuals  in  different 
parts  of  the  Union ;  and,  on  the  6th  of  December  last,  reported  the 
result  of  this  proceeding  to  the  House.  This  report  of  the  Secre- 
tary embodies  many  useful  suggestions  on  the  necessity  and  practi- 
cability of  a  system  of  telegraphic  dispatches,  both  for  public  and 
individual  purposes;  and  the  committee  cannot  doubt  that  the 
American  public,  is  fully  prepared,  and  even  desirous,  that  every 
requisite  effort  be  made  on  the  part  of  Congress  to  consummate  an 
object  of  so  deep  interest  to  the  purposes  of  Government  in  peace 
and  in  war,  and  to  the  enterprise  of  the  age.  Amid  the  sugges- 
tions thus  elicited  from  various  sources,  and  embodied  in  the  before- 
mentioned  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a  plan  for  an 
electro-magnetic  telegraph  is  communicated  by  Professor  Morse,  of 
the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  preeminently  interesting, 
and  even  wonderful. 

This  invention  consists  in  the  application,  by  mechanism,  of 


342  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

galvanic  electricity  to  telegraphic  purposes,  and  is  claimed  by  Pro- 
fessor Morse  and  his  associates  as  original  with  them ;  and  being 
so,  in  fact,  as  the  committee  believe,  letters-patent  have  been  se- 
cured under  the  authority  of  the  United  States  for  the  invention. 
It  has,  moreover,  been  subjected  to  the  test  of  experiment,  upon  a 
scale  of  ten  miles'  distance,  by  a  select  committee  of  the  Franklin 
Institute  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  reported  upon  by  that 
eminently  high  tribunal  in  the  most  favorable  and  confident  terms. 
An  extract  from  the  report  thus  made  is  hereunto  annexed. 

In  additional  confirmation  of  the  merits  of  his  proposed  system  of 
telegraphs,  Professor  Morse  has  exhibited  it  in  operation  (by  a  coil 
of  metallic  wire  measuring  about  ten  miles  in  length,  rendering  the 
action  equal  to  a  telegraph  of  half  that  distance)  to  the  Committee  on 
Commerce  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  several  heads  of  departments,  to  members 
of  Congress  generally,  who  have  taken  interest  in  the  examination, 
and  to  a  vast  number  of  scientific  and  practical  individuals  from 
various  parts  of  the  Union;  and  all  concur,  it  is  believed,  and  with- 
out a  dissenting  doubt,  in  admiration  of  the  ingenious  and  scientific 
character  of  the  invention,  and  in  the  opinion  that  it  is  successfully 
adapted  to  the  purposes  of  telegraphic  dispatches,  and  in  a  convic- 
tion of  its  great  and  incalculable  practical  importance  and  useful- 
ness to  the  country,  and  ultimately  to  the  whole  world.  But  it 
would  be  presumptuous  in  any  one  (and  the  inventor  himself  is 
most  sensible  of  this)  to  attempt,  at  this  stage  of  the  invention,  to 
calculate  in  anticipation,  or  to  hold  out  promises  of  what  its  whole 
extent  of  capacity  for  usefulness  may  be,  in  either  a  political,  com- 
mercial, or  social  point  of  view,  if  the  electrical  power  upon  which 
it  depends  for  successful  action  shall  prove  to  be  efficient,  as  is  now 
supposed  it  will,  to  carry  intelligence  through  any  of  the  distances 
of  fifty,  one  hundred,  five  hundred,  or  more  miles,  now  contemplated. 
No  such  attempt,  therefore,  will  be  indulged  in  this  report.  It  is 
obvious,  however,  that  the  influence  of  this  invention  over  the 
political,  commercial,  and  social  relations  of  the  people  of  this 
widely-extended  country,  looking  to  nothing  beyond,  will,  in  the 
event  of  success,  of  itself  amount  to  a  revolution  unsurpassed  in 
moral  grandeur  by  any  discovery  that  has  been  made  in  the  arts 
and  sciences,  from  the  most  distant  period  to  which  authentic  history 
extends  to  the  present  day.  "With  the  means  of  almost  instantane- 
ous communication  of  intelligence  between  the  most  distant  points 
of  the  country,  and  simultaneously  between  any  given  number  of 


GOVERNMENT   SHOULD   BE   THE   OWNER.  343 

intermediate  points  which  this  invention  contemplates,  space  will 
be,  to  all  practical  purposes  of  information,  completely  annihilated 
between  the  States  of  the  Union,  as  also  between  the  individual 
citizens  thereof.  The  citizen  will  be.  invested  with,  and  reduce  to 
daily  and  familiar  use,  an  approach  to  the  high  attribute  of 
ubiquity,  in  a  degree  that  the  human  mind,  until  recently,  has 
hardly  dared  to  contemplate  seriously  as  belonging  to  human 
agency,  from  an  instinctive  feeling  of  religious  reverence  and  re- 
serve on  a  power  of  such  awful  grandeur. 

Referring  to  the  annexed  report  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  al- 
ready adverted  to,  and  also  to  the  letters  of  Professor  Morse, 
marked  two,  eight,  and  nine,  for  other  details  of  the  superiority  of 
this  system  of  telegraphs  over  all  other  methods  heretofore  reduced 
to  practice  by  any  individual  or  government,  the  committee  agree, 
unanimously,  that  it  is  worthy  to  engross  the  attention  and  means 
of  the  Federal  Government,  to  the  full  extent  that  may  be  neces- 
sary to  put  the  invention  to  the  most  decisive  test  that  can  be  de- 
sirable. The  power  of  the  invention,  if  successful,  is  so  extensive 
for  good  and  for  evil,  that  the  Government  alone  should  possess  the 
right  to  control  and  regulate  it.  The  mode  of  proceeding  to  test  it, 
as  suggested,  as  also  the  relations  which  the  inventor  and  his  asso- 
ciates are  willing  to  recognize  with  the  Government  on  the  subject  of 
the  future  ownership,  use,  and  control  of  the  invention,  are  succinctly 
set  forth  in  the  annexed  letters  of  Professor  Morse,  marked  eight  and 
nine.  The  probable  outlay  of  an  experiment  upon  a  scale  equal  to 
fifty  miles  of  telegraph,  and  equal  to  a  circuit  of  double  that  distance, 
is  estimated  at  thirty  thousand  dollars.  Two-thirds  of  this  expendi- 
ture will  be  for  material  which,  whether  the  experiment  shall  suc- 
ceed or  fail,  will  remain  uninjured,  and  of  very  little  diminished 
value  below  the  price  that  will  be  paid  for  it.  The  estimates  of 
Professor  Morse,  as  will  be  seen  by  his  letter  marked  nine,  amount 
to  twenty-six  thousand  dollars ;  but,  to  meet  any  contingency  not 
anticipated,  and  to  guard  against  any  want  of  requisite  funds  in  an 
enterprise  of  such  moment  to  the  Government,  to  the  people,  and 
to  the  scientific  world,  the  committee  recommend  an  appropriation 
of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  to  this  end  submit  herewith  a 
bill. 

It  is  believed  by  the  committee  that  the  subject  is  one  of  such 
universal  interest  and  importance,  that  an  early  action  upon  it  will 
be  deemed  desirable  by  Congress,  to  enable  the  inventor  to  com- 


34:4  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

plete  his  trial  of  the  invention  upon  the  extended  scale  contem- 
plated, in  season  to  furnish  Congress  with  a  full  report  of  the  result 
during  its  present  session,  if  that  shall  be  practicable. 
All  which  is  respectfully  submitted : 

Francis  O.  J.  Smith,     Jas.  M.  Mason, 
S.  C.   Phillips,  John  T.  H.  Worthington, 

Samuel  Cushman,  Wm.  H.  Hunter, 

John  I.  De  Graff,        George  W.  Toland, 
Edward  Curtis, 
Committee  on  Commerce,  TI.  S.  H.  M. 

At  this  stage  of  the  work,  Mr.  Smith  intimated  to  Mr. 
Morse  bis  willingness  to  take  a  pecuniary  interest  and  responsi- 
bility in  the  enterprise.  With  commendable  delicacy,  it  was 
made  a  condition  of  such  an  arrangement  that  Mr.  Smith  should 
obtain  leave  of  absence  from  Congress,  for  the  remainder  of  his 
term  then  closing,  and  that  he  should  not  be  a  candidate  for  re- 
election. With  this  understanding,  a  partnership  was  formed 
between  Professor  Morse,  Professor  Gale,  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  and 
Hon.  P.  O.  J.  Smith,  by  the  terms  of  which  it  was  stipulated 
that  Mr.  Smith  should  go  to  Europe  with  Professor  Morse  and 
secure  patents  for  the  telegraph  in  such  countries  as  it  should 
be  practicable  for  him  to  do  so.  The  property  in  the  invention 
was  divided  into  sixteen  shares,  of  which  Mr.  Morse  held  nine, 
Mr.  Smith  four,  Mr.  Vail  two,  and  Professor  Gale  one.  In  the 
patents  to  be  obtained  in  foreign  countries  the  proportions  were 
not  the  same :  Professor  Morse  was  to  hold  eight,  Mr.  Smith 
five,  Mr.  Vail  two,  and  Professor  Gale  one. 

Professor  Morse  returned  to  New  York,  and  made  arrange- 
ments necessary  for  his  journey  to  Europe.  It  was  important  to 
secure  a  patent  for  the  great  invention  in  foreign  countries,  and 
every  day's  delay  increased  the  difficulties  of  success.  Mr.  Vail 
went  to  Speedwell  to  prepare  an  instrument  which  Professor 
Morse  would  take  with  him  to  Europe.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Vail, 
March  15th: 

"  Every  thing  looks  encouraging,  but  I  need  not  say  to  you  that 
in  this  world  a  continued  course  of  prosperity  is  not  a  rational  ex- 
pectation. We  shall  doubtless  find  troubles  and  difficulties  in  store 
for  us,  and  it  is  the  part  of  true  wisdom  to  be  prepared  for  what- 
ever may  await  us.     If  our  hearts  are  right,  we  shall  not  be  taken 


MR.   VAIL'S   GRATITUDE.  345 

by  surprise.  I  see  nothing  now  but  an  unclouded  prospect,  for 
which  let  us  pay  to  Him  who  shows  it  us  the  homage  of  grateful 
and  obedient  hearts,  with  most  earnest  prayers  for  grace  to  use 
prosperity  aright. 

"  The  wire,  and  battery,  and  dictionary,  have  safely  arrived,  and 
are  now  in  the  cabinet,  where  Professor  Gale  is  preparing  immedi- 
ately to  institute  some  experiments  important  to  the  invention.  As 
soon  as  Mr.  S.  returns  from  the  eastward  I  shall  proceed  with  him 
to  "Washington,  arranging  matters  there  in  relation  to  the  patent, 
and  then  I  am  ready  for  Europe." 

March  19th  Mr.  Vail  replied  :  "  I  feel,  Professor  Morse,  that  if  I 
am  ever  worth  any  thing,  it  will  be  wholly  attributable  to  your 
kindness — I  now  should  have  no  earthly  prospect  of  happiness  and 
domestic  bliss  had  it  not  been  for  what  you  have  done,  for  which  I 
shall  ever  remember  with  the  liveliest  emotions  of  gratitude,  whether 
it  is  eventually  successful  or  not.  I  can  appreciate  your  reasonable 
and  appropriate  remark  that  there  is  nothing  certain  in  this  life ; 
that  it  is  a  world  of  care,  anxiety,  and  trouble,  and  that  our  depend- 
ence must  be  placed  upon  a  higher  power  than  of  earth.1 

"  I  am,  yours  truly,  Alfred  Vail." 

From  the  city  of  Washington,  March  31st,  Professor  Morse  wrote 
to  Mr.  Vail :  "  I  write  you  a  hasty  line  to  say,  in  the  first  place,  that 
I  have  overcome  all  difficulties  in  regard  to  a  portrule,  and  have  in- 
vented one  which  will  be  perfect.  It  is  very  simple,  and  will  not 
take  much  time  or  expense  to  make  it.  Mr.  S.  has  incorporated  it 
into  the  specification  for  the  patent.     Please,  therefore,  not  to  pro- 

1  These  expressions  of  gratitude  by  Mr.  Vail  to  Mr.  Morse  were  honorable  to  Mr. 
V.,  and  Mr.  Morse  cherished  to  the  day  of  his  death  a  tender  regard  for  his  young 
friend.  At  a  banquet  given  to  Mr.  Morse  more  than  thirty  years  after  this  letter  was 
written,  Mr.  Morse,  then  at  the  height  of  human  glory,  spoke  of  Mr.  Vail  in  such 
terms  of  grateful  recognition  as  to  call  out  the  following  note  from  a  son  of  Mr. 
Vail,  who  was  not  born  when  the  letter  above  was  written : 

"New  York,  June  13,1871. 
"Respected  Sir:  Allow  me,  for  myself,  to  thank  you  for  the  kind,  generous 
manner  in  which  you  alluded  to  my  father's  share  in  your  early  labors  and  struggles, 
during  the  babyhood  of  the  now  giant  Telegraph.  I  have  always  felt  that  you  would 
freely  recognize  and  acknowledge  his  assistance,  and  it  was  therefore  exceedingly 
gratifying  to  me  when,  being  absent  when  you  spoke  them,  I  read  them  in  the  pub- 
lished account  of  Saturday's  evening  meeting  in  your  honor.  Accept  my  many 
wishes  for  your  continued  health  and  honor,  and  believe  me, 

"  Yours,  respectfully,  J.  Cummings  Vail." 


346  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MOESE. 

ceed  with  the  type  or  portrule  as  now  constructed.  I  will  see  you 
on  my  return,  and  explain  it  in  season  for  you  to  get  one  ready  for 
us.  I  find  it  a  most  arduous  and  tedious  process  to  adjust  the 
specification ;  I  have  been  engaged  steadily  for  three  days  with  Mr. 
S.,  and  have  not  yet  got  half  through,  but  there  is  one  consolation, 
when  done  it  will  be  well  done.  The  drawings,  I  find  on  inquiry, 
would  cost  you  from  forty  to  fifty  dollars,  if  procured  from  the 
draughtsman  about  the  Patent-Office.  I  have  therefore  determined 
to  do  them  myself,  and  save  you  that  sum." 

During  the  few  weeks  spent  in  completing  the  instrument 
to  be  taken  to  Europe,  and  preparing  for  an  expedition  which 
promised  the  most  important  results,  the  fertile  mind  of  Mr. 
Morse  was  constantly  devising  improvements,  removing  diffi- 
culties, and  making  assurance  doubly  sure. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

1838-1839. 

PEOFESSOE  MOESE  GOES  TO  ENGLAND — APPLICATION  FOE  PATENT  —  EEFUSAL 
—  EEASONS — FALSE  STATEMENT  OF  AN  OFFICIAL — GOES  TO  PAEIS — LET- 
TEES  TO  HIS  DAUGHTEE — DR.  KIEk's  EECOLLEOTIONS — AEAGO — HIS  GEEAT 
KINDNESS  —  EXHIBITION  BEFORE  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCE  —  BAEON  HUM- 
BOLDt's   CONGEATULATIONS — EEPOET    UPON  IT — LETTEES     TO     FEIENDS — 

hon.  h.  l.  ellswoeth's  lettee — patent   in  feanoe — count  monta- 

litet peofessoe  morse's  lettees  to  me.  smith — loed  lincoln's  and 

loed  Elgin's  inteeest  in  the  telegeaph — peofessor  moese  goes  to 
london exhibits  the  telegeaph  at  the  house  of  loed  lincoln. 


P 


ROFESSOR  MOESE  left  on  record  a  minute  account  of 
his  attempt  and  failure  to  procure  a  patent  in  England. 


"  On  May  16,  1838,  I  left  the  United  States  and  arrived  in  Lon- 
don in  June,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  letters-patent  for  my 
Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  System.  I  learned  before  leaving  the 
United  States  that  Professor  Wheatstone  and  Mr.  Cooke,  of  London, 
had  obtained  letters-patent  in  England  for  a  '  Magnetic-Needle 
Telegraph]  based,  as  the  name  implies,  on  the  deflection  of  the 
magnetic  needle.  Their  telegraph  at  that  time  required  six  con- 
ductors between  the  two  points  of  intercommunication  for  a  single 
instrument  at  each  of  the  two  termini.  Their  mode  of  indicating 
signs  for  communicating  intelligence  was  by  deflecting  five  magnetic 
needles  in  various  directions  in  such  a  way  as  to  point  to  the  re- 
quired letter  upon  a  diamond-shaped  dial-plate.  It  was  necessary 
that  the  signal  should  be  observed  at  the  instant,  or  it  was  lost,  and 
vanished  forever. 

"I  applied  for  letters-patent  for  my  system  of  communicating 
intelligence  at  a  distance  by  electricity,  differing  in  all  respects'  from 


348  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

Messrs.  Wheatstone  and  Cooke's  system,  invented  five  years  before 
theirs,  and  having  nothing  in  common  in  the  whole  system  but  the 
use  of  electricity  on  metallic  conductors,  for  which  use  no  one  could 
obtain  an  exclusive  privilege,  since  this  much  had  been  used  for 
nearly  one  hundred  years.  My  system  is  peculiar  in  the  employ- 
ment of  electro-magnetism,  or  the  motive  power  of  electricity,  to 
imprint  permanent  signs  at  a  distance.  I  made  no  use  of  the  deflec- 
tions of  the  magnetic  needle  as  signs.  I  required  but  one  conductor 
between  the  two  termini,  or  any  number  of  intermediate  points  of 
intercommunication.  I  used  paper  moved  by  clocJc-viork,  upon 
which  I  caused  a  lever  moved  by  magnetism  to  imprint  the  letters  and 
words  of  any  required  dispatch,  having  also  invented  and  adapted 
to. telegraph  writing  a  new  and  peculiar  alphabetic  character  for 
that  purpose ;  a  conventional  alphabet,  easily  acquired,  and  easily 
made,  and  used  by  the  operator.  It  is  obvious,  at  once,  from  a 
simple  statement  of  these  facts,  that  the  system  of  Messrs.  Wheat- 
stone  and  Cooke,  and  my  system,  were  wholly  unlike  each  other. 
As  I  have  just  observed,  there  was  nothing  in  common  in  the  two 
systems  but  the  use  of  electricity  upon  metallic  conductors,  for 
which  no  one  could  obtain  an  exclusive  privilege. 

"  The  various  steps  required  by  the  English  law  were  taken  by 
me  to  procure  a  patent  for  my  mode,  and  the  fees  were  paid  at  the 
Clerk's  office,  June  22d,  and  at  the  Home  Department,  June  25, 
1838  ;  also  June  26th,  caveats  were  entered  at  the  Attorney  and 
Solicitor  General's — and  I  had  reached  that  part  of  the  process 
which  required  the  sanction  of  the  Attorney-General.  At  this  point 
I  met  the  opposition  of  Messrs.  Wheatstone  and  Cooke,  and  also  of 
Mr.  Davy,  and  a  hearing  was  ordered  before  the  Attorney-General, 
Sir  John  Campbell,  on  July  12, 1838.  I  attended  at  the  Attorney- 
General's  residence  on  the  morning  of  that  day,  carrying  with  me 
my  telegraphic  apparatus,  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  to -him  the 
total  dissimilarity  between  my  system  and  those  of  my  opponents. 
But,  contrary  to  my  expectation,  the  similarity  or  dissimilarity  of 
my  mode  from  that  of  my  opponents  was  not  considered  by  the 
Attorney-General.  He  neither  examined  my  instrument,  which  I 
had  brought  for  that  purpose,  nor  did  he  ask  any  questions  bearing 
upon  its  resemblance  to  my  opponents'  system.  I  was  met  by  the 
single  declaration  that  my  '  invention  had  been  published]  and  in 
proof  a  copy  of  the  London  Mechanics'1  Magazine,  No.  757,  for 
February  10,  1838,  was  produced,  and  I  was  told  that  'in  conse- 
quence of  said  publication  I  could  not  proceed.' 


UNJUST  DECISION.  349 

"  At  this  summary  decision  I  was  certainly  surprised,  being  con- 
scious that  there  had  been  no  such  publication  of  my  method  as  the 
law  required  to  invalidate  a  patent ;  and,  even  if  there  had  been,  I 
ventured  to  hint  to  the  Attorney-General  that,  if  I  was  rightly  in- 
formed in  regard  to  the  British  law,  it  was  the  province  of  a  court 
and  jury,  and  not  of  the  Attorne}T-General,  to  try  and  to  decide  that 
point.  I  conceived  that  if  I  had  merely  offered  a  substantially 
different  mode  of  doing  the  same  thing,  this,  according  to  British 
law,  was  sufficient  to  entitle  me  to  a  patent  for  my  mode  ;  but  if, 
after  having  obtained  a  patent,  my  opponents  could  prove  before  a 
court  and  jury  that  my  mode  had  been  previously  published,  then 
it  was  for  that  court  and  jury  to  declare  my  patent  void.  I  there- 
fore considered  myself  unjustly  dealt  with  by  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, who,  it  appeared  to  me,  had  stepped  out  of  the  sphere  of  his 
proper  duties,  assuming  the  power  of  a  court  and  jury,  to  forbid  me 
to  proceed. 

"  Unwilling  to  yield  to  such  manifest  injustice,  without  attempt- 
ing to  correct  what  might  possibly  have  arisen  from  some  misap- 
prehension, I,  immediately  on  my  return  to  my  lodgings,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  legal  friend,  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  Esq.,  drew  up  and  sent 
a  letter  to  the  Attorney-General,  in  which  I  requested  a  review  of 
his  decision,  stating  the  essential  differences  between  my  system 
and  that  of  my  opponents,  and  concluding  in  these  terms : 

"  '  I  forbear  to  advert  to  other  differences,  now  clear  to  my  own 
mind,  through  fear  of  too  far  intruding  upon  your  valuable  time 
and  patience.  I  will  at  once  proceed  to  obviate  the  grand  objection 
which  I  understand  to  have  been  regarded  as  in  my  way,  viz.  : 

" '  While  it  is  conceded  that  all  my  claim  rightly  attaches  to 
myself  by  priority  of  invention,  the  publicity  that  has  been  given 
it  (it  is  contended)  divests  me  of  the  legal  right  to  an  exclusive 
property  in  it.  Here,  will  the  Hon.  Attorney-General  indulge  me 
in  the  inquir}7 — 

" '  1.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  publication  that  can  operate 
thus  to  deprive  an  inventor  of  his  right  to  a  patent  ? 

"  '  2.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  publication  in  the  present  case 
that  stands  in  the  way  ? 

" '  May  I  not  presume  the  English  law  to  be  what  the  American 
law  is,  and  what  the  French  law  is,  in  principle,  upon  the  subject 
of  publication  ?  A  publication  of  results — even  a  minute  published 
description  of  mere  results  produced  by  an  invention — cannot  in- 
validate a  posterior  patent  in  either  of  those  countries,  if  the  means, 


350  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  modus  operandi  producing  those  results,  are  not  described  in 
the  publication  to  an  extent  that  a  clever  workman  would  be  en- 
abled to  make  the  same  means  and  to  produce  the  same  results. 

" '  Suppose  it  were  published  that  I  had  invented  a  gun  that 
would  shoot  accurately  at  right  angles,  beyond  any  given  point ; 
surely,  this  would  not  prejudice  my  claim  to  a  patent  subsequently. 
Suppose  I  exhibited  in  the  market-place  the  gun  actually  made,  and 
yet  no  one,  from  such  exhibition,  could  understand  its  structure,  it 
is  respectfully  submitted  that  even  such  a  publication  both  of  means 
and  results  could  not  invalidate  my  patent  subsequently  obtained, 
because  the  publication  did  not  convey  information  up  to  the  point 
that  could  enable  any  person  to  make  use  of  my  invention.  Such 
I  would  with  great  deference  presume  to  be  the  rationale  of  the 
law  of  England.  And,  if  in  the  foregoing  construction  T  am  correct, 
the  question  recurs,  What  is  the  nature  of  the  publication  in  my 
case? 

"  '  I  send  you  all  that  has  come  within  my  knowledge  as  published 
in  this  country,  all  that  has  been  presented  to  the  Hon.  Attorney- 
General  as  published  (see  Mechanic's  Magazine,  page  332).  Will 
the  Hon.  Attorney-General  be  good  enough  to  analyze  this  docu- 
ment with  me,  and  compare  it  even  with  all  the  information  the 
opposing  claimants  in  my  case  possess  relative  to  my  invention  up 
to  this  date  ? 

"  '  The  magazine  article  describes : 

"  '  1.  The  fact  that  my  invention  is  reduced  "  to  the  use  of  one 
wire"  one  circuit  only. 

" '  I  believe  it  will  not  be  contended  in  any  quarter  that  I  am  not 
the  first  inventor  of  this  reduction  of  an  Electric  Telegraph  to  a 
single  circuit.  But  this  is  only  publishing  a  result,  not  the  mode  in 
which  it  is  produced.  It  furnishes  no  description  of  the  mechanism 
which  I  employ,  and  which  enables  me  successfully  to  dispense  with 
all  wires  except  one.  It  would  not  suggest  any  mode  as  my  mode 
of  accomplishing  this,  to  any  mind.  And  yet,  it  might  suggest  to 
many  minds  many  modes  of  doing  it,  and  some  one  of  them  might 
or  might  not  resemble  mine ;  and  the  several  inventors  would  each 
be  entitled  to  a  patent  for  their  respective  modes. 

"  '  2.  The  publication  discloses  the  fact  that  my  invention  con- 
tains a  register  which  permanently  records,  and  in  characters  easily 
legible,  the  fullest  communication,  etc.  But  this  is  only  a  state- 
ment of  a  result.  It  is  no  description  of  the  means  of  recording, 
or  the  manner  in  which  my  means  of  recording  operate  in  produc- 


NO   SUFFICIENT   PUBLICATION.  351 

ino-  the  result.  It  is  as  indefinite  a  description  of  means  as  it 
would  be  to  say,  "  A  has  invented  a  gun  which  will  shoot  accurate- 
ly at  right  angles." 

" '  3.  The  publication  discloses  a  specimen  of  the  writing  pro- 
duced by  my  invention,  and  an  explanation  of  what  the  characters 
thus  produced  indicate  by  aid  of  a  dictionary.  But  the  how — by 
what  description  of  mechanism,  or  by  what  sort  of  type  or  pen, 
pencil,  or  marking  instruments,  this  specimen  of  characters  was  pro- 
duced, is  not  described,  nor  published,  nor  explained.  No  reader  learns 
this  from  the  publication  here  exhibited.  He  learns  from  it  how 
to  read  the  characters — what  they  mean — how  they  connect  them- 
selves with  a  dictionary — but  he  is  no  wiser  from  it  as  to  the  mode 
producing  these  characters ;  and  with  this  ends  all  the  description 
of  either  means  or  results  which  the  publication  contains. 

"  '  I  respectfully  submit  to  the  Attorney-General,  whether  such 
a  publication  of  results  is  to  be  construed  into  a  description  of 
means,  or  can  bring  my  invention  within  the  meaning  of  the  principle 
of  law  heretofore  adverted  to,  invalidating  in  the  slightest  degree 
my  claim  to  a  patent. 

"  '  But,  further  :  If  it  were  even  admitted  that  such  publicity  has 
been  given  to  portions  of  my  invention  as  to  preclude  me  from  a 
valid  patent  for  those  portions,  it  will  not  surely  be  contended  that 
I  am  thereby  precluded  from  a  patent  for  the  undisclosed  and  un- 
published portions,  which  I  take  at  my  risk.  For,  such  portions  I 
desire  a  patient. 

" '  In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  remark  that  I  am  quite  persuaded 
that  no  configuration  of  the  type  I  use,  or  of  the  mechanism  by 
which  I  bring  them  into  use,  has  ever  to  this  day  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  my  opposing  claimants  :  and  that  they  cannot  de- 
scribe any  of  these  particulars  of  my  invention  to  the  Hon.  At- 
torney-General, upon  his  request,  nor  even  inform  him  whether  I  do 
or  do  not  employ  the  magnetic  needle  in  the  invention,  nor  how  the 
type  make  their  impression  on  the  paper.  And  if,  with  all  the  as- 
sumed publicity  of  my  invention  before  them,  they  cannot  do  this 
much  with  accuracy  and  promptness,  I  feel  confident  the  Hon.  At- 
torney-General will  dismiss  all  doubt  as  to  the  injustice  that  would 
be  done  to  me,  and  to  my  representatives  and  estate,  by  withhold- 
ing from  me  the  patent  for  which  I  have  petitioned. 

"  '  I  have  written  at  more  length  than  I  intended,  but  I  wish 
my  case  to  be  clearly  understood,  and  in  a  shape  not  to  be  misun- 
derstood.    If  I  have  presumed  too  much  in  this,  I  hope  to  find  an 


352  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

apology  in  the  importance,  to  myself  and  others  associated  with  me, 
of  the  result  of  much  anxious  labor,  and  much  expense  incurred  in 
years  of  devotedness  to  this  invention. 

" '  With  high  consideration,  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obe- 
dient servant,  (Signed) 

" '  London,  14  Bedford  Place,  )  S   F   B    MoESE 

July  12,  1838.'  J 

"  In  consequence  of  my  request  in  this  letter,  I  was  allowed  a 
second  hearing.  I  attended  accordingly ;  but,  to  my  chagrin,  the 
Attorney-General  remarked  that  he  had  not  had  time  to  examine 
the  letter.  He  carelessly  took  it  up,  and  turned  over  the  leaves 
without  reading  it,  and  then  asked  me  if  I  had  not  taken  measures 
for  a  patent  in  my  own  country.  And,  upon  my  reply  in  the 
affirmative,  he  remarked  that  '  America  was  a  large  country,  and  I 
ought  to  be  satisfied  with  a  patent  there.'  I  replied  that,  with  all 
due  deference,  I  did  not  consider  that  as  a  point  submitted  for  the 
Attorney-General's  decision  ;  that  the  question  submitted  was, 
whether  there  was  any  legal  obstacle  in  the  way  of  my  obtaining 
letters-patent  for  my  Telegraph  in  England.  He  observed  that 
he  considered  my  invention  as  having  been  published,  and  that  he 
must  therefore  forbid  me  to  proceed. 

"  Thus  forbidden  to  proceed  by  an  authority  from  which  there 
was  no  appeal,  as  I  afterward  learned,  but  to  Parliament,  and 
this  at  great  cost  of  time  and  money,  I  immediately  left  England 
for  France,  where  I  found  no  difficulty  in  securing  a  patent.  My 
invention  there  not  only  attracted  the  regards  of  the  distinguished 
savants  of  Paris,  but  in  a  marked  degree  the  admiration  of  many  of 
the  English  nobility  and  gentry  at  that  time  in  the  French  capital. 
To  several  of  these,  while  explaining  the  operation  of  my  tele- 
graphic system,  I  related  the  history  of  my  treatment  by  the  Eng- 
lish Attorney-General.  The  celebrated  Earl  of  Elgin  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  matter,  and  was  intent  on  my  obtaining  a  special  act 
of  Parliament  to  secure  to  me  my  just  rights  as  the  inventor  of  the 
Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph.  He  repeatedly  visited  me,  bringing 
with  him  many  of  his  distinguished  friends,  and  among  them  on 
one  occasion  the  noble  Earl  of  Lincoln,  since  one  of  her  Majesty's 
Privy  Council.  The  Hon.  Henry  Drummond  also  interested  him- 
self for  me,  and,  through  his  kindness  and  Lord  Elgin's,  1  received 
letters  of  introduction  to  Lord  Brougham  and  to  the  Marquis  of 
Northampton!,  the  President  of  the   Royal  Society,  and  several 


RUSSIAN  NEGOTIATIONS.  353 

other  distinguished  persons  in  England.  The  Earl  of  Lincoln 
showed  me  special  kindness ;  in  taking  leave  of  me  in  Paris,  he 
gave  me  his  card,  and,  requesting  me  to  bring  my  telegraphic  instru- 
ments with  me  to  London,  pressed  me  to  give  him  the  earliest  no- 
tice of  my  arrival  in  London. 

"  I  must  here  say  that  for  weeks  in  Paris  I  had  been  engaged  in 
negotiation  with  the  Russian  Counselor  of  State,  the  Baron  Alex- 
ander de  Meyendorff,  arranging  measures  for  putting  the  telegraph 
in  operation  in  Russia.  The  terms  of  a  contract  had  been  mutually 
agreed  upon,  and  all  was  concluded  but  the  signature  of  the  emper- 
or to  legalize  it.  In  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  ensuing  sum- 
mer season  for  my  operations  in  Russia,  I  determined  to  proceed 
immediately  to  the  United  States  to  make  some  necessary  prepara- 
tions for  the  enterprise,  without  waiting  for  the  formal  completion 
of  the  contract  papers,  being  led  to  believe  that  the  signature  of  the 
emperor  was  sure,  a  matter  of  mere  form.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, I  left  Paris  on  the  13th  of  March,  1839,  and  arrived  in  Lon- 
don on  the  15th  of  the  same  month.  The  next  day,  I  sent  my  card 
to  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  and  my  letter  and  card  to  the  Marquis  of 
Northampton,  and  in  two  or  three  hours  received  a  visit  from  both. 
By  Earl  Lincoln,  I  was  at  once  invited  to  send  my  Telegraph  to  his 
house  in  Park  Lane,  and  on  the  19th  of  March  I  exhibited  its 
operation  to  members  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  of  the  Royal 
Society,  and  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  invited  to  meet  me  by 
the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  From  the  circumstances  mentioned,  my  time 
in  London  was  necessarily  short,  my  passage  having  been  secured. 
in  the  Great  Western,  to  sail  on  the  23d  of  March.  Although  so- 
licited to  remain  a  while  in  London,  both  by  the  Earl  of  Lincoln 
and  the  Hon.  Henry  Drummond,  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a  special 
act  of  Parliament  for  a  patent,  I  was  compelled  by  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  to  defer,  till  some  more  favorable  opportunity, 
on  my  expected  return  to  England,  any  attempt  of  the  kind.  The 
Emperor  of  Russia,  however,  refused  to  ratify  the  contract  made 
with  me  by  his  Counselor  of  State,  and  my  design  of  returning  to 
Europe  was  frustrated ;  and  I  have  not  to  this  hour  had  the  means 
to  prosecute  this  enterprise  to  a  result  in  England.  All  my  exer- 
tions were  needed  to  establish  my  telegraphic  system  in  my  own 
country. 

"  Time  has   shown  conclusively  the  essential  difference  of  my 
telegraphic  system  from  those  of  my  opponents ;    time  has   also 
shown  that  my  system  was  not  published  in  England,  as  alleged  by 
23 


354  LIFE  OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 

the  Attorney-General ;  for,  to  this  day,  no  work  in  England  has 
published  any  thing  that  does  not  show  that,  as  yet,  it  is  perfectly 
misunderstood.  Professor  Wheatstone  has  even  pronounced  lately 
(within  three  years),  in  Paris,  my  system  useless  and  impeacti- 
cable,  or  words  to  that  effect,  as  I  learn  from  the  highest  authority. 
Surely,  after  the  results  before  the  world  of  the  practical  operation 
of  my  system  for  so  long  a  time,  and  over  hundreds  of  miles  of 
country  (in  1846),  furnishing  daily  to  the  press,  in  cities  five  or  six 
hundred  miles  apart,  whole  columns  of  news  simultaneously,  Pro- 
fessor Wheatstone  could  not  have  understood  my  system,  and  thus 
risk  his  reputation  as  a  man  of  science  by  such  a  hasty  opinion.  If 
my  system  had  been  published  in  England,  Professor  Wheatstone's 
sagacity  would  certainly  have  comprehended  its  superior  simplicity 
and  efficiency,  and  he  never  would  have  hazarded  such  a  remark. 
I  consider  this  fact  conclusive  on  the  point  of  publication.  But,  as 
this  was  the  ground,  the  sole  ground,  of  not  allowing  me  to  proceed 
in  taking  out  letters  patent,  I  will  not  leave  the  settlement  of  the 
question  to  inference ;  I  will  show  that  there  was  not  even  the 
shadow  of  a  publication,  in  the  legal  sense  of  the  term.  The  sole 
document  upon  which  my  opponents  rested  to  prove  a  publication, 
is  that  referred  to  in  the  Mechanic's  Magazine,  page  332. 1  Let  any 
one  read  that  paper,  and  see  whether  my  invention  is  there  any- 
where described.  It  is  there  stated  that  '  five  years  before '  (in 
1832),  'I  had  invented  an  Electric  Telegraph;'  that  'the  distin- 
guishing features  of  my  telegraph'  are  a  register  which  permanent- 
ly records  in  characters  easily  legible  the  fullest  communication, 
and  the  use  of  but  one  wire  as  a  conductor ;  it  speaks  of  '  points  or 
marks  '  to  be  read,  and  of  '  a  pencil '  that  marks.  It  will  scarceby 
be  believed,  and  yet  it  is  true,  that  this  is  all  the  description  or  pub- 
lication of  my  invention  at  that  time  made  in  England,  or  shown 
by  my  opponents  ;  and  yet,  on  such  a  pretended  publication  as 
this,  was  I  forbidden  to  proceed  to  obtain  letters  patent. 

"  At  that  time,  I  had  with  me  drawings  of  an  instrument  called 
the  receiving  magnet,  constructed  and  put  in  operation  in  the 
spring  of  1837,  connected  with  a  relay  or  local  battery,  a  provision 
against  the  reduction  of  the  magnetic  power  of  the  main  battery  as 
the  length  of  the  conductor  increased.  By  means  of  a  local  battery 
and  local  magnet,  any  quantity  of  power  could  be  obtained,  accord- 
ing to  the  size  of  said  local  magnet  or  local  battery. 

1  This  article  in  the  Mechanic's  Magazine  to  which  I  refer,  was  copied  without 
alteration  from  Suliman's  Journal  of  Science  of  October,  1837. 


REFUSED  A  PATENT  IN  ENGLAND.  355 

"  The  receiving  magnet  was  a  provision  devised  for  an  exigen- 
cy which  at  that  time  I  conceived  only  to  be  possible,  but  was  to 
be  used  and  would  be  effective  in  case  the  exigency  occurred.  This 
instrument  was  unnecessary  in  an}'-  of  the  then  attempted  systems 
of  Electric  Telegraphs,  nor  was  it  then  necessary,  nor  is  it  now  ne- 
cessary, in  the  exhibition  of  my  main  instrument  called  the  regis- 
ter, while  confined  to  a  few  miles  of  conductors.  But  it  is  essential 
to  the  efficiency  of  my  system  when  a  circuit  connects  two  points 
a  great  distance  from  each  other.  Although  devised  as  long  ago 
as  1836,  and  constructed  in  the  spring  of  1837,  while  provid- 
ing against  a  possible  exigency,  it  was  not  necessary  to  bring  it 
into  actual  practical  use  till  the  first  line  of  conductors  for  my 
Telegraph  was  prepared.  This  exigency  occurred  in  trying  the 
power  of  the  register  magnet  through  a  circuit  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  of  wire.  The  magnetism  even  from  a  powerful  battery 
was  found  to  be  too  feeble  for  the  purpose  of  directly  marking  me- 
chanically my  characters,  but  the  application  of  the  receiving  magnet 
which  had  been  prepared,  in  reserve,  and  was  at  hand,  effectually 
and  immediately  relieved  the  difficulty. 

"  Now,  under  what  pretence  of  justice  was  I  denied  a  patent  for 
this  receiving  magnet  ?  It  was  secured  to  me  in  France  but  a  few 
weeks  after  the  rejection  of  my  application  in  England. 

"  This  is  the  statement  of  the  case.  The  refusal  to  grant  me  a  pat- 
ent was  at  that  period  very  disastrous.  It  was  especially  discourag- 
ing to  have  made  a  long  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  in  vain,  incur- 
ring great  expenditure,  and  loss  of  time,  which  in  their  consequence 
also  produced  years  of  delay  in  the  prosecution  of  my  enterprise  in 
the  United  States. 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Moese. 
"New  York,  April  2,  1847." 

"  At  the  time  of  preparing  this  statement,  I  lacked  one  item  of 
evidence  which  it  was  desirable  to  have,  aside  from  my  own  asser- 
tion, viz.,  evidence  that  the  refusal  of  the  Attorney-General  was  on 
the  ground  '  that  a  publication  of  the  invention  had  been  made.'' — 
I  deemed  it  advisable  rather  to  suffer  from  the  delay,  and  endure 
the  taunts  which  my  unscrupulous  opponents  have  not  been  slow  to 
lavish  upon  me  in  consequence,  if  I  could  but  obtain  this  evidence 
in  proper  shape.  I  accordingly  wrote  to  my  brother,  then  in  Lon- 
don, to  procure,  if  possible,  from  Lord  Campbell  or  his  secretary,  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  ground  on  which  he  refused  my  application 
for  a  patent  in  1838,  since  no  public  report  or  record  in  such  cases 


356  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

is  made.  My  brother,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Carpmael,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  patent  agents  in  England,  addressed  a  note  to 
Mr.  H.  Cooper,  the  Attorney-General's  secretary  at  the  time,  and 
the  only  official  person  besides  Lord  Campbell  connected  with  the 
matter.     The  following  is  Mr.  Cooper's  reply : 

"  '  Wilmington  Sqttaee,  May  23,  1843. 
'"Gentlemen:  In  answer  to  yours  of  the  20th  inst.,  I  beg  to 
state  that  I  have  a  distinct  recollection  of  Professor  Morse's  applica- 
tion for  a  patent,  strengthened  by  the  fact  of  his  not  having  paid 
the  fees  for  the  hearing r,  etc.,  and  their  being  now  owing.  I  under- 
stood at  the  time  that  the  patent  was  stopped  on  the  ground  that 
a  publication  of  the  invention  had  been  made,  but  I  cannot  procure 
Lord  Campbell's  certificate  of  that  fact. 

" '  I  am,  gentlemen^  your  obedient  servant, 

"'H.  Coopee.' 

"  I  thus  have  obtained  the  evidence  I  desired  in  the  most  au- 
thentic form,  but  accompanied  with  as  gross  an  insult  as  could  well 
be  conceived.  On  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  I  immediately  wrote 
to  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  Esq.,  at  Portland,  who  accompanied  me  to  Eng- 
land, and  at  whose  sole  expense,  according  to  agreement,  all  pro- 
ceedings in  taking  out  patents  in  Europe  were  to  be  borne,  to  know 
if  this  charge  of  the  Attorney-General's  secretary  could  possibly  be 
true,  not  knowing  but,  through  some  inadvertence  on  his  (Mr. 
Smith's)  part,  this  bill  might  have  been  overlooked.  Mr.  Smith 
writes  me  in  answer,  sending  me  a  copy  verbatim  of  the  follow- 
ing receipt,  which  he  holds  and  which  speaks  for  itself : 

"  '  Mr.  Morse  to  the  Attorney-General,        Dr. 

£    s.     d. 

Hearing  on  a  patent 3     10     0 

Giving  notice  on  the  same. 1       1     0 


£4     11     0 
Settled  the  13th  of  August,  1838. 

(Signed)  H.  Cooper.' 

i:  This  receipt  is  signed,  as  will  be  perceived,  by  the  same  indi- 
vidual H.  Cooper,  who,  nearly  ten  years  after  his  acknowledgment 
of  the  money,  has  the  impudence  to  charge  me  with  leaving  my  fees 
unpaid.  I  now  leave  the  public  to  make  their  own  comments  both 
on  the  character  of  the  whole  transaction  in  England,  and  on  the 
character  and  motives  of  those  in  this  country  who  have  espoused 


CORONATION   OF  THE   QUEEN.  357 

Lord  Campbell's  course,  making  it  an  occasion  to  charge  me  with 
having  '  invented  nothing? 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

"  Poughkeepsie,  December  11,  1848." 

This  refusal  of  a  patent  in  England  is  a  fact  of  such. great 
importance  in  the  history  of  Telegraphs,  that  the  letters  referred 
to  from  Mr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Sidney  E.  Morse,  showing  clearly 
the  gross  wrong  that  was  done,  are  carefully  preserved  to  sub- 
stantiate the  statements  made  by  Professor  Morse. 

June  19,  1838,  Professor  Morse  wrote  to  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Lind :  "  London  is  filling  fast  with  crowds  of  all  characters,  from 
ambassadors  and  princes  to  pickpockets  and  beggars,  all  brought 
together  by  the  coronation  of  the  queen,  which  takes  place  in  a  few 
days  (the  .28th  of  June).  Every  thing  in  London  now  is  colored  by 
the  coming  pageant.  In  the  shop-windows  are  the  robes  of  the 
nobility,  the  crimson  and  ermine,  dresses,  coronets,  etc.  Prepara- 
tions for  illuminations  are  making  all  over  the  city. 

"  I  have  scarcely  entered  upon  the  business  of  the  Telegraph, 
but  have  examined  (tell  Dr.  Gale)  the  specification  of  Wheatstone 
at  the  Patent-Office,  and,  except  the  alarum  part,  he  has  nothing 
which  interferes  with  mine.  His  invention  is  ingenious  and  beauti- 
ful, but  very  complicated,  and  he  must  use  twelve  wires  where  I 
use  but  four.  I  have  seen  also  a  Telegraph  exhibiting  at  Exeter 
Hall,  invented  by  Davy,  something  like  Wheatstone's,  but  still 
complicated.  I  find  mine  is  yet  the  simplest, -and  hope  to  accom- 
plish something,  but  always  keep  myself  prepared  for  disappoint- 
ment. Your  affectionate  father, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

While  attending  the  ceremonies  of  the  coronation,  to  which 
Professor  Morse  was  invited  by  the  courtesy  of  the  American 
Minister,  the  Hon.  Andrew  Stevenson,  he  learned  a  pleasing  in- 
cident illustrating  the  beautiful  character  of  the  maiden  queen. 
He  related  it  in  these  words  : 

"  I  was  in  London  in  1838,  and  was  present  with  my  excellent 
friend  the  late  Charles  R.  Leslie,  R.  A.,  at  the  imposing  ceremonies 
of  the  coronation  of  the  queen  in  Westminster  Abbey.  He  then 
related  to  me  the  following  incident,  which  I  think  may  truly  be 
said  to  have  been  the  first  act  of  her  Majesty's  reign :  When  her 
predecessor,  William  IV.,  died,  a  messenger  was  immediately  dis- 


358  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

patched  by  his  queen  (then  become  by  his  death  queen-dowager) 
to  Victoria,  apprising  her  of  the  event.  She  immediately  called 
for  paper,  and  indicted  a  letter  of  condolence  to  the  widow.  Fold- 
ing it,  she  directed  it  '  To  the  Queen  of  England.'  Her  maid  of 
honor  in  attendance,  noticing  the  inscription,  said,  '  Your  Majesty, 
you  are  Queen  of  England.'  '  Yes,'  she  replied,  '  but  the  wid- 
owed queen  is  not  to  be  reminded  of  that  fact  first  by  me.' " 

Although  the  exhibition  of  the  Telegraph  must  have  earned 
conviction  to  the  minds  of  all  who  saw  its  actual  operation,  the 
inventor  gained  nothing  by  remaining  in  London.  He  deter- 
mined to  "  seek  his  fortune  "  in  Paris.  Writing  to  his  daugh- 
ter on  his  way  thither,  he  says : 

"Havre,  in  France,  July  26,  1838. 
"  After  having  been  delayed  seven  weeks  in  England,  endeav- 
oring to  obtain  a  patent,  and  having  had  two  hearings  before  the 
Attorney-General,  he  decided  against  us,  and  (as  we  can  make  to 
appear)  most  unjustly.  The  ground  of  objection  was  not  that  my 
invention  was  not  original,  and  better  than  others,  but  that  it  had 
been  published  in  England  from  the  American  journals,  and  there- 
fore belonged  to  the  public.  The  whole  matter  will  be  laid  before 
the  world  in  due  time,  and,  so  far  as  most  gross  injustice  is  charged 
on  his  decision,  the  charge  will  be  made  out.  We  have,  however, 
by  this  act  of  the  Attorney-General,  been  shut  out  from  any  expecta- 
tion of  pecuniary  advantage  in  Great  Britain,  and  yet  the  history 
of  the  whole  transaction  clearly  proves  me  the  original  inventor  of 
the  first  practicable  and  the  simplest  Electric  Telegraph,  and  I  am 
persuaded  that  eventually  the  English  themselves  will  do  me  that 
justice.  Professor  Wheatstone  and  Mr.  Davy  were  my  opposers. 
They  have  each  very  ingenious  inventions  of  their  own,  particu- 
larly the  former,  who  is  a  man  of  genius,  and  one  with  whom  I  was 
personally  mnch  pleased ;  he  has  invented  his,  I  believe,  without 
knowing  that  I  was  engaged  in  an  invention  to  produce  a  similar 
result,  for,  although  he  dates  back  into  1832,  yet,  as  no  publication 
of  our  thoughts  was  made  by  either,  we  are  evidently  independent 
of  each  other.  My  time  has  not  been  lost,  however,  for  I  have 
ascertained  with  certainty  that  the  Telegraph  of  a  single  circuit 
and  a  recording  apparatus  is  mine,  and  I  learned  from  the  Attorney- 
General  that  Professor  Steinheil,  of  Munich,  who  has  invented  his, 
of  a  single  circuit,  subsequent  to  mine,  has,  as  he  observed,  '  with- 
out doubt  taken  it  from  mine.'   I  found,  also,  that  both  Mr.  Wheat- 


PATENT    IN   FRANCE.  359 

stone  and  Mr.  Davy  were  endeavoring  to  simplify  theirs  by  adding 
a  recording  apparatus  and  reducing  theirs  to  a  single  circuit.  The 
latter  showed  to  the  Attorney-General  a  drawing,  which  I  obtained 
sight  of,  of  a  method  by  which  he  proposed  a  bungling  imitation 
of  my  first  characters,  those  that  were  printed  in  our  journals,  and 
one,  however  plausible  on  paper,  and  sufficiently  so  to  deceive  the 
Attorney-General,  was  perfectly  impracticable.  Partiality,  from  na- 
tional or  other  motives,  aside  from  the  justice  of  the  case,  I  am 
persuaded,  influenced  the  decision  against  me. 

"  We  are  now  on  our  way  to  Paris,  to  try  what  we  can  do  with 
the  French  Government.  I-  confess  I  am  not  sanguine  as  to  any 
favorable  pecuniary  result  in  Europe,  but  we  shall  try ;  and  at  any 
rate  we  have  seen  enough  to  know  that  the  matter  is  viewed  with 
great  interest  here,  and  the  plan  of  such  telegraphs  will  be  adopted, 
and  of  course  the  United  States  is  secured  to  us,  and  I  do  hope 
something  from  them.  Be  economical,  my  dear  child,  and  keep 
your  wants  within  bounds,  for  I  am  preparing  myself  for  an  unsuc- 
cessful result  here,  yet  every  proper  effort  will  be  made.  I  am  in 
excellent  health  and  spirits,  and  leave  to-morrow  morning  for 
Paris." 

"Paris,  August  29,  1838. 

"  I  have  obtained  a  patent  here,  and  it  is  exciting  some  atten- 
tion. The  prospects  of  future  benefit  from  the  invention  are  good, 
but  I  shall  not  probabhy  realize  much  or  even  any  thing  imme- 
diately. I  saw  by  the  papers,  before  I  got  your  letter,  that  Con- 
gress had  not  passed  the  appropriation  bill  for  the  Telegraph ;  on 
some  accounts  I  regret  it,  but  it  is  only  delayed,  and  it  will  proba- 
bly be  passed  early  in  the  winter.  You  will  be  glad  to  learn,  my 
dear  daughter,  that  your  father's  health  was  never  so  good,  and, 
probably  before  this  reaches  you,  he  will  be  on  the  ocean  on  his  re- 
turn. I  think  of  leaving  Paris  in  a  very  few  days.  I  am  only 
waiting  to  show  the  Telegraph  to  the  king,  from  whom  I  expect  a 
message  hourly.  The  birth  of  a  prince  occupies  the  whole  atten- 
tion just  now  of  the  royal  family  and  the  court ;  he  was  born  on 
the  24th  inst.,  the  son  of  the  Duke  arid  Duchess  of  Orleans.  My 
rooms  are  as  delightfully  situated,  perhaps,  as  any  in  Paris ;  they 
are  close  to  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  and  overlook  the  gardens, 
and  are  within  half  a  stone's-throw  of  the  rooms  of  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Orleans.  From  my  balcony  I  look  directly  into  their 
rooms.  I  saw  the  company  that  were  there  assembled  on  the  birth- 
day of  the  little  prince,  and  saw  him  in  his  nurse's  arms  at  the  win- 


360  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

dow  the  next  day  after  his  birth.  He  looked  very  much  like  any 
other  baby,  and  not  half  so  handsome  as  little  Hugh  Peters.  I  re- 
ceived from  the  Minister  of  War,  General  Bernard,  who  has  been 
very  polite  to  me,  a  ticket  to  be  present  at  the  Te  Deum  performed 
yesterday  in  the  great  cathedral  of  Paris,  Notre-Dame,  on  account 
of  the  birth  of  the  prince.  The  king  and  all  the  royal  family  and 
the  court,  with  all  the  officers  of  state,  were  present.  The  cathe- 
dral was  crowded  with  all  the  fashion  of  Paris.  Along  the  ways, 
and  around  the  church,  were  soldiers  without  number,  almost — a 
proof  that  some  clanger  was  apprehended  to  the  king ;  and  yet  he 
ought  to  be  popular,  for  he  is  the  best  ruler  they  have  had  for 
years.  The  ceremonies  were  imposing,  appealing  to  the  senses 
and  the  imagination,  and  not  at  all  to  the  reason  or  the  heart." 

"  Pabis,  September  29,  1838. 
"  Since  my  last,  matters  have  assumed  a  totally  different  aspect. 
At  the  request  of  Monsieur  Arago,  the  most  distinguished  astrono- 
mer of  the  day,  I  submitted  the  Telegraph  to  the  Institute  at  one 
of  their  meetings,  at  which  some  of  the  most  celebrated  philoso- 
phers of  France  and  of  Germany,  and  of  other  countries,  were  pres- 
ent. Its  reception  was  in  the  highest  degree  flattering,  and  the 
interest  which  they  manifested,  by  the  questions  they  asked,  and 
the  exclamations  they  used,  showed  to  me  then  that  the  invention 
had  obtained  their  favorable  regard.  The  papers  of  Paris  immedi- 
ately announced  the  Telegraph  in  the  most  favorable  terms,  and  it 
has  literally  been  the  topic  of  the  day  ever  since.  The  Baron  Hum-. 
boldt,  the  celebrated  traveler,  a  member  of  the  Institute,  and  who 
saw  its  operation  before  that  body,  told  Mr.  Wheaton,  our  Minister 
to  Prussia,  that  my  Telegraph  was  the  best  of  all  the  plans  that 
had  been  devised.  I  received  a  call  from  the  administrator-in-chief 
of  all  the  Telegraphs  of  France,  Monsieur  Alphonse  Foy;  I  ex- 
plained it  to  him.  He  was  highly  delighted  with  it,  and  told  me 
that  the  Government  were  about  to  try  an  experiment  with  the 
view  of  testing  the  practicability  of  the  Electric  Telegraph,  and 
that  he  had  been  requested  to  see  mine  and  to  report  upon  it ; 
that  he  should  report  that  '  mine  was  the  best  that  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  him?  and  he  added  that  I  had  better  forthwith  get  an 
introduction  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  Monsieur  the  Count 
Montalivet ;  I  procured  a  letter  from  our  Minister,  and  am  now 
waiting  the  decision  of  the  Government.  Every  thing  looks  prom- 
ising thus  far,  as  much  so  as  I  could  expect ;  but  it  involves  the 
possibility  not  to  say  the  probability  of  my  remaining   in   Paris 


LETTER   TO   A   DAUGHTER.  361 

during  the  winter.  If  I  should  be  delayed  till  December,  it  would 
be  prudent  to  remain  until  April.  If  it  be  possible  without  detri- 
ment to  my  affairs  to  make  such  arrangements  that  I  may  return 
this  autumn,  I  shall  certainly  do  it ;  but,  if  I  should  not,  you  must 
console  yourselves  that  it  is  in  consequence  of  meeting  with  suc- 
cess that  I  am  detained,  and  that  I  shall  be  more  likely  to  return 
with  advantage  to  you  all,  on  account  of  the  delay.  '  I  ought  to  say 
that  the  directors  of  the  St.  Germain  Railroad  have  seen  my  Tele- 
graph, and  that  there  is  some  talk  (as  yet  vague)  of  establishing  a 
line  of  my  Telegraph  upon  that  road.  I  mention  these,  my  dear 
child,  to  show  you  that  I  cannot  at  this  moment  leave  Paris  with- 
out detriment  to  my  principal  object." 

"  Paris,  October  10,  1838. 
"  My  dear  Daughter  :  You  are  at  an  age  when  a  parent's 
care,  and  particularly  a  mother's  care,  is  most  needed.  You 
cannot  know  the  depth  of  the  wound  that  was  inflicted  when 
I  was  deprived  of  your  dear  mother,  nor  in  how  many  ways  that 
wound  has  been  kept  open.  Yet  I  know  it  is  all  well ;  I  look  to 
God  to  take  care  of  you ;  it  is  his  will  that  you  should  be  almost 
truly  an  orphan,  for,  with  all  my  efforts  to  have  a  home  for  you 
and  to  be  near  you,  I  have  met  hitherto  only  with  disappoint- 
ment. But  there  are  now  indications  of  a  change,  and,  while  I  pre- 
pare for  disappointment  and  wish  you  to  prepare  for  disappoint- 
ment, we  ought  to  acknowledge  the  kind  hand  of  our  heavenly 
Father,  in  so  far  prospering  me  as  to  put  me  in  the  honorable  light 
before  the  world  which  is  now  my  lot.  With  this  eminence  is  con- 
nected the  prospect  of  pecuniary  prosperity,  yet  this  is  not  con- 
summated, but  only  in  prospect ;  it  may  be  a  long  time  before  any 
thing  is  realized.  Study,  therefore,  prudence  and  economy  in  all 
things ;  make  your  wants  as  few  as  possible,  for  the  habit  thus  ac- 
quired will  be  of  advantage  to  you,  whether  you  have  much  or 
little." 

The  Eev.  Dr.  Kirk,  who  died  in  Boston,  March  27,  1874,  was 
residing  in  Paris  at  the  time  of  Professor  Morse's  visit,  and  the 
two  gentlemen,  being  old  friends,  took  apartments  in  common 
for  the  sake  of  economy.  Dr.  Kirk,  in  a  letter  written  in  1851, 
alludes  to  the  Telegraph  and  its  inventor : 

"  On  my  return  to  Paris,  in  the  autumn  of  1838,  I  met  your 
brother,  and  we  took  rooms  at  the  Hotel  No.  9  Rue  Neuve  des 


362  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

Mathurins.  Our  apartments  consisted  of  a  parlor,  a  bedchamber, 
and  an  intervening  passage.  He  put  up  a  table  in  the  bedroom, 
and  placed  his  galvanic  battery  upon  it.  The  wires  were  extended 
through  the  passage  into  the  parlor,  where  the  writing  apparatus 
was  set  up.  I  remember  rallying  my  friend  frequently  about  the 
experience  of  great  inventors,  who  are  generally  permitted  to  starve 
when  living,  arid  are  canonized  after  death. 

"  "When  the  model  telegraph  had  been  set  up  in  our  rooms, 
Mr.  Morse  desired  to  exhibit  it  to  the  savants  of  Paris.  But,  as  he 
had  less  of  the  talking  propensity  than  myself,  I  was  made  the 
grand  exhibitor.  Our  levee-day  was  Tuesday,  and  for  weeks  we 
received  the  visits  of  distinguished  citizens  and  strangers,  to  whom 
I  explained  the  principles  and  operation  of  the  Telegraph.  The 
visitors  would  agree  upon  a  word  among  themselves,  which  I  was 
not  to  hear.  Then  the  Professor  would  receive  it  at  the  writing  end 
of  the  wires ;  while  it  devolved  upon  me  to  interpret  the  characters 
which  recorded  it  at  the  other  end.  As  I  explained  the  hiero- 
glyphics, the  announcement  of  the  word,  which  they  saw  could  have 
come  to  me  only  through  the  wire,  would  often  create  a  deep  sen- 
sation of  delighted  wonder.  And  much  do  I  now  regret  that  I  did 
not  take  notes  of  those  interviews ;  for  it  would  be  an  interesting 
record  of  distinguished  names,  and  of  valuable  remarks.  As  it  is, 
I  must  merely  speak  of  what  memory  retains.  And  what  is  of 
chief  importance  I  do  distinctly  remember. 

"1.  Men  distinguished  for  their  science  as  well  as  their  social 
position,  and  eminent  literary  men  and  women,  were  among  the 
interested  spectators  of  the  great  invention.  They  were  from  Eng- 
land, Spain,  Russia,  Italy,  and  America,  besides  the  Parisians  and 
other  Frenchmen.  I  doubt  not  there  were  representatives  from 
other  nations,  because  our  rooms  were  full  on  each  exhibition,  but  I 
retain  no  definite  recollections  beyond  what  I  state.  Our  own 
countryman,  Robert  Walsh,  Esq.,  gave  the  word  'Immortality,'  to 
be  written  by  the  Telegraph. 

"  2.  The  impression  left  on  my  mind  is  complete,  that,  while  a 
few  chemists  or  physicists  were  familiar  with  the  two  great  laws 
of  the  magnetic  fluid  which  the  Telegraph  employs  (I  mean  the  in- 
stantaneousness,  or  immeasurable  rapidity  of  the  current,  when  the 
circuit  is  complete,  and  the  power  of  making  iron  attractive),  yet 
I  never  heard  a  remark  which  indicated  that  the  result  obtained  by 
Mr.  Morse  was  not  new,  wonderful,  and  promising  immense  prac- 
tical results." 


ARAGO'S   EXAMINATION.  363 

On  the  4th  day  of  September,  1838,  Professor  Morse  had  the 
honor  and  the  intense  satisfaction  of  meeting  M.  Arago,  the 
most  eminent  scientist  in  France,  and  of  exhibiting  to  him  in 
private  the  operation  of  his  Telegraph.  Arago  was  the  man 
of  all  men  then  living  to  comprehend  and  appreciate  the  won- 
derful invention.  He  gave  it  a  thorough  examination,  ques- 
tioned the  inventor  with  great  minuteness,  and  declared  him- 
self satisfied  with  the  results,  and  its  capacity  to  do  all  that  was 
claimed  for  it.  He  instantly  proposed  to  introduce  it  to  the 
Academy  of  Science,  at  their  very  next  meeting,  which  was  to 
be  held  on  the  following  Monday.  The  Telegraph  had  never 
been  subjected  to  such  an  inquisition  as  it  would  then  undergo. 
The  diffident  and  anxious  inventor  prepared  himself  for  the 
trial  with  the  greatest  care.  In  one  of  his  little  note-books  of 
that  day  are  written  in  a  few  hints  which  he  jotted  down  to  aid 
him  in  the  presentation  of  the  case  : 

"  My  present  instrument  is  very  imperfect  in  its  mechanism,  and 
is  only  designed  to  illustrate  the  principle  of  my  invention.  The 
recording  part — all  in  the  box  that  holds  the  pen — is  made  strong 
and  clumsy,  for  the  purpose  of  safety  in  traveling.  It  is  all  redu- 
cible to  one-third  of  the  compass  here  exhibited  and  without  at  all 
impairing  its  efficiency.  It  may  be  made  into  an  ornamental  piece 
of  furniture,  like  a  time-piece.  My  invention  was  matured  by  me 
in  1832,  though  not  announced  until  the  spring  of  1837.  I  have 
indubitable  proof  from  Mr.  Rives,  late  Minister  of  the  United  States 
to  the  French  Government,  as  also  from  other  persons  of  the  date 
of  my  discovery.  My  invention  differs  from  that  of  all  others  of 
more  recent  origin — 

"  1.  In  that  it  requires  but  a  single  circuit  of  wire  by  which  to 
communicate  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  while  the  others  require 
several  circuits. 

"  2.  In  that  I  make  no  use  of  magnetic  needles  in  conveying 
intelligence,  while  the  others  rely  upon  numerous  needles  for  that 
purpose. 

"  3.  In  that  mine  writes  one  or  any  desired  copies,  simultaneous- 
ly, of  all  intelligence  sent  by  it,  in  permanent  characters,  while  all 
others  carry  only  momentary  signs  by  motion  of  needle  or  by  sound, 
and  can  furnish  no  duplicates  of  them. 

"  4.  Mine  requires  no  attendance  constantly  at  the  place  of  de- 
livery of  intelligence,  to  render  the  communications  made  available 


364  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

— while  others  can  be  operated  only  by  having  one  or  more  persons 
ready  at  all  times  to  take  down  every  sign  transmitted  at  the  time 
and  in  the  order  of  their  transmission. 

"  5.  The  whole  of  my  invention  is  worked  by  mechanism,  includ- 
ing type,  thereby  insuring  regularity  and  precision ;  others  are 
worked  only  by  hand  as  an  organ  or  piano  is  played. 

"  6.  By  my  invention  I  can  communicate  letters  and  words  in 
writing  more  rapidly  than  any  other  invention  can  communicate 
signs  which  reach  the  eye  alone. 

"  The  expense  of  constructing  my  method  of  Telegraph,  ready  for 
use,  to  and  fro,  over  any  given  distance,  will  not  exceed  thirty-five 
hundred  francs  per  English  mile — and  the  mechanism  at  each  point 
will  not  exceed  fifteen  hundred.  The  type  will  not  exceed  the  ex- 
pense of  one  franc  per  pound.  To  regulate  the  passage  of  the  type, 
a  small  train  of  wheels,  acted  upon  by  a  spring  or  weight,  will  be 
used  instead  of  the  hand-crank  used  for  convenience  of  transporta- 
tion in  the  model  now  presented. 

"  A  small  apparatus  also  belongs  to  the  register,  but  is  not  now 
exhibited,  by  which  the  person  transmitting  intelligence  from  one 
point  can  both  set  in  motion  and  stop  at  pleasure  the  register  or 
recording  pen,  at  any  distant  point,  without  the  intervention  of  any 
person  there.  This  secures  to  a  single  individual  entire  control 
over  the  Telegraph  at  each  extremity.  To  the  recording  pen  now 
exhibited  also  belongs  a  reservoir,  sufficiently  large  to  supply  the 
the  pen  with  ink  for  an  indefinite  period.  My  invention,  I  may  add, 
allows  the  intelligence  sent  on  any  single  circuit  of  wire  to  be. writ- 
ten at  any  number  of  intermediate  places  between  any  two  distant 
points,  and  simultaneously  with  its  reception  at  the  most  distant 
points.  The  other  inventions  require  an  entire  set  of  wires  for 
every  distinct  point  of  communication." 

The  anxiously-anticipated  day  arrived,  September  10,  1838. 
Full  of  fears  of  his  own  ability  to  do  justice  to  the  work,  and 
knowing  that  he  labored  under  the  great  disadvantage  of  speak- 
ing through  an  interpreter,  his  heart  was  ready  to  fail  hina. 
He  was  invited  by  the  secretary  to  a  seat  within  the  pale  of  the 
assembled  members ;  around  him  were  gathered  all  the  chiefs 
of  science  in  that  illustrious  body  to  which  kings  and  emperors 
have  sought  admission  in  vain.  But  near  to  the  unknown 
American  sat  one  wdiose  fame  had  already  filled  the  world  of 
science,  and  at 'this  day  is  more  illustrious  as  a  naturalist  than 


HUMBOLDT,  ARAGO,  AND  MORSE. 


BARON  HUMBOLDT'S   CONGRATULATIONS.  365 

any  other  of  the  age.  This  was  Baron  Humboldt.  The  secre- 
tary, Arago,  explained  the  Telegraph,  while  Morse  stood  by  to 
operate  upon  the  instrument,  in  the  presence  of  this  distinguished 
company.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  explanation  by  Arago,  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  plaudits  of  the  Academy,  Baron  Humboldt 
arose,  and,  taking  Mr.  Morse  by  the  hand,  expressed,  in  strong 
and  hearty  terms,  his  thanks  and  congratulations.  This  was 
the  proudest  triumph  thus  far  in  Morse's  life.  Still  greater 
triumphs  were  in  store.  To  his  brother  Professor  Morse 
wrote : 

"  At  the  request  of  M.  Arago  I  consented  to  exhibit  it  to  the  In- 
stitute at  one  of  their  sittings.  I  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  celebrated  scientific  men  of  the  world.  M.  Arago  explained  in 
the  most  lucid  manner  the  details  and  actions  of  the  instrument,  and 
I  perceived  by  the  expression  of  face  and  the  exclamations  of  sur- 
prise and  gratification  which  were  uttered  by  the  members,  as  they 
crowded  around  the  table,  that  the  Telegraph  had  won  their 
regard." 

To  Mr.  Yail  he  wrote : 

"  I  exhibited  the  Telegraph  to  the  Institute,  and  the  sensation 
produced  was  as  striking  as  at  Washington.  It  was  evident  that 
hitherto  the  assembled  science  of  Europe  had  considered  the  plan 
of  an  electric  telegraph  as  ingenious,  but  visionary,  and,  like  aero- 
nautic navigation,  practicable  in  little  more  than  theory,  and  des- 
tined to  be  useless. 

"I  cannot  describe  to  you  the  scene  at  the  Institute  when  your 
box  with  the  registering-machine,  just  as  it  left  Speedwell,  was 
placed  upon  the  table,  and  surrounded  by  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  all  Europe,  celebrated  in  the  various  arts  and  sciences — 
Arago,  Baron  Humboldt,  Gay-Lussac,  and  a  host  of  others  whose 
names  are  stars  that  shine  in  both  hemispheres.  Arago  described  it 
to  them,  and  I  showed  its  action.  A  buzz  of  adniiration  and  appro- 
bation filled  the  whole  hall,  and  the  exclamations,  '"Extraordinaire  !  ' 
'  Tres-bien! '  '  Tres  admirable!  '  I  heard  on  all  sides.  The  sentiment 
was  universal." 

The  Comptes  Bendiis,  the  weekly  journal  of  the  Academy, 
gave  the  following  notice : 


366  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"Applied  Physics — Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  of  Mr.  Morse,  Pro- 
fessor in  the  University  of  New  York. 

"  The  instrument  has  been  put  in  operation  under  the  eyes  of 
the  Academy ;  the  following  is  a  literal  translation  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  notice  delivered  by  Mr.  Morse  to  the  perpetual  secre- 
taries : 

"  Mr.  Morse  conceives  that  his  instrument  is  the  first  practicable 
application  which  has  been  made  of  electricity  to  the  construction 
of  a  telegraph. 

"This  instrument  was  invented  in  October,  1832,  while  the 
author  was  on  his  way  from  Europe  to  America,  in  the  packet-ship 
Sully.  The  fact  is  attested  by  the  captain  of  the  ship  and  several 
of  the  passengers.  Among  the  number  of  the  latter  was  Mr. 
Rives,  the  Minister  of  the  United  States  near  the  French  Govern- 
ment." 

(Here  is  given  the  account  of  Mr.  Rives  and  Captain  Pell,  after 
which  the  account  proceeds :) 

"  The  idea  of  applying  galvanism  to  the  construction  of  tele- 
graphs is  not  new :  Dr.  Cone,  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Philadel- 
phia, makes  mention  of  it  in  a  note  inserted  by  him  in  February, 
1816,  in  the  'Annals  of  Dr.  Thompson,'  page  162,  first  series;  but 
he  did  not  give  any  means  of  effecting  it. 

"  Since  the  period  to  which  the  invention  of  Mr.  Morse's  Tele- 
graph goes  back,  other  arrangements,  founded  on  the  same  princi- 
ples, have  been  announced,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  are  those 
of  Mr.  Steinheil,  of  Munich,  and  of  Mr.  Wheatstone,  of  London. 

"  They  differ  very  much  in  mechanism.  The  American  Tele- 
graph employs  but  one  circuit ; l  the  following  is  an  abridged  de- 
scription : 

"  At  the  extremity  of  the  circuit,  where  the  news  is  to  be  re- 
ceived, is  an  apparatus  called  the  register.  It  consists  of  an  elec- 
tro-magnet, the  wire  covering  of  which  forms  the  prolongation  of 
the  wire  of  the  circuit.  The  armature  of  this  magnet  is  attached 
to  the  end  of  a  small  lever,  which  at  its  opposite  extremity  holds  a 
pen;  under  this  pen  is  a  ribbon  of  paper,  which  moves  forward,  as 
required,  by  means  of  a  certain  number  of  wheels.  At  the  other 
extremity  of  the  circuit,  that  is  to  say,  at  the  station  from  which 

1  "  Suppose  the  places  to  be  put  in  communication  with  each  other  occupy  the 
three  angles  of  a  triangle,  the  four  angles  of  a  quadrilateral,  or  certain  points  of  a 
line  inclosing  a  space,  a  single  wire  passing  through  all  those  points  would  be  suffi- 
cient, at  least  according  to  the  theory." 


THE   INSTRUMENT   DESCRIBED.  367 

the  news  is  to  be  sent  out,  is  another  apparatus  called  the  portrule ; 
it  consists  of  a  battery,  or  generator  of  galvanism,  at  the  two  poles 
of  which  the  circuit  ends  ;  near  the  battery  a  portion  of  this  circuit 
is  broken ;  the  two  extremities,  disjoined,  are  plunged  into  two  cups 
of  mercury  near  each  other.  By  the  aid  of  a  bent  wire  attached  to 
the  extremity  of  a  little  lever,  the  two  cups  may  be,  at  will,  placed 
in  connection  with  each  other,  or  left  separated ;  thus  the  circuit  is 
completed  and  interrupted  at  pleasure.  The  movement  of  the 
mechanism  is  as  follows :  When  the  circuit  is  complete,  the  magnet 
is  charged ;  it  attracts  the  armature,  the  movement  of  which  brings 
the  pen  into  contact  with  the  paper.  When  the  circuit  is  inter- 
rupted, the  magnetism  of  the  horseshoe  ceases,  the  armature  re- 
turns to  its  first  position,  and  the  pen  is  withdrawn  from  the  paper. 
When  the  circuit  is  completed,  and  broken  rapidly  in  succession, 
mere  dots  are  produced  upon  the  moving  paper ;  if,  on  the  contrary, 
the  circuit  remain  complete  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  the  pen 
marks  a  line,  the  length  of  which  is  in  proportion  to  the  time  during 
which  the  circuit  remains  complete.  This  paper  presents  a  long 
interval  of  blank  if  the  circuit  remain  interrupted  during  some  con- 
siderable time.  These  points,  lines,  and  blanks,  lead  to  a  great 
variety  of  combinations.  By  means  of  these  elements  Professor 
Morse  has  constructed  an  alphabet  and  the  signs  of  the  ciphers. 
The  letters  may  be  written  with  great  rapidity  by  means  of  certain 
types,  which  the  machine  causes  to  move  with  exactness,  and 
which  give  the  proper  movements  to  the  lever  bearing  the  pen. 
Forty-five  of  these  characters  may  be  traced  in  one  minute. 

"  The  register  is  under  the  control  of  the  person  who  sends  the 
news.  In  fact,  from  the  extremity  called  the  portrule,  the  mechan- 
ism of  the  register  may  be  set  in  motion,  and  stopped,  at  will.  The 
presence  of  a  person  to  receive  the  news  is,  therefore,  not  neces- 
sary, though  the  sound  of  a  bell,  which  is  rung  by  the  machine, 
announces  that  the  writing  is  about  to  be  begun. 

"  The  distance  at  which  the  American  telegraph  has  been  tried, 
is  ten  miles  English,  or  four  post  leagues  of  France.  The  experi- 
ments have  been  witnessed  by  a  committee  appointed  hy  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States.  The  reports  of  the  committee,  which 
we  have  not  copied,  are  extremely  favorable.  The  committee  of 
Congress  recommended  the  appropriation  of  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars." 

Two  days  after  the  exhibition,  the  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth, 
one  of   our  most  intelligent   citizens,  being  at  that  time  in 


368  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MOESE. 

Paris,  wrote  the   following   letter   to  a  friend  in  tlie  United 
States : 

"  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  our  American  friend, 
Professor  Morse,  is  producing  a  very  great  sensation  among  the 
learned  men  of  this  kingdom,  by  his  ingenious  and  wonderful  Mag- 
netic Telegraph.  He  submitted  it  to  the  examination  of  the  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  of  the  Royal  Institute  of  France,  at  their  sitting  on 
Monday  last,  and  the  deepest  interest  was  excited  among  the  mem- 
bers of  that  learned  body  on  the  subject.  Its  novelty,  beauty,  sim- 
plicity, and  power,  were  highly  commended. 

"M.  Arago,  the  learned  and  eminent  principal  in  the  Astro- 
nomical Observatory  of  the  French  Government,  has  manifested  a 
very  lively  interest  in  relation  to  it.  He  addressed  the  Academy  in 
regard  to  our  countryman's  invention  in  terms  that  could  not  but 
have  been  most  pleasing,  as  they  were  certainly  most  creditable  to 
Mr.  Morse.  It  is  understood  that  a  report  of  the  exhibitions  will  be 
submitted  by  M.  Arago  in  the  forthcoming  number  of  the  published 
proceedings  of  the  Institute.  The  favorable  consideration  and  opin- 
ion of  a  man  and  philosopher  so  eminent  in  the  scientific  world  as 
M.  Arago,  and  so  intimately  associated  with  the  learned  institu- 
tions of  the  French  Government,  will  be  in  itself  a  rich  reward  for 
American  ingenuity  to  attain  in  the  field  of  science. 

"  Other  projects  for  the  establishment  of  a  magnetic  telegraph 
have  been  broached  here,  especially  from  Professor  Wheatstone,  of 
London,  and  Professor  Steinheil,  of  Munich.  It  is  said,  however,  to 
be  very  manifest  that  our  Yankee  Professor  is  ahead  of  them  all  in 
the  essential  requisitions  of  such  an  invention,  and  that  he  is  in  the 
way  to  bear  off  the  palm.  In  simplicity  of  design,  cheapness  of 
construction,  and  efficiency,  Professor  Morse's  Telegraph  transcends 
all  yet  made  known.  In  each  of  these  qualities,  it  is  admitted,  by 
those  who  have  inspected  it  closely,  there  seems  to  be  little  else  to  de- 
sire. It  is  certain,  moreover,  that  in  priority  of  discovery  he  ante- 
dates all  others. 

"  In  being  abroad,  among  strangers  and  foreigners,  one's  nation- 
ality of  feeling  may  be  somewhat  more  excusable  than  at  home.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  one  cannot  but  feel  gratified,  as  an  American,  that 
our  countryman,  like  Fulton  in  the  practical  science  of  steam,  is  thus 
in  advance  of  the  learned  men  of  the  Old  World  in  this  triumphant 
adaptation  to  every-day  use  of  the  elder  sister  of  Steam-power,  Elec- 
tricity.    The  result  of  his  ingenuity  will  in  a  few  years  impart  to 


PREDICTIONS.  369 

the  intercourse  of  man,  at  points  distant  from  each  other,  an  aspect 
no  less  wonderful,  free,  and  influential,  than  that  which  the  use  of 
steam-power  has  already  imparted  to  it.  In  this  respect,  another' 
revolution  is  at  hand,  even  more  wonderful  than  its  predecessor.  I 
do  not  doubt  that,  within  the  next  ten  years,  you  will  see  this  elec- 
tric power  adopted,  between  all  commercial  points  of  magnitude  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  for  purposes  of  correspondence,  and  men 
enabled  to  send  their  orders  or  news  of  events  from  one  point  to  an- 
other with  the  speed  of  lightning  itself,  superseding  thereby  all  the 
old  modes  of  'express  mails'  and  of  postboy  correspondence,  in 
all  matters  of  moment  to  government  and  trade.  The  extremities 
of  nations  will  be  literally  wired  together,  and  brought,  for  all  pur- 
poses of  written  correspondence,  within  the  compactness  of  a  com- 
mon centre.  In  the  United  States,  for  instance,  you  may  expecb  to 
find,  at  no  very  distant  day,  the  Executive  messages,  and  the  daily 
votes  of  each  House  of  Congress,  made  known  at  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Boston,  and  Portland — at  New  Orleans,  Cincinnati,  etc.,  as 
soon  as  they  can  be  known  at  Baltimore,  or  even  at  the  opposite 
extremity  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue !  The  merchant  at  Boston,  or 
New  York,  will  yet  be  able  to  correspond  with  his  ship-master  at 
New  Orleans,  on  the  subject  of  freights,  prices  of  cotton,  sugar, 
etc.,  in  every  hour  of  the  day,  and  give  orders  and  receive  return  an- 
swers between  the  same  distant  points  in  one  and  the  same  hour, 
and  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  amid  storms  as  readily  as  amid  sun- 
shine !  To  predict  this  much  seems  now  like  a  fairy  tale  ;  and  it  is, 
indeed,  overwhelming  to  contemplate  the  realities  which  science 
and  practical  skill  are  pouring  in  upon  our  age.  It  is  no  longer  a 
proverb,  but  the  saying  has  risen  to  the  solemnity  of  a  mathematical 
truth,  that  '  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction.''  Abstract  imagination 
is  no  longer  a  match  for  reality  in  the  race  that  science  has  insti- 
tuted on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic." 

In  a  letter  to  one  of  his  brothers,  Professor  Morse  wrote : 

"  M.  Foy  appointed  an  hour  to  come  and  examine  my  instru- 
ment. He  examined  it  minutely,  asking  many  questions,  and  pro- 
posing many  objections ;  after  he  had  seen  it  sufficiently,  he  said  to 
me  :  '  I  have  been  requested  by  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  ex- 
amine your  Telegraph  among  others,  and  to  report  to  him  ;  I  shall 
report  that  it  is  the  best  I  have  seen?  He  then  advised  me  to  obtain 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  the  Count 
Montalivet,  for  that  the  Government  intended  trying  an  experiment 
24 


370  EIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

with  the  Electric  Telegraph,  and  I  should  probably  be  requested  to 
try  mine.  Our  excellent  Minister,  General  Cass,  gave  me  a  most 
nattering  letter  to  the  Count  Montalivet,  which  I  have  presented, 
and  am  now  waiting  further  orders.  I  have  also  received  a  call 
from  the  directors  of  the  St, -Germain  Railroad,  which  is  a  course  of 
about  twelve  miles  out  of  Paris.  They  were  much  pleased,  but  they 
did  not  wish  so  complete  a  telegraph ;  one  circuit  and  a  few  signals 
were  all  they  wished,  but  were  desirous  to  know  if  there  could  be 
any  means  devised  by  which  they  could  know  at  any  time  where  the 
cars  were  on  the  road." 

The  services  of  the  distinguished  M.  Antoine  Perpigna  were 
secured,  and  under  bis  direction  a  brevet  d' invention  was 
promptly  obtained ;  but  no  sooner  bad  it  been  obtained,  says 
Mr.  Morse,  "  than  an  unforeseen  obstacle  was  interposed  which 
has  rendered  my  patent  in  France  of  no  avail  to  me.  By  the 
French  patent  law  at  the  time,  one  who  obtains  a  patent  was 
obliged  to  put  into  operation  bis  invention  within  two  years 
from  the  issue  of  bis  patent,  under  the  penalty  of  forfeiture  if 
he  does  not  comply  with  the  law.  In  pursuance  of  this  requi- 
sition of  the  law,  I  negotiated  with  the  president  (Turneysen) 
of  the  St.-Germain  Railroad  Company  to  construct  a  line  of  my 
Telegraph  on  their  road  from  Paris  to  St.-Germain,  a  distance 
of  about  seven  English  miles.  The  company  were  favorably 
disposed  toward  the  project,  but  upon  application  (as  was  neces- 
sary) to  the  Government  for  permission  to  have  the  Telegraph 
on  their  road,  they  received  for  answer  that  telegraphs  were  a 
Government  monopoly,  and  could  not  therefore  be  used  for 
private  purpose.  I  thus  found  myself  crushed  between  the 
conflicting  forces  of  two  opposing  laws." 

His  partner,  Hon.  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  who  came  with  him  to 
the  Continent,  to  aid  in  securing  patents,  having  returned 
to  London,  on  his  way  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  Morse  wrote 
to  him  frequently  and  with  the  greatest  freedom,  detailing  the 
minutest  incidents  in  his  negotiations,  and  describing  his  own 
feelings  as  they  were  alternately  elevated  or  depressed  by  the 
progress  he  made.    Dating  at  Paris,  September  29, 1838,  he  says : 

"  On  Monday  I  received  a  very  flattering  letter  from  our  excel- 
lent Minister,  Governor  Cass,  introducing  me  to  the  Count  Monta- 


TRIALS   AT   THE   CUSTOM-HOUSE.  371 

livet,  and  I  accordingly  called  the  next  day.  I  did  not  see  him, 
but  had  an  interview  with  the  secretary,  who  told  me  that  the 
Administrator  of  the  Telegraphs  had  not  yet  reported  to  the 
Minister ;  but  that  he  would  see  him  the  next  day,  and  that,  if  I 
would  call  on  Friday,  he  would  inform  me  of  the  result.  I  called 
on  Friday.  The  secretary  informed  me  that  he  had  seen  Monsieur 
Foy,  and  that  he  had  more  than  confirmed  the  flattering  accounts 
in  the  American  Minister's  letter  respecting  the  Telegraph,  but  was 
not  yet  prepared  with  his  report  to  the  Minister — he  wished  to 
make  a  detailed  account  of  the  differences  in  favor  of  mine  over 
all  others  that  had  been  presented  to  him,  or  words  to  that  effect, 
and  the  secretary  assured  me  that  the  report  would  be  all  I  could 
wish.  This  is  certainly  flattering,  and  I  am  to  call  on  Monday  to 
learn  further." 

On  the  24th  of  October,  1838,  he  again  wrote  from  Paris  : 

"  I  can  only  add,  in  a  few  words,  that  every  thing  here  is  as 
encouraging  as  could  be  expected.  The  report  of  the  Adminis- 
trator of  Telegraphs  has  been  made  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
and  I  have  been  told  that  I  should  be  notified  of  the  intentions  of 
Government  in  a  few  days.  I  have  also  shown  the  railroad  Tele- 
graph to  the  St.-Germain  directors,  who  are  delighted  with  it,  and 
from  them  I  expect  a  proposition  within  a  few  days." 

The  following  letter  illustrates  the  ludicrous  manner  in 
which  the  Professor's  patience  and  temper  were  tried  by  the 
red-tape  formalities  of  officials  with  wThom  he  was  brought  into 
contact  in  Paris : 

"Paris,  November  22,  1838. 
"  Hon.  F.  O.  J.  Smith  : 

"  Mt  dear  Sir  :  I  intend  sending  this  letter  by  the  packet  of 
the  24th  inst.,  and  am  in  hopes  of  sending  with  it  some  intelligence 
from  those  from  whom  I  have  been  so  long  expecting  something. 
Every  thing  moves  at  a  snail's  pace  here.  I  find  delay  in  all 
things ;  at  least,  so  it  appears  to  me,  who  have  too  strong  a  de- 
velopment of  the  American  organ  of  '  go-a-head-ativeness '  to  feel 
easy  under  its  tantalizing  effects.  A  Frenchman  ought  to  have  as 
many  lives  as  a  cat,  to  bring  to  pass,  on  his  dilatory  plan  of  pro- 
cedure, the  same  results  that  a  Yankee  (a  gen-oo-wine  Yankee) 
would  accomplish  in  his  single  life.  Below,  I  must  tell  you  what 
has  occurred  under  my  own  eyes,  and,  although  the  matter  is  small. 


372  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.    MORSE. 

yet  it  is  but  one  of  thousands  in  the  experience  of  others,  and  well 
illustrates  the  system  of  business  here,  ex  pede  Serculem. 

"  You  will  remember  that  when  Mr.  Chamberlain  went  with  you 
to  England,  he  was  commissioned  by  me  to  obtain  some  of  the 
clock  machinery  of  the  Telegraph,  so  that  by  having  part  executed 
in  England,  and  part  here,  the  whole  machine  intended  for  him  to 
take  to  the  east  of  Europe,  could  be  completed  in  less  time  than  if . 
all  were  done  in  one  place.  The  object  was  simply  to  avoid  delay — 
to  expedite  matters.  Well,  you  know  Mr.  Chamberlain  procured  a 
common  brass  clock-movement  in  London ;  from  this  he  took  out 
all  but  the  wheels  of  the  train,  and  put  in  place  of  them  four  box- 
wood rollers,  which  he  got  turned  for  one  shilling  and  sixpence 
sterling.  The  instrument  thus  fitted  cost  about  twelve  francs. 
When  Mr.  Chamberlain  arrived  at  Boulogne,  upon  searching  his 
trunk  this  piece  of  a  clock  was  discovered,  and  he  was  told  that  it 
must  be  sent  to  the  administrator  at  Paris,  by  the  Douane  at  Bou- 
logne, and  for  the  transportation,  etc.,  he  was  charged  and  paid  at 
Boulogne  eight  francs.  On  his  arrival  at  Paris  he  called  on  the 
administrator,  but  the  little  box  had  not  arrived.  He  called  daily 
for  a  week,  and  at  length  he  was  told  the  box  had  come,  but  could 
not  be  delivered  except  by  order  of  a  certain  officer,  and  some  other 
formalities..  This  was  well  enough,  but  now  came  the  action  of  the 
system.  A  day  was  consumed  in  finding  the  officer,  who  referred 
him  to  a  second  officer,  in  another  part  of  the  city,  who  again  re- 
ferred him  to  a  third,  and  he  again  to  a  fourth.  It  was  then  dis- 
covei'ed  that  the  box  was  for  me.  I  therefore  must  make  my 
appearance,  to  state  what  the  ominous  machinery  was  for.  I  ac- 
cordingly, with  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  Mr.  Lovering,  spent  a  whole 
day  in  being  sent  from  office  to  office,  waiting  in  each  to  have  my 
turn  to  speak  to  the  official,  and  all  to  no  purpose.  Another  day 
was  spent  in  like  manner,  and  a  third  produced  this  result — I  was 
required  to  furnish  an  accurate  colored  drawing  of  the  machinery, 
and  a  minute  description  with  reference  to  the  drawing.  I  ought 
to  say  that  two  or  three  times  we  told  them  to  take  the  box,  that 
the  whole  object  for  which  we  wanted  it  was  defeated  by  their 
vexatious  delay,  and  that  I  wished  no  further  trouble  about  it,  but 
this  was  not  allowed.  I  then  went  home  and  spent  half  a  day  in 
drawing  accurately  the  rollers  of  box-wood,  coloring  the  drawing, 
and  giving  a  description  of  these  rollers.  I  did  not  dream  that  it 
was  necessary  to  give  them  a  drawing  of  a  common  clock-train.  I 
spent  another  day  in  waiting  at  the  Administration  of  Douanes 


VEXATIOUS   DELAYS.  373 

with  the  drawing.  This  at  length  was  compared,  with  all  formality, 
before  four  or  five  officers,  with  the  machinery,  and,  because  the 
clock-train  was  not  drawn,  pronounced  incomplete,  and  the  box 
retained.  Again  the  attempt  was  made  to  give  them  the  box,  but 
no,  a  proper  drawing  must  be  made.  Mr.  Lovering,  Mr.  Chamber 
lain,  and  myself,  passed  a  forenoon  in  first  finding  and  then  explain- 
ing to  the  Chef  des  Douanes  the  object  of  the  machine,  and  the 
nature  of  the  loss  I  should  suffer  by  the  continuance  of  this  ex- 
traordinary procrastination.  The  chef  then  wrote  a  letter,  on  my 
promise  to  furnish  the  requisite  drawing  in  a  month,  ordering  the 
box  to  be  delivered  to  me.  We  were  then  sure  we  were  at  the  end 
of  the  matter.  Again  we  went  to  the  Administrator  of  Douanes ; 
there  I  was  kept  two  or  three  hours,  while  the  papers  necessary 
were  drawn  up — obligations,  receipts,  etc.  Not  less,  in  printed  and 
written  forms,  than  a  quire  of  foolscap  paper  was  during  this  affair 
consumed  !  The  security  of  a  resident  in  Paris  was  required  for  the 
fulfillment  of  my  engagement.  Mr.  Lovering  was  my  surety.  I 
was  then  handed  over  to  an  officer,  who  would  give  me  another 
paper  for  another  officer,  upon  paying  over  again  the  charge  of 
eight  francs  to  the  commissionnaire  at  Boulogne,  whose  charge 
came  from  the  Douane  at  Boulogne  in  the  official  paper.  It  was  in 
vain  they  were  told  that  the  charge  had  been  paid  at  Boulogne. 
Mr.  Chamberlain  had  not  the  receipt,  and  it  was  thought  best  to 
pay  it,  to  avoid  a  fortnight's  more  delay  and  loss  of  time  to  rectify 
it.  So  the  money  was  paid,  and  with  a  new  paper  we  went  to 
another  officer,  who  told*  us  there  were  five  francs  duties  to  pay. 
These  were  paid,  and  we  then  got  another  paper,  which  was  delivered 
to  another  officer,  and  the  box  was  put  into  our  hands,  upon  paying 
a  few  sous  for  signing  my  name  to  a  receipt  for  the  same.  I  was 
by  no  means  sure  I  had  got  it,  until  I  had  put  it  under  my  arm,  and 
had  run  as  if  I  had  stolen  it,  round  two  or  three  corners,  and  even 
then  I  fancied  that  the  whole  Douane  was  in  commotion  to  call  me 
back  to  complete  every  thing  regular.  This  was  all  done  that 
every  thing  should  be  according  to  rule. 

"  Well,  I  got  the  box  home,  the  original  cost  of  which  was  twelve 
francs,  having  paid  to  the  customs  here  for  it  no  less  than  twenty- 
one  francs !  But  I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  the  matter  is  ended 
yet.  I  spent  a  whole  day  in  making  the  promised  new  drawing, 
with  all  the  wheels  of  the  clock-train,  and  description,  and  have 
given  it  to  Mr.  Lovering  to  deposit,  to  release  him  from  his  security. 
But  the  object  of  the  drawing  is,  that  it  may  be  presented  to  the 


374  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

investigation  of  a  court,  who  are  to  decide  whether  or  not  more 
duty  is  to  be  paid,  and  I  am  obligated  myself  to  pay  any  additional 
duty  they  may  fix.  These  are  the  particulars  thus  far.  You  will 
exclaim,  '  This  must  be  a  solitary  case.'  By  no  means.  At  this  mo- 
ment our  secretary  of  legation  is  waiting  this  same  dilatory,  '  regu- 
lar manner  of  doing  business.'  He  is  entitled  by  law,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  official  station,  to  have  his  parcels  from  abroad  duty 
free.  He  has  had  a  trunk  of  apparel  from  America  two  or  three 
weeks  at  Havre,  waiting  the  regular  course  of  a  permit  for  him  to  re- 
ceive it,  and  after  dancing  attendance  on  various  officials,  and  notes 
and  letters  passing  between  the  Minister  of  Finance  and  the  Minis- 
ter of  Marine,  the  secretary  has  about  made  up  his  mind  to  send  to 
Havre  and  pay  the  regular  duties,  and  have  it  sent  to  him.  But  even 
this  will  cost  him  another  fortnight,  or  it  may  be  a  month.  This 
execrable  mode  of  doing  things  resolves  itself  into  the  want  of  one 
simple  principle :  there  is  no  such  thing  here  as  conscience.  This 
being  the  case,  no  confidence,  no  discretionary  power,  can  be  given 
to  any  sub-agent,  for  he  will  abuse  it ;  and  consequently  the  regular 
military  muster-roll  mode  must  supply  the  place  of  conscience,  and 
all  its  circumlocutory,  cumbrous  powers,  etc.,  etc.  But  I  am  not 
going  to  moralize,  though  there  is  a  fine  field  for  it  both  morally 
and  socially.     Happy,  thrice  happy  America  ! 

"  Afternoon,  November  22c?. — Called  on  the  Ministre  de  l'Int6- 
rieur,  no  one  at  home ;  left  card,  and  will  call  again  to-morrow,  and 
hope  to  be  in  time  yet  for  the  packet. 

"  November  23c?. — I  have  again  called,  but  do  not  find  at  home 
the  chief  secretary,  M.  Merlin.  I  went  with  Mr.  Clark,  who  gave 
me  a  most  amusing  account  of  a  case  of  his,  with  the  Douane,  quite 
equal  to  mine.  He  says  that  these  delaj^s  are  proverbial  here, 
every  one  having  to  tell  of  some  such  case.  If  regularity  is  a  good, 
verily  one  may  have  too  much  of  a  good  thing.  I  shall  miss  the 
packet  of  the  24th,  but  I  am  told  she  is  a  slow  ship,  and  that  I 
shall  probably  find  the  letters  reach  home  quite  as  soon  by  the 
next.  I  will  leave  this  open  to  add,  if  any  thing  occurs  between 
this  and  next  patent-day. 

"  November  30th. — I  have  been  called  off  from  this  letter  until 
the  last  moment  by  stirring  about  and  endeavoring  to  expedite 
matters  with  the  Government.  I  have  been  to  see  General  Cass 
since  my  last  date.  I  talked  over  matters  with  him.  He  complains 
much  of  their  dilatoriness,  but  sees  no  way  of  quickening  them.  I 
have  also  seen  Mr.  Anderson,  the  secretary,  and  he  called  with  a 


ENTHUSIASTIC  ADMIRATION.  375 

M.  Ravenant  (I  think  the  name  is)  and  another  gentleman  who  had 
approaches  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  They  were  enthusiastic 
in  their  praises  of  the  Telegraph ;  it  excited  their  wonder  at  its  sim- 
plicity and  practicability.  They  will  talk  about  it  where  it  will  do 
service,  so  I  am  told.  I  wait  the  effects.  I  called  again  this  morning 
at  the  Minister's,  and,  as  usual,  the  secretary  was  absent,  at  the  pal- 
ace, they  said.  If  I  could  once  get  them  to  look  at  it,  I  should  be 
sure  of  them,  for  I  have  never  shown  it  to  any  one  who  did  not  seem 
in  raptures.  I  showed  it  a  few  days  ago  to  M.  Fremel,  the  Director 
of  Light-Houses,  who  came  with  Mr.  Vail  and  Captain  Perry.  He 
was  cautious,  at  first,  but  afterward  became  as  enthusiastic  as  any. 
"  The  railroad  directors  are  as  dilatory  as  the  Government.  But 
I  know  they  are  discussing  the  matter  seriously  at  their  meetings, 
and.  I  was  told  that  the  most  influential  man  among  them  said  they 
'  must  have  it.'  The  railroad  directors  in  England  favor  the  plan 
of  the  Telegraph.  There  is  nothing  in  the  least  discouraging  that  has 
occurred,  but,  on  the  contrary,  every  thing  to  confirm  the  practica- 
bility of  the  plan,  both  on  the  score  of  science  and  expense." 

"Pabis,  January  21,  1839. 

"  I  have  shown  the  Telegraph  to  a  great  number  of  savants,  and 
I  still  find  the  same  effect  produced  on  all — that  of  enthusiastic  ad- 
miration. An  officer  in  the  Telegraph-office,  M.  Moran,  after  exam- 
ining the  whole  operation  for  some  time  with  apparent  incredulity, 
broke  out  with  an  exclamation  of  his  astonishment,  and  holding  up 
the  little  fork,  with  which  I  closed  and  broke  the  circuit,  he  ex- 
claimed to  the  company :  '  Behold  the  fork  more  potent  than  that 
of  Neptune,  destined  to  greater  triumph,  although  it  has  one  tooth 
less  than  his  ! '  and  then,  addressing  me  in  broken  English — 

"  '  Are  you  not  glorious,  sair,  to  be  the  author  of  this  wonderful 
discovery  ? ' 

"  I  will  give  you  the  names  of  several  who  called  last  week : 
M.  Pazerat,  Engineer  and  Director  of  Asphalt  Operations ;  M.  Jbr- 
maid,  member  of  the  Institute  and  Librarian  of  the  King;  M. 
Clement  des  Ormes,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  etc.,  etc. ;  General 
Charenon,  formerly  Governor  of  Poland;  Baron  de  Franc,  son  of 
the  Prince  de  Salins.  There  have  been  many  others  of  the  Insti- 
tute and  Chamber  of  Deputies,  whose  names  I  have  not  recorded. 
There  is  some  allowance,  perhaps,  to  be  made  for  French  manner; 
but  I  think  I  can  discover  in  the  most  polished  manner  when  there 
is  real  or  only  pretended  feeling,  for  I  have  now  seen  all  kinds,  and 


376  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

found  that  often  in  the  commencement  there  were  distrust  and  cau- 
tion, and  guarded  expression  of  satisfaction,  until  the  operation  was 
completed,  and  then  all  reserve  seemed  at  once  broken  down,  and 
the  exclamations  of  '  Mtonnant ! '  '  Tr&s  admirable  ! '  and  similar  ex- 
pressions showed  that  the  feeling  was  sincere.  I  send  you  the 
Compte  Rendu  of  the  Societe  Philotechnique^  a  committee  of  which 
society,  with  their  president,  Baron  la  Doucette,  member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  at  their  head,  came  to  examine  it.  You  see 
their  report  on  the  tenth  and  eleventh  pages.  I  learn  that  the  Tele- 
graph is  much  talked  of  in  all  society,  and  I  learn  that  the  Theatre 
des  Varietes,  which  is  a  sort  of  mirror  of  the  popular  topics,  has  a 
piece  in  which  persons  are  made  to  converse  by  means  of  this  Tele- 
graph, some  hundreds  of  miles  oft7.  This  is  a  straw  which  shows 
the  way  of  the  wind ;  and,  although  matters  move  too  slow  for  my 
impatient  spirit,  yet  the  Telegraph  is  evidently  gaining  on  the 
popular  notice,  and  in  time  will  demand  the  attention  of  govern- 
ments. I  have  the  promise  of  a  visit  from  the  Count  Bondy,  Chief 
of  the  Household  of  the  King,  and  who,  I  understand,  has  great 
influence  with  the  king,  and  can  induce  him  to  adopt  the  Telegraph 
between  some  of  his  palaces.  Hopes,  you  perceive,  continue 
bright,  but  they  are  somewhat  unsubstantial  to  an  empty  purse.  I 
look  for  the  first  fruits  in  America.  My  confidence  increases  every 
day  in  the  certainty  of  the  eventual  adoption  of  this  means  of 
communication  throughout  the  civilized  world.  Its  practicability, 
hitherto  doubted  by  savants  here,  is  completely  established,  and 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  give  me  the  credit  of  having  established 
it.  I  rejoice  quite  as  much  for  my  country's  sake  as  for  my  own, 
that  both  priority  and  superiority  are  awarded  to  my  invention." 

In  a  letter  dated  Paris,  January  28,  1839,  the  Professor  wrote 
to  Mr.  Smith :  "  I  wrote  by  the  Great  Western  a  few  days  ago. 
The  event  then  anticipated  in  regard  to  the  ministry  has  occurred. 
The  ministers  have  resigned,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  new  cabinet 
will  be  formed  this  day,  with  Marshal  Soult  at  its  head.  Thus  you 
perceive  new  causes  of  delay  in  obtaining  any  answer  from  the 
Government.  As  soon  as  I  can  learn  the  name  of  the  new  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  I  will  address  a  note  to  him,  or  see  him,  as  I  may  be 
advised,  and  see  if  I  can  possibly  obtain  an  answer,  or  at  least  the 
report  of  the  administration  of  the  Telegraphs.  Nothing  has  oc- 
curred in  other  respects  but  what  is  agreeable.  Every  exhibition 
of  the  Telegraph  calls  forth  increased  admiration.  I  have  nothing 
to  complain  of  on  the  score  of  approbation ;  its  simplicity,  and  su- 


THE   CORRESPONDENT.  377 

periority  to  all  other  proposed  telegraphs  are  constantly  adverted 
to  by  all  the  savants.  The  Count  Remberteau,  the  Prefect  of  the 
Seine,  whom  I  mentioned  in  a  former  letter  as  having1  been  to  see 
me,  speaks  in  terms  of  admiration  of  the  Telegraph  on  all  occasions. 
He  has  doubtless  spoken  of  it  to  the  king,  as  he  said  he  should ; 
but  the  king,  besides  his  troubles  just  now  in  the  formation  of  a 
new  cabinet,  has  a  domestic  affliction  which  he  feels  strongly.  His 
daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Wurtemberg,  whose  death  has  been  an- 
nounced for  some  time,  was  buried  yesterday,  the  body  having  ar- 
rived from  Italy.  This  has  probably  caused  some  delay.  I  have 
need  of  much  patience.  .  .  ;  I  am  looking  with  great  interest  for 
intelligence  from  America,  in  regard  to  Telegraph  operations  there ; 
for  I  hope  more  from  my  own  country  than  from  any  other.  There 
is  more  of  the  'go-ahead'  character  with  us,  suited  to  the  idea 
of  an  electric-magnetic  Telegraph.  Here  there  are  old  systems 
long  established  to  interfere,  and  at  least  to  make  them  cautious  be- 
fore adopting  a  new  project,  however  promising.  Their  railroad 
operations  are  a  proof  in  point.  We,  on  the  contrary,  have  a  clear 
field,  and  I  cannot  but  hope  something  from  our  Government,  or 
our  companies,  in  a  speedy  establishment  of  the  system.  All  my 
leisure  (if  that  may  be  called  leisure  which  employs  nearly  all  my 
time)  is  devoted  to  perfecting  the  whole  matter.  The  invention  of 
the  correspondent,  I  think  you  will  all  say,  is  a  more  essential  im- 
provement. It  has  been  my  winter's  labor,  and,  to  avoid  expense, 
I  have  been  compelled  to  make  it  entirely  with  my  own  hands.  I 
can  now  give  you  its  exact  dimensions — twelve  and  a  half  inches 
long,  six  and  a  half  wide,  and  six  and  a  half  deep.  It  dispenses 
entirely  with  boxes  of  type  (one  set  alone  being  necessary),  and 
dispenses,  also,  with  the  rules,  and  with  all  machinery  for  moving 
the  rules.  There  is  no  winding  up,  and  it  is  ready  at  all  times. 
You  touch  the  letter,  and  the  letter  is  written  immediately  at 
the  other  extremity.  The  instrument  will  be  in  operation  this 
week.  Before  closing,  I  ought  to  advert  to  the  most  singular 
winter  we  have  thus  far  had  in  Paris.  It  has  been,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  day  or  two,  like  spring.  I  doubt  if  it  has  frozen  to 
the  depth  of  two  inches,  until  yesterday,  anywhere  in  Paris.  It  is 
now  cold  but  fine. 

"  P.  S. — I  have  this  moment  received  official  notice  from  the  Aca- 
demy of  Industry,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Duke  de  Montmorency, 
that  a  committee  of  that  society  had  been  appointed  to  examine  my 
Telegraph ;  and  that  to-morrow  at  three  o'clock  they  will  come  to 


378  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

see  it.  Thus  progress  is  slowly  made  toward  the  end  desired,  for 
the  opinion  of  these  societies  has  great  weight  with  the  Government, 
and  the  more  they  can  be  accumulated  the  better.  I  sent  you  by 
the  last  packet  the  report  (favorable)  of  the  committee  of  the  Phi- 
lotechnique  Society.  In  my  next  I  hope  to  send  you  reports  of  my 
further  progress.  One  thing  seems  certain,  my  Telegraph  has 
driven  out  of  the  field  all  the  other  plans  on  the  magnetic  principle. 
I  hear  nothing  of  them  in  public  or  private.  No  society  notices 
them." 

Under  date  of  February  2d  he  wrote  again  :  "  I  can  compare 
the  state  of  things  here  to  an  April  day,  at  one  moment  sunshine, 
at  the  next  cloudy.,  The  Telegraph  is  evidently  growing  in  favor; 
testimonials  of  approbation  and  compliments  multiply  ;  and  yester- 
day I  was  advised  by  the  secretary  of  the  Academie  Industrielle  to 
interest  moneyed  men  in  the  matter,  if  I  intended  to  profit  by  it ;  and 
he  observed  that  now  was  the  precise  time  to  do  it,  in  the  interval 
of  the  Chambers.  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  act.  I  am  not  a  business 
man,  and  fear  every  movement  which  suggests  itself  to  me.  I  am 
thinking  of  proposing  a  company  on  the  same  plan  you  last  pro- 
posed in  your  letter  from  Liverpool,  and  which  you  intend  to  create 
in  case  the  Government  shall  choose  to  do  nothing ;  that  is  to  say,  a 
company  taking  the  right' at  one  thousand  francs  per  mile,  paying  the 
proprietors  fifty  per  cent,  in  stocks,  and  fifty  per  cent,  in  cash,  raising 
about  fifty  thousand  francs  for  a  trial  some  distance.  I  shall  take  ad- 
vice, and  let  you  know  the  result.  I  wish  you  were  here  ;  I  am  sure 
something  could  be  done  by  an  energetic  and  business  man  like 
yourself.  As  for  poor  me,  I  feel  that  I  am  a  child  in  business  mat- 
ters. I  can  invent  and  perfect  the  invention,  and  demonstrate  its 
uses  and  practicability ;  but  '  further  the  deponent  saith  not.'  Per- 
haps I  underrate  myself  in  this  case,  but  that  is  not  a  usual  fault  in 
human  nature. 

"I  had  the  committee  of  the  Academie  Industrielle  to  examine 
the  Telegraph  last  Wednesday,  according  to  appointment.  The 
same  effect  was  produced  upon  them  as  usual — skepticism  giving 
way  by  degrees,  and  changing  to  enthusiastic  feeling  and  ex- 
pression. The  Academy  will  publish  their  report  soon,  a  copy  of 
which  I  will  send  you.  It  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and 
numerous  bodies  of  savants  in  Europe,  numbering  between  three  and 
four  thousand  members,  in  various  countries,  so  that  whatever  they 
say  will  be  widely  diffused,  and  I  think  it  will  be  altogether  favor- 
able.    I  learned,  from  one  of  the  directors,  that  my  TJelegraph  is 


CHAMBER   OF   DEPUTIES.  379 

commented  on  with  approbation  throughout  all  Europe,  in  the 
scientific  and  political  journals  of  all  the  capitals.  M.  Jobart,  the 
editor  of  the  Courrier  Beige,  of  Brussels,  particularly,  who  some 
time  since  asserted  the  possibility  of  an  electric  telegraph,  has,  I 
understand,  commented  with  enthusiasm  on  mine. 

"With  the  committee  of  the  Academy  came  several  members 
of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  one  of  whom  observed  to  me  :  '  The 
Government  should  by  all  means  own  this  invention ;  it  is  of  vastly 
more  importance  than  the  daguerreotype,  which  is  proposed  to  the 
Chambers.  Why  has  it  not  been  offered  to  the  Government  ? '  I 
replied  that  it  had  been  submitted  for  several  months  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  that  my  patience  had  been  severely  tried  in  waiting 
for  an  answer  from  the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  He  observed 
that,  if  ministers  choose  to  be  so  dilatory,  the  Chambers  must  take 
it  up ;  and,  says  he,  '  I  will  expedite  it.  Would  you  have  any  ob- 
jection to  show  the  Telegraph  in  operation  before  the  Chambers  ? ' 
'  None  at  all,'  I  replied  ;  '  on  the  contrary,  I  shall  be  ready  at  any 
moment  to  wait  upon  them.'  'I  will  see  the  questor,'  he  said, 
'  and  give  you  notice.  M.  Arago  spoke  in  the  highest  commen- 
dation of  your  invention,  as  being  superior  to  the  German  inven- 
tion, but  his  representations  fall  short  of  the  reality.  I  am  de- 
lighted in  the  highest  degree.  The  value  and  importance  of  this 
Telegraph  are  incalculable.' 

"  This  is  the  substance  and  nearly  the  words  of  the  conversation 
with  this  member  of  the  Chambers,  who  spoke  English  perfectly 
well.  This  is  the  sunshine,  but  the  clouds  are  obscuring  it,  for  the 
cabinet  this  moment  is  dissolved  by  the  king  (a  perilous  step),  and 
a  new  election  and  assembling  will  consume  two  months  of  time. 
You  will  perceive  that,  in  all  the  disappointments  and  delays  to 
which  the  enterprise  here  has  been  subjected,  there  is  not  one  that 
affects  the  character  of  the  invention.  Every  repeated  examination 
of  it,  by  savants  and  committees  of  scientific  societies,  only  confirms 
the  soundness  of  its  principles  and  its  intrinsic  value. 

"  The  labors  on  the  instruments — the  correspondent  and  regis- 
ter, bringing  them  into  one  box,  in  a  portable  form — you  will  find  are 
to  produce  a  most  interesting  change  in  the  whole  affair — a  change 
which  is  not  perhaps  at  first  obvious.  If  made  portable,  as  the  im- 
provement I  have  completed  accomplishes,  a  person  traveling,  with 
a  box  not  so  large  as  a  writing-desk,  can  converse  on  any  part  of 
an  extended  line  of  thousands  of  miles  with  his  friends  at  any  other 
part. 


380  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   P.   B.   MORSE. 

"  But  its  importance,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  is  incalculable, 
a  hint  of  which  I  gave  you  in  a  former  letter.  I  have  little  time 
and  space  to  add — I  expect  much  from  my  own  '  go-ahead '  countr}-- 
men.  I  have  received  with  your  letter  Dr.  Gale's,  and  am  glad  he 
visits  Washington  with  you.  Give  my  respects  to  him  and  your 
lady,  whom  congratulate  from  me  on  your  safe  return  after  so  many 
perils.  Next  Tuesday  I  have  another  exhibition  of  the  Telegraph 
to  a  room  full  of  savants  and  nobles,  the  Prince  of  Rouen  (not  ruin) 
at  their  head,  with  the  Duke  de  Montmorency,  etc.,  and  others, 
'  too  numerous  to  mention.'  I  have  but  two  or  three  weeks  here, 
and  hope  I  shall  receive  such  instructions  from  you  that  I  can  leave 
matters  properly.  I  must  return  in  the  Great  Western,  on  the 
25th  of  March.  My  family  requires  my  presence,  and  I  cannot 
neglect  them." 

The  Professor  experienced  the  greatest  elevation  of  hope, 
followed  by  the  deepest  depression  of  disappointment  that  at 
any  time  befell  him,  in  a  negotiation  for  the  invention,  and  for 
his  own  services,  that  was  assumed  in  the  name  of  the  Russian 
Government  by  the  Baron  Meyendorf.  His  letters  will  give  a 
correct  idea  of  his  feelings.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Smith,  under  date 
of  Paris,  July  13,  1839  : 

"  I  have  been  wholly  occupied  for  the  last  week  in  copying  out 
the  correspondence  and  other  documents,  to  defend  myself  against 
the  infamous  attack  of  Dr.  Jackson,  notice  of  which  my  brother 
sent  me.  I  have  sent  it  this  day  by  Dr.  Mitchell,  who  sails  in  the 
Ville  de  Lyon,  on  the  16th — the  same  packet  that  takes  this.  I 
have  sent  a  letter  to  Dr.  Jackson,  calling  on  him  to  save  'his  char- 
acter by  a  total  disclaimer  of  his  presumptuous  claim,  within  one 
week  from  the  receipt  of  the  letter,  and  giving  him  the  plea  of  a 
i  mistake '  and  '  misconception  of  my  invention,'  by  which  he  may 
retreat.  If  he  fails  to  do  this,  I  have  requested  my  brother  to  pub- 
lish immediately  my  defense,  in  wrhich  I  give  a  history  of  the  in- 
vention, the  correspondence  between  Dr.  Jackson  and  myself,  and 
close  with  the  letters  of  Hon.  Mr.  Rives,  Mr.  Fisher,  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  Captain  Pell.  I  cannot  conceive  of  such  infatuation 
as  has  possessed  this  man.  He  can  scarcely  be  deceived.  It  must 
be  his  consummate  self-conceit  that  deceives  him,  if  he  is  deceived. 
But  this  cannot  be  ;  he  knows  he  has  no  title  whatever  to  a  single 
hint  of  any  kind  in  the  matter. 

"  I  received  your  second  letter,  authorizing  me  to  draw  on  you 


REV.   MR.   KIRK'S  AID.  381 

for  such  moneys  as  I  may  want ;  a  closer  calculation  will  oblige 
me  to  draw  for  two  hundred  pounds,  instead  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty,  as  I  told  you  I  should  in  my  last,  for  it  is  possible  that  I 
shall  be  compelled  to  stay  a  little  longer  than  I  anticipated,  in 
consequence  of  some  prospects  favorable  from  Russia.  The  Baron 
Meyendorf,  the  Russian  Government  agent  for  reporting  to  the 
Emperor  all  important  discoveries,  has  been  to  see  the  Tele- 
graph. He  is  very  much  pleased  with  it,  and  says  he  shall  report 
it  to  his  Government.  He  introduced  to  me  M.  Amyot,  who  has 
proposed  also  an  Electric  Telegraph,  but  upon  seeing  mine  he 
could  not  restrain  his  gratification,  and  with  his  whole  soul  he  is 
at  work  to  forward  it  with  all  who  have  influence.  He  is  the 
right-hand  man  of  the  Baron  Meyendorf,  and  he  is  exerting  all 
his  powers  to  have  the  Russian  Government  adopt  my  Telegraph. 
To  the  objections  of  the  various  savants  who  were  present  yester- 
day at  the  experiment,  that  the  great  difficulty  was  with  the  wires, 
to  prevent  their  being  destroyed  by  malevolence,  he  replied  that 
even  this,  which  was  the  only  plausible  objection  which  would  be 
urged,  was  in  reality  nothing — that,  placed  beneath  a  railroad, 
they  were  perfectly  secure,  for  the  men  that  watched  the  rails 
would  also  watch  the  wires.  I  go  with  him  to-morrow,  to  search 
for  the  drawings  of  Sommering's  and  Steinheil's  Telegraph,  with 
a  description  of  them,  at  the  Institute.  He  is  really  a  noble-minded 
man.  The  baron  told  me  he  had  a  large  soul,  and  I  find  he  has. 
I  have  no  claim  on  him,  and  yet  he  seems  to  take  as  much  interest 
in  my  invention  as  if  it  were  his  own.  How  different  a  conduct 
from  Jackson's  !  In  mentioning  obligations,  I  ought  to  speak  of  my 
room-mate,  Rev.  M.  Kirk ;  I  am  indebted  to  him  mediately  for  all 
the  success  I  have  had  among  the  savants  here.  His  acquaintance 
with  M.  Julien  de  Paris,  and  others,  has  been  of  great  service, 
and  his  knowledge  of  the  language,  of  which  I  am  ignorant,  en- 
abling him  to  explain  the  whole  process  at  my  various  experiments, 
has  made  him  invaluable  to  me.  Indeed,  I  don't  know  what  I 
should  have  done  without  him.  You  will  have  learned  how  the 
dissolution  of  the  Chambers  has  created  further  delay  in  my  busi- 
ness. I  was  on  the  very  point  of  having  a  call  to  exhibit  it  to  the 
Chambers  at  the  moment  they  were  dissolved.  I  learned  through 
M.  Amyot,  that  the  Government  were  seriously  thinking  of  estab- 
lishing a  telegraphic  line  on  the  electric  principle  between  Paris 
and  Havre,  but  that,  such  was  the  political  state  of  affairs,  noth- 
ing would  certainly  be  done  this  year.     But  he  thought  it  would 


382  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MOESE. 

eventually  be  done,  and  that  mine  (if  I  understood  him  right)  would 
be  the  one  adopted,  or  ought  to  be  the  one  adopted.  As  to  form- 
ing a  company  to  take  it,  I  find  it  impracticable,  for  this  reason  : 
'  the  Telegraph  is  a  Government  monopoly,  and  therefore  I  am  de- 
pendent wholly  on  them.  The  Government  allows  no  commercial 
or  social  use  of  the  Telegraph ;  and  the  reason  .why  the  railroads 
have  not  taken  hold  is,  that  Government  have  not  decided  whether 
they  can  allow  it.  I  get  no  answer  yet  from  the  Minister  of  the 
Interior.  Do  you  think  your  patience  would  hold  out  as  long  ? 
I  begin  to  doubt  whether  I  shall  obtain  any.  Indeed,  but  for  the 
aspect  of  things  North,  the  sooner  I  return  home  the  better.  I  do 
not  see  that  I  can  further  benefit  the  concern  at  present,  here,  ex- 
cept by  making  it  known  to  the  various  learned  men  ;  this  obtains 
honor,  to  be  sure,  and  spreads  its  merits ;  and  profit  may  be  a  con- 
sequence at  some  future  time.  I  shall,  if  possible,  make  this  sort 
of  arrangement  with  the  baron,  if  he  should  propose  any  thing 
from  Russia,  viz.,  that  I  should  return  to  America  immediately,  and 
visit  Russia,  or  send  an  agent,  in  the  summer,  for  I  must  return 
and  arrange  my  affairs  for  the  change  which  this  Telegraph  has 
compelled  me  to  make.  He  may  require  an  answer  from  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  that  would  delay  me ;  but  I  had  better  return  and  come 
out  again,  if  necessary,  with  a  more  perfected  and  compact  instru- 
ment, which  I  cannot  get  here,  situated  as  I  am. 

"  I  give  you  a  piece  of  good  news  in  the  following  article  from 
the  Journal  des  Debats  of  Sunday,  February  10th  :  '  They  wrote 
from  Munich  the  3d  of  February,  that  the  Bavarian  Government  has 
ordered  that  the  Galvanic  Telegraph  of  the  invention  of  M.  de  Stein- 
heil,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  Royal  of  Munich,  will 
be  established,  on  the  railroad  from  Furth  to  Wurtemberg,  and  that 
direction  of  these  telegraphs  will  be  confided  to  this  learned  pro- 
fessor.' 

"I  wish  our  Government  had  been  the  first  to  adopt  the  Tele- 
graph ;  but  now  the  Bavarians  have  the  credit  of  being  the  first  to 
establish  an  Electric  Telegraph ;  but  this  first  adoption  gives  assur- 
ance of  their  final  universal  adoption,  and  if  mine  is  best,  as  all 
continue  to  affirm,  mine  must  supplant  all,  unless  a  better  (Dr. 
Jackson's,  perhaps)  should  be  found. 

"  I  yesterday  paid  the  balance  of  patent  account,  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  francs,  and  have  the  receipt  and  the  patent  for  the  railroad 
improvement.  If  I  get  my  correspondence  in  action  satisfactorily, 
which  will  no  doubt  be  the  case  if  I  can  apply  myself  a  few  days 


BARON   MEYENDORF.  383 

longer  to  its  completion  (having  been  interrupted  so  continually, 
and  never  allowing  the  other  business  of  the  Telegraph  to  suffer 
from  any  attention  to  these  mechanical  improvements,  I  have  been 
constantly  prevented  from  giving  it  the  finishing  touch),  I  shall 
venture  to  add  it  to  the  improvements.  This  will  incur  an  addi- 
tional expense  to  you  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  francs.  I 
have  these  two  days  past  tried  the  sustaining  power  of  the  little 
batteries,  three  in  number,  on  Daniel's  principle,  and  to  my  gratifi- 
cation I  find  that  by  simply  supplying  the  top  that  holds  the  crys- 
tals with  them  as  fast  as  they  dissolve — and  this  has  been  but 
three  times  in  the  last  forty-eight  hours !  and  of  the  amount  alto- 
gether in  size  of  a  couple  of  eggs — the  action  has  been  kept  up 
undiminished  the  whole  time,  day  and  night.  I  intend  letting  the 
batteries  act  themselves  out,  and  will  report  to  you  the  result.1  It 
is  a  fact  of  very  important  bearing,  as  you  see,  on  the  Telegraph. 
Every  day  is  clearing  away  all  the  difficulties  that  prevent  its  adop- 
tion ;  the  only  difficulty  that  remains,  it  is  universally  said,  is  the 
protection  of  the  wires  from  malevolent  attack,  and  this  can  be  pre- 
vented by  proper  police,  and  secret  and  deep  interment.  I  have  no 
doubt  of  its  universal  adoption ;  it  may  take  time,  but  it  is  certain. 
T  have  not  yet  received  the  reports  in  Congress  that  you  say  you 
have  sent,  but  have  heard  there  are  packages  for  me  at  Havre.  I  am 
anxious  to  know  the  progress  made  at  home.  When  is  income  to 
take  the  place  of  outgo  ?  I  wish  you  could  see  my  brother  on  the 
subject  of  Jackson,  and  arrange  with  him.  Perhaps  you  could  your- 
self see  Jackson,  and  see  what  his  design  is  in  this  infamous  attack 
of  his." 

On  the  22d  of  the  same  month  he  wrote  Mr.  Smith  from 
Paris  the  subjoined  exultant  letter : 

"  I  have  a  moment  to  write  to  be  in  time  for  the  packet  of  the 
24th  by  estafet,  and  to  give  you  at  length  a  dish  of  good  news  re- 
specting the  Telegraph.  A  few  days  ago  at  my  usual  exhibition 
of  the  Telegraph  on  Tuesdays,  which  I  have  had  for  two  months 
past,  Monsieur  Julien  de  Paris  brought  the  Baron  Meyendorf, 
the  agent  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia  for  reporting  useful  discov- 
eries to  the  Russian  Government.  The  baron  was  much  struck  with 
the  Telegraph,  and,  learning  from  me  that  the  aclministrator-in-chief 
of  Telegraphs  in  Paris  had  reported  favorably,  he  wished  to  know 

1  I  let  the  batteries  remain  fifty-four  hours,  and  they  were  still  powerful  enough, 
but  a  little  enfeebled.     There  is  no  difficulty  on  that  score. 


384  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

if  I  could  procure  the  report  for  him,  and  he  would  at  once  trans- 
mit it  to  his  Government  and  recommend  the  adoption  of  my  Tele- 
graph. I  called  on  the  administrator,  M.  Foy,  with  your  request, 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  to  have  the  report.  I  did  not  find  him 
in,  but  I  left  a  note  requesting  a  copy  of  his  report.  I  have  just 
received  an  answer  from  M.  Foy,  which,  although  not  complying 
(from  very  proper  reasons  which  he  assigns)  with  my  request  for  a 
copy  of  the  report,  yet  gives  me  all  we  could  wish ;  I  give  you  a 
translation  of  the  letter  entire : 

" '  Pabis,  February  20,  1839. 

"  '  Cabinet  of  the  Administeatoe-in-Chiep. 
"  My  deab  Sir  :  I  regret  sincerely  that  I  was  not  at  home 
when  you  did  me  the  honor  to  call.  I  would  have  fully  explained 
to  you  the  impossibility  of  communicating  to  you  my  observations 
addressed  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  upon  Electric  Telegraphs. 
These  observations  make  part  of  my  administrative  correspondence 
with  the  minister,  and  T  cannot  detach  them  from  it  with  propriety. 
I  believe,  too,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  exaggerate  to  yourself  the  im- 
portance and  extent  of  it.  I  had  only  to  submit  a  summary  notice 
upon  many  electric  and  electro-magnetic  Telegraphs  which  had 
been  successively  put  under  the  eyes  of  the  minister,  and  my  ob- 
servations were  relative  only  to  the  projects  announced  for  M.  Mon- 
talivet  to  make  some  essays  upon  this  new  kind  of  telegraphic 
communication.  You  will  not  then  find,  my  dear  sir,  as  you  think, 
a  detailed  and  mature  report  upon  your  beautiful  invention,  and 
the  note  that  I  might  address  to  you  would  be  altogether  unwor- 
thy the  attention  of  Congress.  If,  however,  I  do  not  believe  it  of 
use  to  you,  sir,  nor  possible  for  me  to  give  you  a  copy  of  an  ad- 
ministrative letter  which  relates  to  many  personal  matters,  I  take  a 
true  pleasure  in  confirming  to  you  in  writing  that  which  I  have  al- 
ready had  the  honor  to  say  to  you  viva  voce,  that  I  have  signalized 
to  monsieur,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  your  Electro-magnetic 
Telegraph,  as  being  the  system  which  presents  the  best  chance  of 
a  practical  application,  and  that  I  had  declared  that,  if  some  trials 
are  to  be  made  with  electric  Telegraphs,  I  hesitate  not  to  propose 
that  they  should  be  made  with  your  apparatus.  I  thank  you,  my 
dear  sir,  for  the  kind  offer  you  have  had  the  goodness  to  make,  of 
permitting  me  to  come  and  see  your  admirable  experiments,  of 
which  I  shall  avail  myself  as  soon  as  the  recent  domestic  affliction 
which  now  occupies  my  mind  will  allow.      Accept,  my  dear  sir, 


M.   AMYOT.  385 

the  assurance  of  the  distinguished  consideration  of  your  devoted 
servant,  Alphonse  Foy.' 

"  This,  you  perceive,  is  all  that  is  necessary ;  it  could  not  be 
more  flattering  or  more  favorable.  The  deficiencies  of  detail  in  a 
comparison  of  mine  with  others  will  be  fully  made  up  in  the  '  Re- 
port of  the  Academie  Industrielle,'  which  I  heard  read  last  evening 
at  a  grand  meeting  of  the  Academy  at  the  Place  Venddme ;  and  in 
which  both  the  priority  of  my  invention  and  its  superiority  to  all 
others  are  fully  declared.  It  was  received  with  acclamation,  and  I 
had  the  Telegraph  there  to  talk  to  them.  There  is  truly  a  liber- 
ality in  the  French  scientific  classes  that  I  think  reflects  the  great- 
est credit  upon  the  nation.  This  report  will,  be  published  in  a  few 
days,  and  I  will  bring  a  copy,  or  rather  many  copies,  with  me.  But 
the  tidbit  of  the  dish  now  comes.  The  Baron  Meyendorf  did  not 
write  for  this  note  (for  I  have  but  this  moment  received  it,  and 
have  not  yet  shown  it  to  him).  He  intimated  to  me  that  he  had 
for  a  long  time  been  in  treaty  with  M.  Amyot,  who  has  for  some 
time  been  engaged  in  electric  Telegraphs,  to  establish  one  in  Rus- 
sia ;  that  if  M.  Amyot  and  I  could  agree  to  unite  our  labors  he 
would  immediately  put  matters  in  train  for  the  establishment  of  a 
line  of  twenty  miles  from  St.  Petersburg,  I  had  an  interview 
with  M.  Amyot,  a  noble-hearted,  liberal  man,  and  our  union  was 
easily  formed.  He  wished  much  to  accompany  me — to  take,  in  fact, 
exactly  that  part  in  which  I  needed  most  the  assistance  of  an  ex- 
perienced scientific  man — to  make  the  experiments  on  the  effects  of 
temperature  on  the  passage  of  electricity,  the  size  of  batteries 
necessary,  etc.  He  has  philological  researches  in  which  he  feels  also 
a  deep  interest,  and  on  account  of  which  he  desires  to  go  to  Rus- 
sia. He  wished  me  merely,  to  state  to  the  baron  that  I  should  be 
glad  to  have  him  (M.  Amyot)  accompany  me.  With  this  under- 
standing I  yesterday  called  on  the  baron,  and  so  far  as  he  (the 
baron)  is  concerned  the  whole  matter  is  nearly  arranged.  I  gave 
him  the  estimate  of  probable  expense  of  establishing  a  line  of 
twenty  miles,  exclusive  of  ditching,  asphalt,  and  some  smaller 
items,  putting  the  whole  at  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four  pounds 
sterling.  He  at  once  said  eight  hundred  pounds,  and,  add  extras, 
two  hundred  pounds  more,  sa}7  one  thousand  pounds ;  and,  says  he, 
•  You  have  omitted  the  price  of  your  passage  from  America  and  back 
again,'  which  he  calculated  and  added.  'Now,'  says  he,  'what  will 
you  expect  of  it  if  it  is  successful  ? '  I  said,  whatever  the  emperor 
25 


386  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 

may  think  just.  He  answered :  '  No,  this  is  not  the  way  we  do 
business ;  will  you  put  it  on  this  basis,  to  receive  for  five  years  half 
the  saving  to  the  Government  of  your  plan  over  that  of  the  old  plan?' 
T  said  yes,  if  in  calculating  this  saving  these  points  shall  be  taken 
into  the  account : 

"First,  the  time  in  which  the  two  Telegraphs  are  available. 
Second,  the  quantity  of  information  in  a  given  time  that  each  can 
transmit  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  He  said :  '  Well, 
this  I  will  immediately  submit  to  my  Government.  ,  You  wish  to 
return  to  the  United  States.  Can  you  return  to  Paris  by  the  1st 
of  July,  so  as  to  be  in  St.  Petersburg  by  the  15th  of  July  ? '  I 
told  him  I  thought  I  could.  '  Well,'  said  he,  '  you  will  return,  then, 
I  suppose,  by  the  Great  Western  to  New  York,  on  the  23d  of  March ; 
arrive,  say  10th  of  April.  You  will  receive  the  answer  of  the  Rus- 
sian Government  through  its  minister  in  the  United  States  about 
the  10th  of  May.  You  will  embark  from  New  York  about  1st  of 
June,  be  in  Paris  1st  of  July,  and  St.  Petersburg  15th  of  July.  In 
fifteen  days  the  trench  can  be  dug,  for  we  have  eighty  thousand 
men  at  command ;  and  these  can  be  sufficient  to  dig  the  trench  in 
seven  days  if  you  desire  it.  The  emperor  will  then  be  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, which  will  be  favorable  to  you.' 

"  Other  items  I  must  tell  you  when  I  see  you  in  America,  for  I 
feel  now  that  something  is  likely  to  be  effected ;  but  our  whole 
energies  must  be  directed  to  having  this  first  adoption  of  our  sys- 
tem a  successful  one  ;  all  hands  must  go  to  work.  What  I  shall 
wish  immediately  on  my  return  is  a  clock  mechanician,  who  can 
devote  himself  wholly  to  making,  say  six  or  eight  of  each  of  the 
machines,  the  correspondent  and  the  register,  with  the  simplifica- 
tion that  a  winter's  thought  and  experience  have  led  me  to  form. 
The  compensation  I  have  proposed  to  M.  Amyot  is  one-seventh  of 
what  is  received  from  the  Russian  Government  when  the  experi- 
ment is  proved  successful.  I  hope  this  will  be  approved  by  you. 
He  appears  satisfied  with  it,  and,  taking  into  the  account  that  he 
relinquishes  his  own  schemes  with  the  Russian  Government,  and 
strongly  advocates  with  the  baron  the  adoption  of  mine — that,  in 
fact,  without  this  arrangement  nothing  probably  would  have  been 
done,  for  the  baron  made  it  conditional ;  and,  moreover,  the  respon- 
sibility he  assumes  of  precisely  that  part  which  has  not  been  actu- 
ally proved  by  experiment — I  think  the  terms  just.  We  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  his  personal  expenses ;  the  Russian  Government 
pay  these  as  well  as  mine.     I  h^ve  to  close  this  immediately  or  I 


FAVORABLE  PROSPECTS.  387 

shall  lose  the  estafet.  I  have  engaged  my  passage  in  the  Great 
Western  on  the  23d  of  March,  and  hope  to  be  in  New  York  before 
10th  of  April,  perhaps  even  before  this  reaches  you.  I  wish  I  could 
see  you  in  New  York  when  I  arrive.  I  have  just  made  a  proposi- 
tion to  the  baron,  through  M.  Amyot,  to  advance  three  thousand 
francs  to  me  in  New  York  so  soon  as  the  Government  have  deter- 
mined to  adopt  the  system — if  it  is  accepted,  well ;  if  not,  it  will  be 
worth  a  little  risk  to  seize  the  present  motive  to  give  impulse  to 
the  whole  business  ;  and  funds  must  be  advanced  by  the  company. 
I  have  written  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  to  make  new  terms  in  considera- 
tion of  the  change  which  matters  have  assumed,  and  the  necessity 
I  am  under  of  personal  superintendence  in  Russia.  I  hope  you  will 
at  home  also  consider  this,  and  arrange  justly  my  proper  compen- 
sation. On  this  point  I  have  no  fears  from  those  engaged  in  the 
enterprise. 

"  I  will  write  you  again,  but  think  I  shall  probably  see  you  be- 
fore another  letter  can  reach  you  by  the  packet." 

"Paris,  March  2,  1839. 

"  By  my  last  letter  I  informed  you  of  the  more  favorable  pros- 
pects of  the  telegraphic  enterprise.  These  prospects  still  continue, 
and  I  shall  return  with  the  gratifying  reflection  that,  after  all  my 
anxieties  and  labors  and  privations,  and  yours  and  my  other  asso- 
ciates' expenditures  and  risks,  we  are  all  in  a  fair  way  of  reaping 
the  fruits  of  our  toil.  The  political  troubles  of  France  have  been 
a  hinderance  hitherto  to  the  attention  of  the  Government  to  the 
Telegraph,  but  in  the  mean  time  I  have  gradually  pushed  forward 
the  invention  into  the  notice  of  the  most  influential  individuals  of 
France.  I  had  Colonel  Lasalle,  aide-de-camp  to  the  king,  and  his 
lady,  to  see  the  Telegraph  a  few  days  ago  ;  he  promised  that  with- 
out fail  it  should  be  mentioned  to  the  king.  You  will  be  surprised 
to  learn,  after  all  the  promises  hitherto  made  by  the  prefect  of  the 
Seine,  Count  Remberteau,  and  by  various  other  officers  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  after  General  Cass's  letter  to  the  aide  on  service,  four 
or  five  months  since,  requesting  it  might  be  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  king,  that  the  king  has  not  yet  heard  of  it.  But  so  things 
go  here.  Such  dereliction  would  destroy  a  man  with  us  in  a  mo- 
ment, but  here  there  is  a  different  standard  (this,  of  course,  entre 
nous). 

"  I  have  just  had  a  visit  from  the  Count  de  Noe,  a  peer  of 
France,  who  brought  with  him  the  Due  de  Cazes  and  the  Duchess, 


388  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  the  Baron  Pasquier,  the  chancellor  of  France,  with  the  baroness, 
to  see  the  Telegraph.  The  duke  was  surprised  to  learn  that  the  Gov- 
ernment had  had  the  subject  so  long  under  consideration,  especially 
after  the  administrator  of  the  Telegraphs  had  reported  in  its  favor, 
and  promised  me  that  he  would  see  immediately  the  Count  de  Mon- 
talivet  on  the  subject.  I  told  him  if  any  thing  was  to  be  done,  it 
was  necessary  to  move  quick.  I  had  been  in  attendance  on  the 
Government  for  an  answer  the  whole  winter;  that  I  should  leave 
France  in  a  few  days ;  that  Russia  had  seen  the  advantage  of  the 
invention  to  her  empire,  and  that  I  was  in  treaty  to  go  to  St. 
Petersburg.  This  seemed  to  have  some  effect,  and  he  said  there 
should  be  no  delay.  Among  the  numerous  visitors  that  have 
thronged  to  see  the  Telegraph,  there  have  been  a  great  many  of 
the  principal  English  nobility.  Among  them,  the  Lord  and  Lady 
Aylmer,  formerly  Governor  of  Canada,  Lord  Elgin  and  son,  the 
celebrated  preserver,  not  depredator,  as  he  has  been  most  slander- 
ously called,  of  the  Phidian  Marbles.  Lord  Elgin  has  been  twice, 
and  expressed  a  great  interest  in  the  invention.  He  brought  with 
him  yesterday  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  a  young  man  of  unassuming 
manners ;  he  was  delighted,  and  gave  me  his  card,  with  a  pressing 
invitation  to  call  on  him  when  I  came  to  London.  I  have  not  failed 
to  let  the  English  know  how  I  was  treated  in-  regard  to  my  appli- 
cation for  a  patent  in  England,  and  contrasted  the  conduct  of  the 
French  in  this  respect  with  theirs.  I  believe  they  felt  it,  and  I 
think  it  was  Lord  Aylmer,  but  am  not  quite  sure,  who  advised  that 
the  subject  be  brought  up  in  Parliament  by  some  member  and  made 
the  object  of  special  legislation,  which  he  said  might  be  done,  the 
attorney-general  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  I  really  believe, 
if  matters  were  rightly  managed  in  England,  something  yet  might 
be  done  there,  if  not  by  patent,  yet  by  a  parliamentary  grant  of  a 
proper  compensation.  It  is  remarkable  that  they  have  not  yet 
made  any  thing  like  mine  in  England.  It  is  evident  that  neither 
Wheatstone  nor  Davy  comprehended  my  mode,  after  all  their  asser- 
tions that  mine  was  published.  If  matters  move  slower  here  than 
with  us,  yet  they  gain  surely.  I  am  told  every  hour  that  the  two 
great  wonders  of  Paris  just  now,  about  which  everybody  is  convers- 
ing, are,  Daguerre's  wonderful  results  in  fixing  permanently  the 
image  of  the  camera  obscura  and  Morse's  Electro-Magnetic  Tele- 
graph ;  and  they  do  not  hesitate  to  add  that,  beautiful  as  are  the 
results  of  Daguei're's  experiments,  the  invention  of  the  Electro- 
Magnetic  Telegraph  is  that  which  will  surpass,  in  the  greatness  of 


DR.  JACKSON'S  PRETENSIONS.  389 

the  revolution  to  be  effected,  all  other  inventions.  Robert  Walsh, 
Esq.,  who  has  just  left  me,  is  beyond  measure  delighted.  I  was 
writing  a  word  from  one  room  to  another;  he  came  to  me  and  said, 
'  The  next  word  you  may  write  is,  "  IMMORTALITY,"  for  the  sub- 
limity of  this  invention  is  of  surpassing  grandeur.  I  see  now  that 
all  physical  obstacles  which  may  for  a  tohile  hinder,  will  inevitably 
be  overcome  ;  the  problem  is  solved  /  man  mat  instantly  con- 
verse  WITH   HIS   EELLOW-MAN  IN  ANT  PART   OE   THE   WORLD.' 

"  I  have  sent  in  to  the  Baron  Meyendorf  the  details  of  the  engage- 
ment between  the  Russian  Government  and  myself,  formed  on  the 
basis  agreed  on  in  conversation  with  him,  and  which  I  mentioned 
in  my  last  letter  to  you.  I  am  anxiously  waiting  his  reply  and  ap- 
proval, in  order  to  take  my  departure  from  Paris.  I  have  taken  my 
passage  in  the  Great  "Western,  and  will  give  you,  when  I  see  you, 
all  the  information  on  this  matter  which  is  too  long  to  write.  I  am 
glad  I  had  the  letters  of  the  captain  and  passengers  of  the  Sully 
with  me.  Jackson's  impudent  assertion  of  a  claim  to  my  invention 
was  talked  about  much  here,  and,  although  disbelieved  by  my  friends 
without  any  evidence,  but  simply  from  knowing  me,  it  made  for  a 
little  time  an  unpleasant  state  of  things.  I  read  these  letters  to 
General  Cass,  to  M.  Anderson,  and  to  many  others,  and  the  antidote 
has  been  effectual,  and  a  pretty  strong  tide  of  indignation  raised 
against  Jackson.  .  .  .  Providentially,  I  have  proof  at  every  point 
of  the  futility  and  baseness  of  his  claim,  and,  where  others  could  not 
be  witnesses,  he  is  made  to  witness  against  himself.  I  am  anxious 
to  see  you  and  concert  measures  for  pushing  matters,  for  the  iron  is 
hot  all  over  Europe  and  we  must  strike  now.  A  Telegraph  Com- 
pany ought  to  be  formed  at  once  for  operations  all  over  the  world. 
Depend  upon  it,  fifty  or  a  hundred  fortunes  might  be  made  out  of  it. 
It  wants  only  a  proper  management,  and  a  little  capital.  Hoping 
soon  to  see  you,  I  remain,  as  ever,  truly  yours, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

MORSE   AND   DAGUERRE. 

"While  in  Paris,  Professor  Morse  could  not  fail  to  hear  of  the 
brilliant  and  astonishing  experiments  of  M.  Daguerre,  whose 
genius  and  perseverance  were  then  bringing  to  the  birth  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  discoveries  of  this  or  any  age.  Professor 
Morse  invited  him  to  examine  his  Telegraph,  and  also  requested 
permission  to  see  the  results  of  Daguerre' s  experiments  in  the 
art  of  painting  with  sunbeams.     As  an  artist  and  painter,  Morse 


390  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   P.   B.   MORSE. 

was  naturally  anxious  to  know  the  meaning  of  this  new  art.  M. 
Daguerre  promptly  acceded  to  the  invitation,  and  the  remarkable 
results  that  followed  the  instructions  which  Mr.  Morse  received 
from  the  discoverer,  the  introduction  by  Mr.  Morse  of  the  art 
into  the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  identification  of  his 
name  with  Photography  as  well  as  with  the  Telegraph,  will  be 
seen  in  subsequent  pages. 

Professor  Morse  alludes,  in  his  letters  from  Paris,  to  the  in- 
terest which  some  of  the  British  nobility  were  taking  in  the 
Telegraph.  Among  them  were  Lord  Lincoln  (afterward  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle)  and  Lord  Elgin.    Lord  Elgin  wrote  to  him : 

''  Paris,  March  5,  1839. 
"  You  would  oblige  me  greatly  if  you  could  allow  me  to  bring 
my  family  and  some  particular  friends  to  have  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing your  admirable  discovery  of  the  Electric  Telegraph,  under  the 
great  advantage  of  your  exhibition  of  it,  on  Thursday  next,  the  7th 
inst.,  at  two  o'clock — or  any  other  day  and  hour  that  would  better 
suit  you.  I  venture  to  name  a  private  day,  because  we  shall  be 
numerous  enough  to  fill  your  apartment.  Lord  Lincoln  was  ex- 
tremely sorry  that,  the  departure  being  quite  necessarily  fixed  for 
Saturday,  he  could  not  have  a  second  opportunity  of  admiring  the 
beauty  and  simplicity  of  your  brilliant  discovery.  I  have  the  honor 
to  be,  dear  sir,  vour  obedient  servant, 

"  ELom." 

The  visit  was  made,  and  a  few  days  afterward  Lord  Elgin 
wrote  to  Professor  Morse  again  : 

"  I  cannot  help  expressing  a  very  strong  desire  that,  instead  of 
delaying  till  your  return  from  America  your  wish  to  take  out  a 
patent  in  England  for  your  highly  scientific  and  simple  mode  of 
communicating  intelligence  by  an  Electric  Telegraph,  you  would 
take  measures  to  that  effect  at  this  moment,  and  for  that  purpose 
take  your  model  now  with  you  to  London.  Your  discovery  is  now 
much  known  as  well  as  appreciated,  and  the  ingenuity  now  afloat 
is  too  extensive  for  one  not  to  apprehend  that  individuals,  even  in 
good  faith,  may  make  some  addition  to  qualify  them  to  take  out  a 
first  patent  for  the  principle ;  whereas,  if  you  brought  it  at  once,  now, 
before  the  competent  authorities,  especially  under  the  advantage 
of  an  introduction  such  as  Mr.  Drummond  can  give  you  to  Lord 
Brougham,  a  short  delay  in  your  proceeding  to  America  may  se- 


INVITATION  TO  LONDON.  391 

cure  this  desirable  object  immediately.  With  every  sincere  good 
wish  for  your  success  and  the  credit  you  so  richly  deserve,  I  am, 
dear  sir,  yours  faithfully,  Elgin". 

"Mr.  President  Morse." 

To  Sir  Henry  Ellis,  Lord  Elgin  wrote  : 

"  Dear  Sie  Henby  :  I  beg  leave  to  make  you  acquainted  with 
Mr.  President  Morse,  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design  at  New 
York.  He  has  on  a  former  occasion  studied  the  Elgin  Marbles ; 
still,  if  he  should  wish  again  to  see  them,  on  his  present  passage 
through  London,  I  am  sure  you  will  have  the  kindness  to  give  him 
every  facility  in  your  power.  He  is  engaged  in  perfecting  an  Elec- 
tric Telegraph  of  the  highest  possible  interest;  he  may  possibly  not 
have  it  with  him  at  this  moment,  but  the  beauty  and  simplicity  of 
his  invention,  and  the  ability  and  clearness  with  which  he  explains 
it,  argue  much  talent  and  intelligence  on  his  part." 

His  work  in  Paris  being  completed,  and  nothing  more  being 
gained  than  the  positive  approbation  of  his  invention  by  the 
greatest  authorities  in  the  scientific  world,  Professor  Morse  went 
to  London,  and  was  immediately  invited  by  Lord  Lincoln  to  make 
his  house  the  theatre  for  the  exhibition  of  the  Telegraph. 

"  At  the  request  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,"  Professor  Morse  wrote, 
"I  exhibited  at  his  house  my  Telegraph  to  a  large  company  assem- 
bled for  the  purpose  ;  members  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  the 
Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  and  members  of  the  Royal  Society.  As  a 
counterpoise  to  the  injustice  done  me  in  England  in  regard  to  my 
patent  application,  I  ought  to  mention  the  kind  interest  taken  by 
Lord  Elgin,  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  Hon.  Henry  Drummond,  and  others, 
in  my  invention,  and  their  offers  of  service  in  procuring  for  me  a 
patent  by  a  special  act  of  Parliament,  which,  under  other  circum- 
stances, might  have  been  procured." 

Professor  Morse  endeavored  to  secure  the  attention  of  Lord 
Brougham  to  his  invention,  and,  in  reply  to  his  letter  requesting 
an  interview,  received  the  following  characteristic  note : 

"  Lord  Brougham's  compliments,  and  is  extremely  sorry  he  is 
not  able  to  make  an  appointment  to  see  Mr.  Morse  ;  he  is  engaged 
every  day  this  week,  at  the  House  of  Lords,  from  ten  o'clock  to  din- 
ner-time, and  on  some  days  to  a  later  hour.     However,  if  Mr.  M. 


392  LIFE   OE   SAMUEL  E.   B.   MORSE. 

can  come  to  the  House  any  morning  before  three,  Lord  B.  will  be 
able  to  come  out  to  him  for  a  few  minutes." 

Mr.  Morse  replied  to  his  lordship : 

"  Mr.  Morse's  respects  to  Lord  Brougham,  and  would  say  to  him 
that,  through  the  kindness  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  the  Telegraph 
apparatus  of  Mr.  M.'s  invention  is,  for  a  single  day  only,  at  Lord 
Lincoln's  house,  25  Park  Lane,  where  Mr.  M.  has  -engaged  to  show 
its  operation  to-morrow  (Wednesday),  from  eleven  o'clock  until 
five.  Mr.  M.  scarcely  dares  hope  for  the  pleasure  of  Lord  Brougham's 
presence,  absorbed  as  he  must  be  in  public  affairs ;  but,  if  Lord  B. 
could  by  any  means  spare  a  moment  for  that  purpose,  Mr.  M.  need 
not  say  how  gratified  he  should  be  to  exhibit  his  invention  to  Lord 
Brougham.  Mr.  M.  will  avail  himself  of  Lord  B.'s  invitation  to  see 
him  a  moment,  on  Thursday,  between  ten  and  eleven,  at  the  House 
of  Lords." 

The  kindness  and  consideration  shown  to  Professor  Morse  by 
these  distinguished  men  in  London  made  a  lasting  impression 
upon  his  heart.  In  after  years,  when  the  Prince  of  "Wales  visited 
the  United  States,  Professor  Morse  was  invited  to  address  him 
at  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  in  his  remarks 
recognized  the  fact  that  the  Duke  of  NeAvcastle,  who  was  with 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  was  no  other  than  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  of 
1839.     Mr.  Morse  said : 

"  An  allusion  in  most  flattering  terms  to  me,  rendered  doubly  so 
in  such  presence,  has  been  made  by  our  respected  Chancellor,  which 
seems  to  call  for  at  least  the  expression  of  my  thanks.  At  the 
same  time  it  suggests  the  relation  of  an  incident  in  the  early  history 
of  the  Telegraph,  which  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  this  occasion. 
The  infant  Telegraph,  born  and  nursed  within  these  walls,  had 
scarcely  attained  a  feeble  existence,  ere  it  essayed  to  make  its  voice 
heard  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  I  carried  it  to  Paris  in 
183.8.  It  attracted  the  warm  interest  not  only  of  the  Continental 
philosophers,  but  also  of  the  intelligent  and  appreciative  among  the 
eminent  nobles  of  Britain,  then  on  a  visit  to  the  French  capital. 
Foremost  among  these  was  the  late  Marquis  of  Northampton,  then 
President  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  late  distinguished  Earl  of  Elgin, 
and  in  a  marked  degree  the  noble  Earl  of  Lincoln.  The  last-named 
nobleman,  in  a  special  manner,  gave  it  his  favor;  he  comprehended 


EXPRESSIONS  OF  GRATITUDE.  393 

its  important  future,  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  skepticism  that  clouded 
its  cradle,  he  risked  his  character  for  sound  judgment  in  venturing 
to  stand  godfather  to  the  friendless  child.  He  took  it  under  his  roof 
in  London,  invited  the  statesmen  and  the  philosophers  of  Britain  to 
see  it,  and  urged  forward  with  kindly  words  and  generous  atten- 
tions those  who  had  the  infant  in  charge.  It  is  with  no  ordinary 
feelings,  therefore,  that  after  the  lapse  of  twenty  j^ears  I  have  the 
singular  honor  this  morning  of  greeting  with  hearty  welcome,  in 
such  presence,  before  such  an  assemblage,  and  in  the  cradle  of  the 
Telegraph,  this  noble  Earl  of  Lincoln,  in  the  person  of  the  present 
Duke  of  Newcastle." 


CHAPTER   X. 

1839-1843. 

RETUEN   TO   NEW   TORE — RUSSIAN   CONTRACT DISAPPOINTMENT   AT   INACTION 

OF  CONGRESS — ME.  SMITH'S  VIEWS  OF  THE  STATE  OF  THINGS — THE  DA- 
GUERREOTYPE— INTRODUCED  EXPERIMENTS — SUCCESS — TEACHES  OTHERS 

SULLY  AND  ALLSTON — EUSSIA  FALLS — DEEP  DEPEESSION — LETTEE  TO  HIS 
PARTNERS  MR.  A.  TAIL  AND  HON.  F.  O.  J.  SMITH — CONSULTATION  WITH 
PROFESSOR  HENRY — LETTERS  OF  PROFESSOR  HENRY — STRUGGLES  OF  MORSE 
UNDER  POVERTY — LETTERS  TO  MR.  VALL — AN  AGENT  EMPLOYED  AT  WASH- 
INGTON— FAILURE — AN  OLD  SOEEOW — HON.  W.  W.  BOAEDMAN,  M.  C. — 
LETTEE  TO  HON.  F.  O.  J.  SMITH  ON  PEOFESSOE  HENEY's  ENCOURAGE- 
MENT— FIEST  SUBMAEINE  CABLE  LAID  BY  PEOFESSOE  MORSE — EEPOET  OF 
AMEEIOAN  INSTITUTE — HON.  0.  G.  FERRIS — LETTER  TO  HIM — PROFESSOR 
MORSE  IN  WASHINGTON — FAVORABLE  REPORT  IN  CONGRESS — DEBATE — 
PASSAGE  OF  BILL  IN  THE  HOUSE  AND  THE  SENATE — APPROPRIATING  THIRTY 
THOUSAND  DOLLARS  FOR  AN  EXPERIMENTAL  LINE  OF  TELEGRAPH — DEATH 
OF  ALLSTON. 

PEOFESSOE  MOESE  arrived  in  New  York  by  the  steam- 
ship Great  Western,  on  his  return  from  England,  April 
15,  1839.  The  next  day  he  wrote  to  his  partner,  Hon.  F.  O.  J. 
Smith : 

"  I  take  the  first  hour  of  rest,  after  the  fatigues  of  my  boister- 
ous voyage,  to  apprise  you  of  my  arrival  yesterday  in  the  Great 
Western.  The  day  before  I  left  Paris,  I  concluded  the  arrange- 
ments with  the  Russian  Government,  through  the  Baron  Meyen- 
dorf,  so  far  as  he  had  power,  and  shall  expect,  through  the  Russian 
Minister,  the  answer  of  the  Government  at  St.  Petersburg  by  the 
10th  of  May.  There  are  some  points  different  from  those  which 
I  believe  I  sketched  in  my  letter  to  you  of  February  22d.  In 
the  second  interview,  the  baron  believes  he  had  limited  the  com- 


DISAPPOINTMENT  AT   HOME.  395 

pensation — '  half  the  economy  ' — to  three  years  instead  of  five,  as 
both  M.  Amyot  and  myself  understood  him  to  say.  He  seemed  a 
little  troubled  at  this,  and  reproached  himself  for  not  putting  it 
down  in  writing  at  the  time,  for  he  had  written  three  years  to  his 
Government,  and  it  was  too  late  to  rectify  the  matter ;  but  he  ob- 
served that,  if  I  were  successful,  I  might  rely  on  the  liberal  disposi- 
tion of  the  emperor.  It  is  limited  also  to  the  route  from  St.  Peters- 
burg to  Warsaw,  eight  hundred  miles.  I  wish  much  to  see  you, 
and  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  for  the  time  is  very  limited,  on 
account  of  the  season  of  the  year  in  which  it  is  necessary  to  be  in 
St.  Petersburg,  in  order  to  labor  at  all.  I  was  so  unfortunate  as  to 
miss  Dr.  Gale  by  a  single  day ;  he  left  for  the  South  on  Saturday, 
and  I  arrrived  on  Sunday  night.  I  regret  this  extremely,  for  I 
wished  much  conversation  with  him  on  points  connected  with  the 
scientific  parts  of  the  matter.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  quite  disappointed  in  finding  nothing  done  by  Congress, 
and  nothing  accomplished  by  way  of  Company.  I  had  hoped  to 
find,  on  my  return  home,  funds  ready  for  prosecuting  with  vigor  the 
enterprise  which  I  fear  will  suffer  for  this  want. 

"  Think  for  a  moment  of  my  situation  !  I  left  New  York  for 
Europe  to  be  gone  three  months,  but  have  been  gone  eleven  months. 
My  only  means  of  support  are  in  my  profession,  which  I  have  been 
compelled  to  abandon  entirely  for  the  present,  giving  my  undivided 
time  and  efforts  to  this  enterprise.  I  return  without  a  farthing  in 
my  pocket,  and  have  to  borrow  even  for  my  meals,  and,  even  worse 
than  this,  I  have  incurred  a  debt  of  rent  by  my  absence,  which  I 
should  have  avoided  had  I  been  at  home,  or  rather  if  I  had  been 
aware  that  I  should  have  been  obliged  to  stay  so  long  abroad.  I 
do  not  mention  this  in  the  way  of  complaint,  but  merely  to  show 
that  I  have  also  been  compelled  to  make  great  sacrifices  for  the 
common  good,  and  am  willing  yet  to  make  more,  if  necessary.  If 
the  enterprise  is  to  be  pursued,  we  must  all  in  our  various  ways  put 
the  shoulder  to  the  wheel.  I  wish  much  to  see  you  and  talk  over 
all  matters,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  the  present  state  of  the  enter- 
prise in  regard  to  Russia  affects  vitally  the  whole  concern." 

In  communicating  these  letters  from  Professor  Morse,  Mr. 
Smith  makes  some  observations  upon  the  hesitation  of  govern- 
ments and  individuals  to  perceive  the  splendid  capabilities  of 
the  invention : 

"  In  the  days  of  the  first  consulship  of  Napoleon  I.,  the  car  of 


396  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

sovereignty  was  not  so  barricaded  against  all  knowledge  of  rever- 
berating acclamations  of  distinguished  scientists  and  inventors  over 
the  advances  of  their  respective  pursuits  for  the  benefit  of  mankind, 
as  it  seems  to  have  been  in  the  days  of  Louis  Philippe,  liberal  as  he 
was  reputed  to  be,  when  Professor  Morse  was  visiting  Paris,  to 
make  known  the  wonders  of  the  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph.  On 
the  20th  of  March,  a.  d.  1800,  the  philosopher  named  Volta,  in  a 
little  village  of  the  Milanese,  announced  to  Sir  Joseph  Banks, 
President  of  the  Royal  Society  of  England,  by  letter,  his  beauti- 
ful discovery  and  invention  of  utilizing  the  previously  miscon- 
ceived discovery  of  Galvani,  regardless  on  his  part  of  any  special 
application,  but  as  the  agent  of  analyzing  the  laws  of  matter  and 
Nature  in  general.  To  the  discovery  he  added  a  description  of  his 
device  for  collecting  the  electric  force  in  greater  quantities  than 
ever  before  accomplished,  and  of  securing  to  it  all  the  intensity  of 
frictional  electricity,  and  also  of  retaining  its  action  for  a  longer 
time — this  by  what  he  designated  La  Couronne  de  Tasses,  or 
crown  of  cups.  No  sooner  had  this  announcement  reached  France, 
than  Napoleon,  the  First  Consul,  instead  of  waiting  for  Volta  to 
voluntarily  visit  Paris,  if  ever,  as  a  scientist  and  inventor  of  emi- 
nence, as  did  Professor  Morse  in  1838,  most  flatteringly  invited 
Volta  to  make  a  visit  to  Paris,  and  at  the  Institute  explain  person- 
ally his  great  invention  to  the  elite  of  European  philosophers. 
Accordingly,  in  1801,  Volta  attended  three  meetings  of  the  Acad- 
emy of  Science,  where  he  explained  his  theory,  and  the  Voltaic,  or, 
as  he  called  it,  electro-motive  action  of  different  metals.  Napoleon 
attended  in  person  these  meetings ;  and,  when  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  the  subject  was  read,  Napoleon  proposed  to  suspend 
the  rules  of  the  Academy,  in  the  formalities  required  in  conferring 
honors,  and  that  the  gold  medal  be  immediately  awarded  to  Volta, 
as  a  testimony  of  the  gratitude  of  the  philosophers  of  France  for 
his  discovery  ;  and  the  proposition  was  carried  by  acclamation ;  and 
on  the  same  day  Napoleon  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Volta  two  thou- 
sand crowns  from  the  public  treasury,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his 
journey.  He  also  founded  an  annual  medal  of  the  value  of  two 
thousand  francs  to  him  who  should  give  electricity,  or  magnetism, 
by  his  researches,  an  impulse  comparable  to  that  which  it  received 
from  the  discoveries  of  Franklin  and  Volta. 

"  The  long  stride  which  Volta  laid  the  foundation  for,  though 
not  dreamed  of  for  the  purpose  by  him  at  the  time,  in  the  use  of 
electricity  for  telegraphic  purposes  in  after-years,  forms  an  interest- 


LOUIS  PHILIPPE   AND   THE   FIRST   CONSUL.  397 

ing  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Telegraph,  though  not  particularly 
germane  to  the  biography  of  Professor  Morse. 

"  The  contrast,  however,  presented  in  this  experience  of  the  lib- 
erality of  Napoleon  toward  Volta,  and  in  the  eight  months'  igno- 
rance by  King  Louis  Philippe  of  both  the  invention  of  the  Electro- 
magnetic Telegraph  and  of  Professor  Morse's  stay  in  Paris,  under 
illusory  promises  of  the  king's  cabinet  ministers,  and  his  other 
many  and  immediate  official  attendants,  to  bring  the  invention  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  king,  is  not  without  its  moral  to  the  American 
mind.  Had  the  scientists  of  France  in  the  latter  era  been  as  near 
Louis  Philippe  as  those  of  France  were  to  the  First  Consul,  and 
had  the  former  been  endowed  with  the  same  impulses  as  was  the 
latter,  in  the  advancement  of  his  government  and  people  to  the 
zenith  of  national  glory  and  greatness,  who  can  doubt  that  Pro- 
fessor Morse's  visit  to  Paris  in  1838  would  have  been  signaled  by 
the  prompt  construction  of  an  Electro-magnetic  Telegraph  upon  his 
plan,  through  hundreds  of  miles  of  French  territory,  and  even  to 
every  commercial  city  within  the  confines  of  the  nation  ?  In  such 
a  case,  who  can  doubt  that  France  would  have  been  foremost  and 
the  first  of  governments  to  adopt  the  great  invention,  and  to  utilize 
it  in  advance  of  every  other  people  ?  And,  then,  what  years  of  anx- 
ious and  even  agonizing  suspense  would  have  been  saved  to  Pro- 
fessor Morse  in  particular,  and  to  his  associates,  in  the  struggle  to 
advance  the  invention  beyond  its  swaddling-cloth.es ! 

"  It  is  foremost  among  the  incomprehensible  fatuities  of  man- 
kind, and  of  their  varied  industrial  ambitions  and  interests,  that  an 
invention  so  patent  to  every  understanding,  in  its  wonders  and 
ubiquitous  powers,  should  have  lingered  on,  year  after  year,  upon 
the  impoverished  hands  of  the  acknowledged  inventor,  without  in- 
spiring the  cupidity  of  either  capitalists  or  speculators,  and  espe- 
cially in  a.  land  of  enterprise  like  the  United  States.  But  so  it  was, 
as  the  sequel  of  Professor  Morse's  authenticated  experience  shows." 

Mr.  Smith  wrote  to  Professor  Morse,  April  28,  1839  : 

"  I  see  nothing  yet  of  your  expose  of  Jackson.  It  is  a  shame 
that  such  malignant  envy  and  groundless  pretensions  should  be 
suffered  to  fatten,  in  any  character  or  capacity,  upon  the  credu- 
lity of  the  people.  I  could,  with  your  means,  ram  him  into  a  ten- 
pounder,  then  discharge  the  wad  against  the  first  mud-wall  I  could 
find !  I  am  devoting  my  time  wholly  with  reference  to  bringing 
my  loose  and  unsettled  interests  and  business  here  to  such  control 


398  LIFE   OP  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

—winding  up  all  that  are  susceptible  of  it — as  will  enable  me  in  a 
few  months  at  farthest  to  take  hold  of  the  telegraph  business  in 
good  earnest,  and  make  a  business  of  it.  I  esteem  it  far  better  to 
suffer  it  to  rest,  sub  silentio,  for  a  season,  than  to  have  it  move  in  a 
halting,  hobbling  pace.  I  promise  myself  success  in  a  little  while, 
in  thus  putting  myself  in  a  shape  to  '  go  ahead.'  I  pray  Gcd 
that,  in  the  mean  time,  there  may  be  '  no  mistake  '  about  the  Rus- 
sian embassy." 

Professor  Morse  to  Mr.  Smith. 

"New  York  May  24,  1839. 

"  My  affairs,  in  consequence  of  my  protracted  absence,  and  the 
stagnant  state  of  the  Telegraph  here  at  home,  have  caused  me  great 
embarrassment,  and  my  whole  energies  have  been  called  upon  to 
extricate  myself  from  the  confusion  in  which  I  have  been  unhappily 
placed.  You  may  judge  a  little  of  this  when  I  tell  you  that  my  ab- 
sence has  deprived  me  of  my  usual  source  of  income  by  my  profes- 
sion ;  that  the  state  of  the  University  is  such  that  I  shall  probably 
leave,  and  shall  have  to  remove  into  new  quarters ;  that  my  family 
are  dispersed,  requiring  my  care  and  anxieties,  under  every  disad- 
vantage ;  that  my  engagements  were  such  with  Russia,  that  every 
moment  of  my  time  was  necessary  to  complete  my  arrangements, 
to  fulfil  the  contract  in  season  ;  and,  instead  of  finding  my  associates 
ready  to  sustain  me  with  counsel  and  means,  I  find  them  all  dis- 
persed, leaving  me  without  the  opportunity  to  consult,  or  a  cent  of 
means,  and  consequently  bringing  every  thing  in  relation  to  the 
Telegraph  to  a  dead  stand.  In  the  midst  of  this,  I  am  called  upon 
by  the  state  of  public  opinion  to  defend  myself  against  the  out- 
rageous attempt  of  Dr.  Jackson  to  pirate  from  me  my  invention. 
The  words  would  be  harsh  that  are  properly  applicable  to  this  man's 
conduct.  He  can  no  longer  be  under  mistake  ;  he  knows  that  he 
has  not  the  shadow  of  a  claim  to  a  single  suggestion  that  belongs 
to  the  invention.  I  send  you  my  letter  in  the  Boston  Post,  and 
republished  in  the  Observer.  Besides  the  evidence  of  Captain  Pell, 
Mr.  Rives,  and  Mr.  Fisher,  I  have  the  written  testimony  of  several 
others  of  the  passengers,  which  I  have  obtained  since  I  saw  }7ou, 
and  they  are  all  unanimous  in  recognizing  me,  and  me  only,  in  the 
invention  on  board  the  Sully.  They  none  of  them  could  guess 
the  individual  who  pretends  to  the  invention,  and  expressed  utter 
astonishment  when  informed  that  Dr.  Jackson  pretended  to  it. 

"  I  have  given  you  the  darker  side  of  objects  first.     This  dark- 


LETTER  TO  MR.  SMITH,  399 

ness  enshrouds  the  inventor  only,  not  the  invention.  Want  of  time 
prevents  me  from  copying  out  the  papers  relating  to  the  Russian  con- 
tract. It  may  suffice  perhaps  to  say  that  I  engaged  to  leave  Europe 
in  the  Great  "Western  on  the  23  d  of  March,  was  expected  to  arrive 
by  the  5th  of  April,  to  commence  the  apparatus  for  a  line  of  twenty 
miles  of  telegraph,  if  not  already  commenced  by  my  associates ;  I 
was  to  receive  my  advices  from  St.  Petersburg  by  the  '  10th  of  May,' 
officially  recognizing  the  principles  of  the  contract  and  negotiating 
the  particulars  with  the  Russian  Minister ;  I  engaged  then  to  leave 
America  so  as  to  reach  Paris  by  the  1st  of  July,  and  St.  Petersburg 
by  the  15th  of  July,  with  my  French  companion,  M.  Amyot.  This 
was  the  farthest  date  that  could  be  allowed,  if  the  Telegraph  was  to 
be  put  in  operation  this  season.  You  see,  therefore,  in  what  a  con- 
dition I  found  myself  when  I  returned.  I  was  delayed  several  days 
beyond  the  computed  time  of  my  arrival  by  the  long  passage  of  the 
steamer.  Instead  of  finding  funds  raised  by  a  vote  of  Congress,  or 
by  a  company,  and  my  associates  ready  to  back  me,  I  find  not  a 
cent  for  the  purpose,  and  my  associates  scattered  to  the  four  winds. 
You  can  easily  conceive  that  I  gave  all  up  as  it  regarded  Russia, 
and  considered  the  whole  enterprise  as  seriously  injured  if  not  com- 
pletely destroyed.  In  this  state  of  things  I  was  hourly  dreading  to 
hear  from  the  Russian  Minister,  and  devising  how  I  should  save 
myself  and  the  enterprise  without  implicating  my  associates  in  a 
charge  of  neglect ;  and,  as  it  has  most  fortunately  happened  for  us 
all,  the  10th  of  May  has  passed  without  the  receipt  of  the  promised 
advices,  and  I  topk  advantage  of  this,  and,  by  the  Liverpool  steamer 
on  the  18th,  wrote  to  the  Baron  Meyendorff  and  to  M.  Amyot, 
that  it  was  impossible  to  fulfill  the  engagement  this  season,  since  I 
had  not  received  the  promised  advices  in  time  to  prepare.  I  have 
requested  immediate  advices,  and  promised  to  be  in  St.  Petersburg 
by  the  beginning  of  May,  next  year,  to  fulfill  the  contract.  This 
is  the  state  of  things  in  relation  to  Russia,  in  brief.  I  have  much 
to  communicate,  but  cannot  by  letter.  I  would  come  on  to  see  you 
if  I  had  the  means,  but  I  have  not  a  copper.  Now,  what  are  im- 
mediately wanted  are  two  complete  sets  at  least  of  the  apparatus, 
the  register  and  correspondent,  and  if  possible  twenty  miles  of  wire, 
so  that  every  thing  may  be  tested  here  at  home,  before  I  embark. 
I  have  a  most  excellent  workman  at  command,  who  would  execute 
them  well  and  reasonably.  It  is  at  once  seen  how  important  it  is 
to  have  matters  immediately  under  way,  if  it  is  intended  to  take 
advantage  of  this  Russian  engagement.     I  wish  to  have  every  thing 


400  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

in  prime  order,  so  as  to  surprise  the  czar,  and  for  the  purpose  the 
sooner  I  have  the  apparatus  complete,  the  better ;  indeed,  if  I  had 
five  hundred  dollars  of  my  own  (and  it  must  cost  much  more),  I 
would  commence  operations  immediately.  We  have  ten  miles  of 
wire  already ;  ten  more  would  cost  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  ;  and  I  think  the  other  apparatus  cannot  cost  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Do  think  of  this  matter,  and  see  if  means 
cannot  be  raised  to  keep  ahead  with  the  American  Telegraph.  I 
sometimes  am  astonished  when  I  reflect  how  I  have  been  able  to 
take  the  stand  with  my  Telegraph  in  competition  with  my  Euro- 
pean rivals,  backed  as  they  are  with  the  purses  of  the  kings,  and 
the  wealth  of  their  countries,  while  our  own  Government  leaves  me 
to  fight  the  battles  for  the  honor  of  this  invention,  fettered  hand 
and  foot.  Thanks  will  be  to  you,  not  to  them,  if  I  am  able  to  main- 
tain the  ground  occupied  by  the  American  Telegraph." 

THE   DAGUERREOTYPE. 

After  the  interview  between  Professor  Morse  and  M.  Da- 
guerre,  mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter,  the  Professor  wrote 
1  to  his  brothers  under  date  of  March  9,  1839 : 

"  You  have  perhaps  heard  of  the  Daguerreotype,  so  called  from 
the  discoverer,  M.  Daguerre.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  dis- 
coveries of  the  age.  I  don't  know  if  you  recollect  some  experiments 
of  mine  in  New  Haven,  many  years  ago,  when  I  had  my  painting- 
room  next  to  Professor  Silliman's — experiments  to  ascertain  if  it 
were  possible  to  fix  the  image  of  the  camera  obscura.  I  was  able 
to  produce  different  degrees  of  shade  on  paper,  dipped  into  a  solu- 
tion of  nitrate  of  silver,  by  means  of  different  degrees  of  light ;  but, 
finding  that  light  produced  dark,  and  dark  light,  I  presumed  the 
production  of  a  true  image  to  be  impracticable,  and  gave  up  the  at- 
tempt. M.  Daguerre  has  realized  in  the  most  exquisite  manner  this 
idea. 

"  A  few  days  ago  I  addressed  a  note  to  Mr.  D.,  requesting  as  a 
stranger  the  favor  to  see  his  results,  and  inviting  him  in  turn  to  see 
my  Telegraph.  I  was  politely  invited  to  see  them  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, for  he  had  determined  not  to  show  them  until  the  Cham- 
bers had  passed  definitely  on  a  proposition  for  the  Government  to 
purchase  the  secret  of  the  discovery,  and  make  it  public.  The  day 
before  yesterday,  the  17th,  I  called  on  M.  Daguerre  at  his  rooms  in 
the  Diorama,  to  see  these  admirable  results.     They  are  produced  on 


THE   DAGUERREOTYPE.  401 

a  metallic  surface,  the  principal  pieces,  about  seven  inches  by  five, 
and  they  resemble  aquatint  engravings,  for  they  are  in  simple  chi- 
aro-oscuro  and  not  in  colors.  But  the  exquisite  minuteness  of  the 
delineation  cannot  be  conceived.  No  painting  or  engraving  ever 
approached  it.  For  example :  in  a  view  up  the  street  a  distant 
sign  would  be  perceived,  and  the  eye  could  just  discern  that  there 
were  lines  of  letters  upon  it,  but  so  minute  as  not  to  be  read  with 
the  naked  eye.  By  the  assistance  of  a  powerful  lens,  which  magni- 
fied fifty  times,  applied  to  the  delineation,  every  letter  was  clearly 
and  distinctly  legible,  and  so  also  were  the  minutest  breaks  and  lines 
in  the  walls  of  the  buildings  and  the  pavements  of  the  street.  The 
effect  of  the  lens  upon  the  picture  was  in  a  great  degree  like  that 
of  the  telescope  in  Nature.  Objects  moving  are  not  impressed. 
The  boulevard,  so  constantly  filled  with  a  moving  throng  of  pedes- 
trians and  carriages,  was  perfectly  solitary,  except  an  individual  who 
was  having  his  boots  brushed.  His  feet  were  of  course  compelled 
to  be  stationary  for  some  time,  one  being  on  the  box  of  the  boot- 
black, and  the  other  on  the  ground.  Consequently  his  boots  and 
legs  are  well  defined,  but  he  is  without  body  or  head,  because  these 
were  in  motion. 

"  The  impressions  of  interior  views  are  Rembrandt  perfected. 
One  of  Mr.  D.'s  plates  is  an  impression  of  a  spider.  The  spider  was 
not  bigger  than  the  head  of  a  large  pin,  but  the  image,  magnified  by 
the  solar  microscope  to  the  size  of  the  palm  of  the  hand,  having  been 
impressed  on  the  plate,  and  examined  through  a  lens,  was  further 
magnified,  and  showed  a  minuteness  of  organization  hitherto  not 
seen  to  exist.  You  perceive  how  this  discovery  is,  therefore,  about 
to  open  a  new  field  of  research  in  the  depths  of  microscopic  Nature. 
We  are  soon  to  see  if  the  minute  has  discoverable  limits.  The  nat- 
uralist is  to  have  a  new  kingdom  to  explore,  as  much  beyond  the 
microscope  as  the  microscope  is  beyond  the  naked  eye.  But  I  am 
near  the.  end  of  my  paper,  and  I  have  unhappily  to  give  a  melan- 
choly close  to  my  account  of  this  ingenious  discovery.  M.  Daguerre 
appointed  yesterday  at  noon  to  see  my  Telegraph.  He  came,  and 
passed  more  than  an  hour  with  me,  expressing  himself  highly  grati- 
fied at  its  operation.  But,  while  he  was  thus  employed,  the  great 
building  of  the  Diorama,  with  his  own  house,  all  his  beautiful  works,, 
his  valuable  notes  and  papers,  the  labor  of  years  of  experiment,, 
were,  unknown  to  him,  at  that  moment  the  prey  of  the  flames.  His 
secret  indeed  is  still  safe  with  him,  but  the  steps  of  his  progress  in 
the  discovery,  and  his  valuable  researches  in  science,  are  lost  to  the 
26 


402  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

scientific  world.  I  learn  that  his  Diorama  was  insured,  but  to  what 
extent  I  know  not.  I  am  sure  all  friends  of  science  and  improve- 
ment will  unite  in  expressing  the  deepest  sympathy  in  M.  Daguerre's 
loss,  and  the  sincere  hope  that  such  a  liberal  sum  will  be  awarded 
him  by  his  Government  as  shall  enable  him  in  some  degree  at  least 
to  recover  from  his  loss." 

In  the  same  vessel  which  brought  this  letter  the  writer  him- 
self arrived  in  this  country,  and  the  letter  was  published  in  the 
New  Yorh  Ohserver,  April  20, 1839.  In  the  month  of  June  of 
the  same  year,  within  four  months  of  the  date  of  this  letter, 
the  French  Government,  Louis  Philippe  being  the  king,  com- 
pleted its  negotiations  with  M.  Daguerre  for  the  purchase  of  his 
secret,  that  the  beautiful  discovery  might  be  given  to  the  world 
for  its  use  and  enjoyment.  Arago  was  a  member  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies,  and  chairman  of  the  committee  to  whom  was 
referred  the  subject.  He  made  an  elaborate  report,  in  which 
the  value  of  the  discovery  was  set  forth,  and  the  indebtedness 
of  the  world  to  the  discoverer.  The  report  concluded  with  a 
recommendation  that  the  discoverer  be  rewarded  by  the  Gov- 
urement  on  his  making  public  the  process  by  which  the  results 
were  reached. 

Many  years  before,  a  Frenchman  named  Kiepce  had  discov- 
ered the  art  of  obtaining  the  outline  of  images,  but  he  could  not 
succeed  in  permanently  fixing  them.  Daguerre  had  received 
from  him  the  information  which  he  had  availed  himself  of  in 
making  the  next  great  step,  the  more  important  one,  of  perma- 
nently impressing  them  on  the  plate.  Niepce  and  Daguerre  ex- 
ecuted an  agreement  binding  each  other  to  divide  between  them 
the  advantages  that  might  result  from  their  discoveries.  Before 
any  advantages  were  reached,  ISTiepce  died,  but  Daguerre  recog- 
nized the  continued  validity  of  the  contract,  and  was  ready  to 
share  with  the  son  of  Kiepce  the  fruits  of  the  perfected  discov- 
ery. It  was  by  mutual  consent  agreed  that  a  pension  of  ten 
thousand  francs  should  be  paid  to  them,  six  thousand  to  M. 
Daguerre  and  four  thousand  to  M.  Mepce,  and  that  the  widows 
of  both  should  receive  half  of  the  pension  that  their  husbands 
had  enjoyed. 

This  arrangement  being  concluded,  the  process  was  made 
public.     M.  Daguerre  hastened  to  put  Professor  Morse  in  pos- 


EXPERIMENTS.  403 

session  of  all  the  knowledge  necessary  to  the  immediate  manipu- 
lation of  the  delicate  process,  and  the  Professor  without  delay 
proceeded  to  put  the  art  into  practical  use.  His  brothers,  Sid- 
ney E.  and  Richard  C.  Morse,  caused  to  be  erected  on  the  roof 
of  their  new  building,  the  northeast  corner  of  Nassau  and  Beek- 
man  Streets,  New  York,  "  a  palace  for  the  sun,"  as  Mr.  S.  E. 
Morse  was  pleased  to  name  it,  a  room  with  a  glass  roof,  in  which 
Professor  Morse  experimented  with  the  new  and  beautiful  art. 
While  this  building  was  in  progress,  he  had  pursued  his  experi- 
ments with  great  success  in  his  rooms  at  the  New  York  City 
University  on  Washington  Square.  He  says  in  a  letter  dated 
February  10,  1855 : 

"  As  soon  as  the  necessary  apparatus  was  made,  I  commenced 
experimenting  with  it.  The  greatest  obstacle  I  had  to  encounter 
was  in  the  quality  of  the  plates.  I  obtained  the  common  plated 
copper  in  coils  at  the  hardware-shops,  which  of  course  was  very 
thinly  coated  with  silver,  and  that  impure.  Still  I  was  enabled  to 
verify  the  truth  of  Daguerre's  revelations.  The  first  experiment 
crowned  with  any  success  was  a  view  of  the  Unitarian  Church, 
from  the  window  on  the  staircase  from  the  third  story  of  the  New 
York  City  University.  This,  of  course,  was  before  the  building 
of  the  New  York  Hotel.  It  was  in  September,  1839.  The  time, 
if  I  recollect,  in  which  the  plate  was  exposed  to  the  action  of  light 
in  the  camera  was  about  fifteen  minutes.  The  instruments,  chemi- 
cals, etc.,  were  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  directions  in  Da- 
guerre's first  book.  An  English  gentleman,  whose  name  at  present 
escapes  me,  obtained  a  copy  of  Daguerre's  book  about  the  same 
time  with  myself.  He  commenced  experimenting  also.  But  an 
American,  of  the  name  of  Walcott,  was  very  successful  with  a 
modification  of  Daguerre's  apparatus,  substituting  a  metallic  reflec- 
tor for  the  lens.  Previous,  however,  to  Walcott's  experiments,  or 
rather  results,  my  friend  and  colleague,  Professor  John  W.  Draper, 
of  the  New  York  City  University,  was  very  successful  in  his  inves- 
tigations, and  with  him  I  was  engaged,  for  a  time,  in  attempting 
portraits. 

"  In  my  intercourse  with  Daguerre,  I  specially  conversed  with 
him  in  regard  to.  the  practicability  of  taking  portraits  of  living  per- 
sons. He  expressed  himself  somewhat  skeptical  as  to  its  practica- 
bility, only  in  consequence  of  the  time  necessary  for  the  person 
to  remain  immovable.     The  time  for  taking  an  out-door  view  was 


404  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

from  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes,  and  this  he  considered  too  long  a 
time  for  any  one  to  remain  sufficiently  still  for  a  successful  result. 
No  sooner,  however,  had  I  mastered  the  process  of  Daguerre,  than 
I  commenced  to  experiment,  with  a  view  to  accomplish  this 
desirable  result.  I  have  now  the  results  of  these  experiments 
taken  in  September,  or  beginning  of  October,  1839.  They  are  full- 
length  portraits  of  my  daughter,  single  and  also  in  group  with 
some  of  her  young  friends.  They  were  taken  out-of-doors,  on  the 
roof  of  a  building,  in  the  full  sunlight,  and  with  the  ejTes  closed. 
The  time  was  from  ten  to  twenty  minutes.  About  the  same  time 
Professor  Draper  was  successful  in  taking  portraits,  though  whether 
he  or  myself  took  the  first  portrait  successfully  I  cannot  say.1  Soon 
after  we  commenced  together  to  take  portraits,  causing  a  glass 
building  to  be  constructed  for  that  purpose  on  the  roof  of  the 
University.  As  our  experiments  had  caused  us  considerable  ex- 
pense, we  made  a  charge  to  those  who  sat  for  us  to  defray  this 
expense.  Professor  Draper's  other  duties  calling  him  away  from 
the  experiments,  except  as  to  their  bearing  on  some  philosophical 
investigations  which  he  pursued  with  great  ingenuity  and  success, 
I  was  left  to  pursue  the  artistic  results  of  the  process,  as  more  in 
accordance  with  my  profession.  My  expenses  had  been  great,  and 
for  some  time,  five  or  six  months,  I  pursued  the  taking  of  portraits 
by  the  Daguerreotype,  as  a  means  of  reimbursing  these  expenses. 
After  this  object  had  been  attained,  I  abandoned  the  practice  to 
give  my  exclusive  attention  to  the  Telegraph,  which  required  all 
my  time." 

Professor  Morse's  views  of  the  capabilities  of  the  art  were 
expressed  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Washington  Allston : 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  think  me  remiss  in  complying  with  your 
request  by  Mr.  Hayward,  but  I  have  only  this  moment  been  able  to 
obtain  the  album  of  Mr.  Payne,  from  which  I  have  made  a  careful 
tracing  of  your  beautiful  design  of  '  Danger,'  and  will  take  the  earli- 
est opportunity  to  transmit  it  to  you,  with  the  volumes  of  Meng's 
works  also.  I  had  hoped  to  have  seen  you  long  ere  this,  but  my 
many  avocations  have  kept  me  constantly  employed  from  morning 
till  night.  When  I  say  morning,  I  mean  half-past  four  in  the 
morning!  I  am  afraid  you  will  think  me  a  Goth,  but  really  the 
hours  from  that  time  till  twelve  at  noon  are  the  richest  I  ever 
enjoy. 
1  Prof.  Draper  recollects  distinctly  that  he  succeeded  in  taking  the  first  portrait. 


PREDICTIONS.  '      405 

"You  have  heard  of  the  Daguerreotype.  I  have  the  instru- 
ments on  the  point  of  completion,  and  if  it  be  possible  I  will  yet 
bring  them  with  me  to  Boston  and  show  you  the  beautiful  results 
of  this  brilliant  discovery.  Art  is  to  be  wonderfully  enriched  by 
this  discovery.  How  narrow  and  foolish  the  idea  which  some  ex- 
press that  it  will  be  the  ruin  of  art,  or  rather  artists,  for  every  one 
will  be,  his  own  painter.  One  effect,  I  think,  will  undoubtedly 
be  to  banish  the  sketchy,  slovenly  daubs  that  pass  for  spirited 
and  learned ;  those  works  which  possess  mere  general  effect  with- 
out detail,  because  forsooth  detail  destroys  general  effect.  Nature, 
in  the  results  of  Daguerre's  process,  has  taken  the  pencil  into  her 
own  hands,  and  she  shows  that  the  minutest  detail  disturbs  not  the 
general  repose.  Artists  will  learn  how  to  paint,  and  amateurs,  or 
rather  connoisseurs,  how  to  criticise,  how  to  look  at  Nature,  and  there- 
fore how  to  estimate  the  value  of  true  art.  Our  studies  will  now 
be  enriched  with  sketches  from  Nature  which  we  can  store  up  dur- 
ing the  summer,  as  the  bee  gathers  her  sweets  for  winter,  and  we 
shall  thus  have  rich  materials  for  composition,  and  an  exhaustless 
store  for  the  imagination  to  feed  upon." 

DAGTJEEKE   AND   ARAGO. 

Immediately  upon  his  return  to  New  York  in  the  spring  of 
1839,  Prof  essor  Morse,  being  President  of  the  National  Academy 
of  Design,  proposed  the  election,  as  honorary  member  of  the 
Academy,  of  M.  Dagnerre.  On  the  same  day,  when  he  wrote 
to  him  announcing  the  fact  of  his  election,  he  sent  the  following 
letter  to  Arago.  The  letters  are  here  inserted  in  their  connec- 
tion. 

To  Monsieur  Arago. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  take  advantage  of  the  visit  to  France  of 
an  attache,  to  our  legation,  to  send  you  for  your  acceptance  a  copy 
of  Professor  Henry's  late  contributions  to  electricity  and  magnet- 
ism ;  and  I  also  improve  the  same  opportunity  to  express  to  you 
my  thanks  for  the  kindness  and  courtesy  which  you  showed  me 
when  I  was  in  Paris  with  my  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph. 

"  Ever  since  the  misfortune  that  befell  M.  Daguerre  a  few  days 
before  I  left  Paris,  and  at  the  very  hour,  too,  when  he  was  with  me 
examining  my  Telegraph,  I  have  felt  a  deeper  interest  in  him,  and 
in  his  most  splendid  discovery,  and  a  desire,  so  far  as  I  can  be  of 
service  to  him,  to  render  him  substantial  aid.     His  discovery  has 


406  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.    MORSE. 

excited  great  attention  throughout  the  United  States,  and  I  have 

thought  that  so  soon  as  his  remuneration  shall  be  secured  in  France 

and  before  his  secret  should  be  disclosed  to  the  world,  that  we  in 

the  United  States  might  in  some  way  contribute  our  portion  of  the 

reward  due  to  M.  Daguerre.     An  exhibition  (which  is  the  mode  in 

this  country  best  adapted  for  the  purpose  desired)  of  a  few  of  his 

admirable  results  in  several  of  our  cities,  I  am  persuaded,  would 

yield  a  sum  which  may  not  be  unimportant  in  the  present  state  of 

M.  Daguerre's  affairs.     If,  by  any  gratuitous  services  of  mine  in 

this  country  in  favor  of  M.  Daguerre,  I  can  in  any  degree  return 

the  kindness  and  liberality  I  received  in  France,  I  hope  M.  Daguerre 

and  his  friends  will  not  hesitate  to  command  me. 

"  Believe  me,  etc. 
"May  20,  1839." 

To  Monsieur  Daguerre. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  you  the  note  of 
the  secretary  of  our  Academy,  informing  you  of  your  election,  at 
our  last  annual  meeting,  into  the  body  of  honorary  members  of  our 
National  Academy  of  Design.  When  I  proposed  your  name,  it  was 
received  with  wild  enthusiasm,  and  the  vote  was  unanimous.  I 
hope,  my  dear  sir,  you  will  receive  this  as  a  testimonial,  not  merely 
of  my  personal  esteem  and  deep  sympathy  in  your  late  losses,  but 
also  as  a  proof  that  your  genius  is  in  some  degree  estimated  on  this 
side  of  the  water.  Notwithstanding  the  efforts  made  in  England 
to  give  to  another  the  credit  which  is  your  due,  I  think  I  may  with 
confidence  assure  you  that  throughout  the  United  States  your  name 
alone  will  be  associated  with  the  brilliant  discovery  which  justly 
bears  your  name. 

"  The  letter  I  wrote  from  Paris,  the  day  after  your  sad  loss,  has 
been  published  throughout  this  whole  country  in  hundreds  of  jour- 
nals, and  has  excited  great  interest.  Should  any  attempts  be  made 
here  to  give  to  any  other  than  yourself  the  honor  of  this  discovery, 
my  pen  is  ever  ready  in  your  defense. 

"  I  hope  before  this  reaches  you  that  the  French  Government, 
long  and  deservedly  celebrated  for  its  generosity  to  men  of  genius, 
will  have  amply  supplied  all  your  losses  by  a  liberal  sum.  If,  when 
the  proper  remuneration  shall  have  been  secured  to  you  in  France, 
you  should  think  it  may  be  to  your  advantage  to  make  an  arrange- 
ment with  the  Government  to  hold  back  the  secret  for  six  months 
or  a  year,  and  would  consent  to  an  exhibition  of  your  results  in  this 


MORSE   AND   DAGUERRE.  407 

country  for  a  short  time,  the  exhibition  might  be  managed,  I  think, 
to  your  pecuniary  advantage.  If  you  should  think  favorably  of  the 
plan,  I  offer  you  my  services  gratuitously.  In  the  mean  time  be- 
lieve me,  etc. 

"May  20,  1839." 

Daguerre  to  Morse. 

"Paris,  July  26,  1839. 

"  My  dear  Sie  :  I  have  received  with  great  pleasure  your  kind 
letter,  by  which  you  announce  to  me  my  election  as  an  honorary 
member  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design.  I  beg  you  will  be  so 
good  as  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  Academy,  and  to  say  that  I 
am  very  proud  of  the  honor  which  has  been  conferred  upon  me.  I 
shall  seize  all  opportunities  of  proving  my  gratitude  for  it. 

"  I  am  particularly  indebted  to  you  in  this  circumstance,  and  I 
feel  very  thankful  for  this  and  all  the  other  marks  of  interest  you 
bestowed  upon  me.  The  transaction  with  the  French  Government 
being  nearly  at  an  end,  my  discovery  shall  soon  be  made  public. 
This  cause,  added  to  the  immense  distance  between  us,  hinders  me 
from  taking  the  advantage  of  your  good  offer  to  get  up  at  New 
York  an  exhibition  of  my  results.  Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  your 
very  devoted  servant, 

"  Daguerre." 

Morse  to  Daguerre. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  of  July  last,  acknowledging  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  Academy  notification  of  your  election  as  an  honorary 
member  of  our  body,  has  been  received,  and  I  am  truly  rejoiced  that 
in  any  manner  we  have  been  able  to  gratify  one  who  has  conferred 
upon  the  world  so  great  a  boon.  Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  upon 
the  result  of  the  action  of  your  Government,  in  granting  the  pension 
so  ably  and  successfully  solicited  by  that  great  and  truly  high-minded 
man,  M.  Arago.  Your  nation,  sir,  by  acts  like  these,  shines  more 
brilliantly  than  by  her  achievements  in  arms.  Let  me  assure  you, 
that  in  this  country  the  remark  is  constantly  heard  in  connection 
with  your  most  popular  discovery,  '  How  nobly  the  French  Govern- 
ment has  acted  in  giving  this  secret  to  the  world  ! '  And  not  less  a 
subject  of  remark  is  the  moderation  of  your  own  demand  for  giving 
to  the  world  that  secret,  which,  but  for  your  disclosure,  would,  in 
all  probability,  have  remained  a  secret.  Ever  since  I  saw  your  ad- 
mirable results,  the  day  before  your  disastrous  loss,  I  have  felt  an 
absorbing  interest  in  it,  and  the  first  brochure  which  was  opened  in 


408  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

America  at  the  booksellers',  containing  jour  expose  of  your  process, 
I  possess.  I  have  been  experimenting,  but  with,  indifferent  success, 
mostly,  I  believe,  for  the  want  of  a  proper  lens.  I  hoped  to  be  able 
to  send  you  by  this  opportunity  a  result,  but  I  have  not  one  which 
I  dare  send  you.  You  shall  have  the  first  that  is  in  any  degree 
perfect.  Will  you  allow  me  so  far  to  trespass  on  your  kindness  as 
to  request  you  to  choose  for  me  two  lenses,  such  as  you  can  recom- 
mend ;  I  have  requested  my  friend  M.  Lovering,  of  the  firm  of 
Messrs.  Edward  &  Co.,  No.  9  Rue  de  Clery,  to  receive  them  and  pay 
for  them,  and  transmit  them  to  me.  If,  after  receiving  the  result 
which  I  will  send  you,  you  should  deem  it  worthy  of  an  exchange, 
I  need  not  say  how  gratified  I  should  be  to  receive  one  from  your 
own  hand,  either  for  myself  personally,  or  for  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Design. 

"  Any  communication  at  any  time  will  reach  me  through  the 
house  of  Messrs.  Edward  &  Co.,  9  Rue  de  Clery,  or  through  the 
ambassador  of  the  United  States.     Yours,  etc. 

''■November  16,  1839." 

His  artist  friends  and.  the  National  Academy  of  Design  were 
on  his  mind  and  in  his  heart,  while  the  Telegraph,  the  Photo- 
graph, and  his  own  profession  as  a  painter,  were  all  demanding 
his  attention  and  anxious  care.  Thomas  Sully  and  Washington 
Allston  acknowledged  his  letters,  in  which  he  tendered  to  them 
the  use  of  the  Academy's  gallery  for  the  exhibition  of  their 
paintings ;  and  Mr.  Allston  expressed  his  strong  anxieties  for 
the  success  of  his  friend  in  his  telegraphic  pursuits.  As  the 
Daguerreotype -was  not  patented,  but  was  free  to  all  who  would 
master  the  art,  a  large  number  of  young  men,  with  the  enter- 
prise of  American  youth,  flocked  to  Professor  Morse  to  be  in- 
structed in  the  mysteries  of  the  process,  that  they  might  trav- 
erse the  country  and  reap  the  first  fruits  of  its  introduction. 
Men  of  science,  also,  charmed  with  the  wonderful  results,  pur- 
sued the  subject  with  enthusiasm,  and  entered  into  correspond- 
ence with  Professor  Morse  as  the  father  of  the  art  in  the  United 
States.  Professor  E.  N.  Horsford  writes  to  him  from  Albany, 
November  18,  1840  : 

"  I  learn,  with  equal  astonishment  and  gratification,  that  you 
have  succeeded  in  taking  likenesses  in  ten  seconds  with  diffused 
light.     Pray  reveal  to  me  the  wondrous  discovery.     So  capricious 


BARON   GEROLT.  409 

has  our  sunlight  been,  that  we  have  done  very  little  since  I  last 
saw  you." 

During  several  years  immediately  succeeding,  Professor 
Morse  was  often  and  intently  engaged  in  the  improvement  of 
the  photographic  art,  giving  to  the  practical  operators  the  benefit 
of  his  studies  and  experiments.  Many  letters  addressed  to  him 
on  this  subject  indicate  the  amount  of  time  which  was  thus 
consumed.  Early  in  184.8  he  received  from  Baron  Gerolt  the 
following  translation  of  an  article  from  the  Prussian  Universal 
Gazette  (Allgemeine  Preussische  Zeitung),  December  21,  1847 : 

"  In  the  last  session  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  MM. 
Biot,  Arago,  and  Thenard,  reported  a  new  discovery  made  by  M. 
Niepce  de  Saint- Victor,  the  same  chemist  who  was  formerly  re- 
warded by  the  state,  together  with  Daguerre,  for  the  discovery  of 
the  Daguerreotype.  M.  Niepce  has  discovered  an  action  of  the 
iodine-vapors  upon  the  black  and  white  color  that  hitherto  had  been 
entirely  unknown.  When  he  caused  iodine-vapors  to  pass  over  a 
copperplate  print  or  a  lithography,  or  when  he  plunged  a  copper- 
plate print  or  a  lithography  in  a  solution  of  iodine-water,  the 
iodine  united  quicker  and  more  intensive  with  the  black  than  with 
the  white.  When  he  then  laid  the  original,  prepared  in  this  way, 
with  iodine,  upon  a  paper  lined  with  starch,  and  pressed  it,  the  iodine 
parted  from  the  black  and  united  with  the  starch,  so  that  now  the 
original  appeared  upon  the  starch-paper  in  its  most  delicate  shad- 
owings,  and  in  the  violet-blue  color  of  the  iodine.  When,  further- 
more, this  paper  was  pressed  upon  a  copperplate,  the  iodine  again 
parted  from  the  starch,  and  now  the  whole  drawing  (print)  was 
fixed  upon  the  copperplate  with  complete  exactness.  The  commis- 
sion, which  had  been  charged  by  the  Academy  with  the  examination 
of  the  discovery,  declared  that,  in  looking  at  these  exact  copies, 
nobody  could  keep  himself  from  the  highest  astonishment." 

But  nothing  diverted  Morse  from  the  one  great  object,  the 
perfection  of  his  Telegraph.  Distressed  by  the  long  delay  of 
intelligence  from  Russia,  and  still  more  grieved  at  the  indiffer- 
ence of  his  own  country  to  the  invention  which  was  to  shed 
lustre  upon  it,  as  well  as  upon  him,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Smith, 
August  12,  1839 : 

"I  received  yours  of  the  2d  instant,  and  the  paper  accompany- 


410  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

ing  it,  containing  the  notice  of  Mr.  Chamberlain.  I  had  previously 
been  apprised  that  my  forebodings  were  true  in  regard  to  his  fate. 
"We  shall  hear,  doubtless,  from  Mr.  Brown,  when  he  returns,  what 
was  done  by  Mr.  C.  in  regard  to  the  Telegraph  in  the  East.  Our 
enterprise  abroad  is  destined  to  give  us  anxiety,  if  not  to  end  in 
disappointment. 

"  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  M.  Amyot,  who  was  to  have 
been  my  companion  to  Russia,  and  learn  from  him  the  unwelcome 
news  that  the  emperor  has  decided  against  the  Telegraph.  I  have 
been  expecting  a  letter  from  the  Baron  Meyendorff  every  day,  for  M, 
Amyot  informs  me  that  he  intended  writing  to  me.  The  emperor's 
objections  were,  it  seems,  that  '  malevolence  can  easily  interrupt 
the  communication.'  M.  Amyot  scouts  the  idea,  and  writes  that 
he  refuted  the  objection  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  baron,  who,  in- 
deed, did  not  need  the  refutation  for  himself,  for  that  whole  matter 
was  fully  discussed  between  us  when  in  Paris.  The  baron,  I  should 
judge  from  the  tone  of  M.  Amyot's  letter,  was  much  disappointed ; 
yet,  as  a  faithful  and  obedient  subject  of  one  whose  nay  is  nay,  he 
wTill  be  cautious  in  so  expressing  himself  as  to  be  self-committed. 
Thus,  my  dear  sir,  prospects  abroad  look  dark.  I  turn  with  some 
faint  hope  to  my  own  country  again.  Will  Congress  do  any  thing  ? 
Or,  are  my  time,  your  generous  zeal,  and  pecuniary  sacrifice,  to  end 
only  in  disappointment  ?  If  so,  T  can  bear  it  for  myself,  but  I  feel  it 
more  keenly  for  those  who  have  been  engaged  with  me  for  years — 
for  the  Messrs.  Vail  and  Dr.  Gale.  But  I  will  yet  hope.  I  don't 
know  that  our  enterprise  looks  darker  than  Fulton's  once  appeared. 
There  is  no  intrinsic  difficulty — the  depressing  causes  are  extrin- 
sic. I  hope  to  see  you  soon,  and  talk  over  all  our  affairs.  You 
wish  me  to  bring  the  telegraph  with  me.  In  the  hope  of  doing 
this,  I  have  delayed  my  journey  for  some  days,  and  shall  endeavor 
to  bring  the  new  instrument,  which  has  been  unavoidably  retarded 
by  the  mechanician.  My  present  purpose  is  to  leave  for  the  East 
on  this  day  week  (Monday),  and  probably  by  Saturday  or  the  Mon- 
day following  may  see  you  in  Portland." 

Unavoidable  hinderances  intervened,  and  he  did  not  make 
his  promised  journey.     Mr.  Smith  says : 

"  The  allusion  made  in  the  letter  just  given,  to  the  fate  of  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  was  another  depressing  disappointment  which  occurred 
to  the  Professor  contemporaneously  with  those  of  the  Russian 
contract.     Before  I  left  Paris  we  had  closed  a  contract  with  Mr. 


TELEGEAPH  IN  EUROPE.  411 

Chamberlain  to  carry  the  telegraph  to  Austria,  Prussia,  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  Greece  and  of  Egypt,  and  put  it  upon  exhibition 
with  a  view  to  its  utilization  there.  He  was  an  American  gentle- 
man (from  Vermont,  I  think),  of  large  wealth,  of  eminent  business 
capacities,  of  pleasing  personal  address,  and  sustaining  a  character 
for  strict  integrity.  He  parted  with  Professor  Morse,  in  Paris,  to 
enter  upon  his  expedition,  with  high  expectations  of  both  pleasure 
and  profit,  shortly  after  my  own  departure  from  Paris,  in  October, 
1838.  He  had  subsequently  apprised  Professor  Morse  of  very  in- 
teresting exhibitions  of  the  telegraph  which  he  had  made,  and 
under  date  of  '  Athens,  January  5,  1839,'  wrote  as  follows : 

"  '  We  exhibited  your  telegraph  to  the  learned  of  Florence, 
much  to  their  gratification.  Yesterday  evening  the  King  and 
Queen  of  Greece  were  highly  delighted  with  its  performance.  We 
had  shown  it  also  to  the  principal  inhabitants  of  Athens,  by  all  of 
whom  it  was  much  admired.  Fame  is  all  you  will  get  for  it  in 
these  poor  countries.  We  think  of  starting  in  a  few  days  for 
Alexandria,  and  hope  to  get  something  worth  having  from  Mehemet 
Ali.  It  is,  however,  doubtful.  Nations  appear  as  poor  as  indi- 
viduals, and  as  unwilling  to  risk  their  money  upon  such  matters. 
I  hope  the  French  will  avail  themselves  of  the  benefits  you  offer 
them.  It  is  truly  strange  that  it  is  not  grasped  at  with  more 
avidity.  If  I  can  do  any  thing  in  Egypt,  I  will  try  Turkey  and 
St.  Petersburg.'  " 

In  trie  letter  communicating  trie  above  intelligence,  Pro- 
fessor Morse  also  wrote  as  follows : 

"  In  another  letter  from  Mr.  Chamberlain  to  Mr.  Lovering,  dated 
Syra,  January  9th,  he  says :  '  The  pretty  little  Queen  of  Greece  was 
delighted  with  Morse's  telegraph.  The  string  which  carried  the 
cannon-ball  used  for  a  weight  broke,  and  came  near  falling  on  her 
Majesty's  toes,  but  happily  missed,  and  we,  perhaps,  escaped  a 
prison.  My  best  respects  to  Mr.  Morse,  and  say  1  shall  ask  Me- 
hemet Ali  for  a  purse,  a  beauty  from  his  seraglio,  and  something 
else.'  I  will  add  that,  if  he  will  bring  me  the  purse  just  now,  I 
can  dispense  with  the  beauty  and  the  something  else." 

Early  in  July  of  the  same  year  intelligence  was  received  of 
a  fatal  calamity  that  occurred  on  the  Danube,  in  which  six  of  a 
select  party  of  nine  gentlemen  on  a  boat-excursion  of  pleasure 
were  drowned,  and  of  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  was  one.  On 
July  29,  1839,  Professor  Morse  wrote  as  follows : 


412  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  Our  hopes  from  that  quarter  are  thus  darkened  by  this  melan- 
choly event,  and  in  all  probability  (unless  Mr.  Brown,  when  he 
returns,  can  give  us  information)  we  shall  not  know  what  has  been 
done  with  the  Telegraph  in  Constantinople,  or  Egypt." 

These  numerous  discouragements  to  the  Professor's  ardent 
hopes  for  progress  with  the  Telegraph,  poverty,  the  failure 
of  the  Russian  contract,  the  annoyance  of  Dr.  Jackson's  pre- 
tensions to  the  invention,  the  progress  of  Wheatstone  in  Eng- 
land and  Steinheil  in  Bavaria,  with  their  rival  projects,  the 
death  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  the  East,  and  the  seeming  imper- 
turbable torpor  of  the  American  mind  on  the  Telegraph,  con- 
curred in  depressing  his  spirits  grievously,  and  there  were  times 
when  it  appeared  not  unlikely  that  he  would  sink  beneath  the 
accumulated  pressure  of  anxiety,  disappointment,  and  want. 

On  the  14th  of  November,  1839,  he  wrote  to  his  partner, 
Mr.  Yail,  in  these  despondent  words : 

"  As  to  the  Telegraph,  I  have  been  compelled  from  necessity  to 
apply  myself  to  those  duties  which  yield  immediate  pecuniary  re- 
lief. I  feel  the  pressure  as  well  as  others,  and,  having  several  pu- 
pils at  the  University,  I  must  attend  to  them.  Nevertheless,  I  shall 
hold  myself  ready  in  case  of  need  to  go  to  Washington  during  the 
next  session  with  it.  The  one  I  was  constructing  is  completed  ex- 
cept the  rotary  batteries,  and  the  pen-and-ink  apparatus,  which  I 
shall  soon  find  time  to  add  if  required. 

"  Mr.  Smith  expects  me  in  Portland,  but  I  have  not  the  means 
to  visit  him.  The  telegraph  of  Wheatstone  is  going  ahead  in  Eng- 
land, even  with  all  its  complication.  So  I  presume  is  the  one  of 
Steinheil  in  Bavaria.  Whether  ours  is  to  be  adopted  depends  on 
the  Government  or  on  a  company,  and  the  times  are  not  favorable 
for  the  formation  of  a  company.  Perhaps  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom 
to  let  the  matter  rest  and  watch  for  an  opportunity  when  times  look 
better,  and  which  I  hope  will  be  soon." 

And  to  Mr.  Smith  he  wrote  in  the  same  spirit,  November 
20,  1839 : 

"  I  feel  the  want  of  that  sum  which  Congress  ought  to  have  ap- 
propriated two  years  ago,  to  enable  me  to  compete  with  my  Euro- 
pean rivals.  Wheatstone  and  Steinheil  have  money  for  their  pro- 
jects, the  former  by  a  company,  and  the  latter  by  the  King  of  Bava- 


COOKE   AND   WHEATSTONE.  413 

ria.  Is  there  any  national  feeling  with  us  on  the  subject  ?  I  will 
not  say  there  is  not,  until  after  the  next  session  of  Congress.  But 
if  there  is  any  cause  for  national  exultation  in  being  not  merely  first 
in  the  invention  as  to  time,  but  best,  too,  as  decided  by  a  foreign 
tribunal,  ought  the  inventor  to  be  suffered  to  work  with  his  hands 
tied  ?  Is  it  honorable  to  the  nation  to  boast  of  its  inventors,  to  con- 
tend for  the  credit  of  their  inventions,  as  national  propert}',  and  not 
lift  a  finger  to  assist  them  to  perfect  that  of  which  the}7  boast?  But 
I  will  not  complain  for  myself — I  can  bear  it,  because  I  made  up  my 
mind  from  the  very  first  for  this  issue,  the  common  fate  of  all  invent- 
ors. But  I  do  not  feel  so  agreeable  in  seeing  those  who  have  in- 
terested themselves  in  it,  especially  yourself,  suffer  also.  Perhaps 
I  look  too  much  on  the  unfavorable  side.  I  often  thus  look,  not  to 
discourage  others,  or  myself,  but  to  check  those  too  sanguine  ex- 
pectations which,  with  me,  would  rise  to  an  inordinate  height  un- 
less thus  reined  in  and  disciplined. 

"  Shall  you  not  be  in  New  York  soon  ?  I  wish  much  to  see  you 
and  to  concoct  plans  for  future  operations.  I  am  at  present  much 
straitened  in  means,  or  I  should  yet  endeavor  to  see  you  in  Port- 
land ;  but  I  must  yield  to  necessity,  and  hope  another  season  to  be 
in  different  and  more  prosperous  circumstances. 

The  following  letter,  under  date  of  March  23,  1840,  in- 
closed copies  of  two  letters,  one  from  Mr.  Wm.  F.  Cooke,  and 
the  other  from  his  partner,  Professor  C.  Wheatstone,  the  invent- 
ors and  patentees  of  the  English  needle  system  of  Electric  Tele- 
graphs in  .England,  proposing  a  consolidation  of  the  two  sys- 
tems, Professor  Morse's  and  their  own,  in  the  United  States : 

"  I  send  you  copies  of  two  letters  just  received  from  England. 
What  shall  I  say  in  answer?  Can  we  make  any  arrangements  with 
them  ?  Need  we  do  it  ?  Does  not  our  patent  secure  us  against 
foreign  interference  ?  Or  are  we  to  be  defeated  not  only  in  Eng- 
land, but  in  our  country,  by  the  subsequent  inventions  of  Wheat- 
stone  ?  I  feel  my  hands  tied.  I  know  not  what  to  say.  Do  advise 
immediately,  so  that  I  can  send  by  the  British  Queen,  which  sails 
on  the  1st  prox.  I  feel  that,  if  funds  and  a  company,  or  our  Gov- 
ernment, would  sustain  our  operations,  something  yet  could  be  made 
for  all  of  us.  The  success  of  Electric  Telegraphs  is,  you  perceive, 
put  beyond  doubt.  If  we  could  make  a  reciprocal  request  for  our 
Telegraph  for  England,  perhaps  it  would  do.  I  only  suggest  it. 
.    "  I  received  a  letter  from  M.  Amyot,  in  Paris,  a  few  days  ago, 


414  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.   MORSE. 

advising  me  that  he  had  constructed  one  of  ray  Telegraphs,  with 
some  improvements,  and  intrusted  it  to  the  Baron  Meyendorff,  at 
his  earnest  request,  to  carry  with  him  to  St.  Petersburg  to  show  it 
to  the  emperor.  I  also  received  a  line  from  the  baron,  asking  my 
approval  of  the  course  taken,  urging  that,  if  the  emperor  could  see 
it  in  action,  he  might  change  his  mind.  I  wrote  each  by  the  Great 
Western,  approving  the  course  taken,  not  having  time  to  advise  with 
any  of  my  associates  previous  to  writing." 

The  letters  of  Professor  Wheatstone  and  Mr.  Cooke  are  as 
follows : 

"  Sussex  Cottage,  near  London,  January  17,  1840. 
"Professor  F.  B.  Morse,  of  the  New  York  City  University,  JV.  Yl 

"  Sir  :  I  address  you  on  the  subject  of  the  Electro-Magnetic  Tele- 
graph, of  which,  as  you  are  aware,  Professor  Wheatstone  and  my- 
self are  patentees  in  this  country.  We  consider  that  its  efficacy 
and  value  are  now  fully  established  here.  It  is  in  constant  and  suc- 
cessful operation  for  a  distance  of  twelve  or  thirteen  miles  upon  the 
Great  Western  Railway,  and  we  are  about  to  lay  it  down,  under 
Mr.  Robert  Stevenson's  sanction,  upon  the  Blackwall  Railway,  a  line 
on  which  its  certainty  of  action  may  be  essential  to  the  success  of 
the  undertaking. 

"  It  has  always  been  our  wish  and  intention  to  introduce  this 
invention  into  the  United  States,  and  with  that  view  we  made 
arrangements  rather  more  than  two  years  ago  with  three  American 
gentlemen  for  taking  out  a  patent  there.  In  consequence  of  their 
not  having  done  so,  we  are  under  the  necessity  of  entering  into  a 
new  arrangement ;  and  I  have  therefore  to  propose  that  you  should 
join  us  upon  similar  terms,  viz.,  that  you  should  be  entitled  to  a 
half  share  of  our  American  patent,  upon  exerting  yourself  to  obtain 
it,  and  bearing  all  expenses  connected  with  the  invention  so  far  as 
regards  the  United  States.  Your  own  patent,  if  you  have  obtained 
one,  and  all  improvements  which  may  be  made  by  either  party  during 
either  patent-right,  should  be  put  upon  the  same  footing,  so  far  as 
regards  the  whole  continuance  of  any  United  States  patents  which 
may  be  obtained  for  them.  Should  you  be  disposed  to  entertain 
this  proposal,  it  will  probably  be  necessary  for  you  to  obtain  an  act 
of  Congress  to  sanction  the  granting  of  the  patent  later  than  six 
months  after  the  enrollment  of  the  specifications  of  our  English 
patents  of  1837  and  1838 ;  but  Mr.  Stevenson,  the  American  Minis- 
ter, thinks  that  such  an  act  might  be  obtained,  and  we  presume 


MR.  WHEATSTOKE'S  PROPOSAL.  415 

that  the  expense  of  it  would  be  inconsiderable  in  comparison  with 
the  value  of  the  invention. 

"  My  agreement  with  Mr.  Wheatstone  has  thrown  upon  me  the 
management  of  this  business ;  but  I  also  indorse  a  letter  which  he 
has  written  to  you  upon  the  same  subject.  Requesting  the  favor 
of  a  reply  at  your  early  convenience, 

"  I  remain  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Wm.  F.  Cooke." 

"  P.  S. — We  have  recently  obtained  a  third  English  patent  (it  is 
to  be  sealed  in  a  day  or  two)  for  very  important  improvements 
which  have  not  yet  been  specified,  so  important  indeed  that  we 
think  an  American  patent  for  them  alone  might  be  a  valuable  one. 

"  W.  F.  C." 

"King's  College,  London,  January  11,  1840. 
"  Professor  F.  B.  Morse,  New  York. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  For  the  reasons  mentioned  in  Mr.  Cooke's  letter, 
it  is  necessary  we  should  make  fresh  arrangements  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  improvements  on  the  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  for 
which  we  have  obtained  several  English  patents,  into  the  United 
States.  I  have  recommended  that  the  application  shall,  in  the  first 
instance,  be  made  to  you,  on  account  of  the  great  attention  you 
have  already  paid  to  the  same  subject,  and  that  you  might  have  the 
merit  of  introducing  into  America  the  only  invention  of  the  kind  of 
which  the  success  has  been  put  beyond  all  doubt.  It  is  our  pres- 
ent intention  to  take  out  a  patent  in  the  United  States  for  a  new 
Telegraph  arrangement  totally  different  to  that  you  have  seen, 
which  has  occupied  me  almost  entirely  during  the  last  twelve  months 
in  bringing  to  completion  ;  and  for  which,  with  other  improvements, 
we  have  just  obtained  a  new  English  patent.  This,  of  itself,  would 
be  extremely  valuable ;  but,  if  you  united  with  us  in  asking  for  the 
privilege,  less  difficulty  would  be  experienced  in  obtaining  an  act  of 
Congress  to  include  our  already  published  inventions,  which,  on  ac- 
count of  the  neglect  of  the  parties  with  whom  we  formerly  agreed, 
it  would  now  be  necessary  to  do ;  the  same  act  might  also  include 
whatever  you  have  done.  Mr.  Stevenson  informs  me  that  such  an 
act  will  be  readily  granted. 

"  If  any  agreement  should  be  entered  into  between  us,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  all  expenses  to  which  you  may  be  put,  in  obtaining  a 
patent  or  an  act  of  Congress,  would  be  deducted  from  the  first  pro- 
ceeds.    We  will  undertake  to  furnish  you  with  any  instruments  you 


416  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

may  require,  the  expenses  being  defrayed  by  yourself,  and  to  give 
you  every  information  our  experience  has  put  us  in  possession  of. 
"  I  remain,  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)  "  C.  Weeatstone." 

This  proposition,  was  declined  without  hesitation,  but  its  ef- 
fect was  to  stimulate  the  inventor  to  increased  diligence  to  se- 
cure his  rights,  and  to  bring  his  own  system  into  early  use.  As 
time  wore  away,  and  foreign  enterprise  in  European  countries 
slowly  pushed  the  feeble  systems  of  Wheatstone  and  Steinheil 
upon  the  public,  an  occasional  scintillation  of  interest  in  the  Tel- 
egraph in  this  country  shot  up  to  the  watchful  vision  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  reinspiring  hope,  but,  like  the  aurora  borealis,  again 
falling  from  sight  below  the  horizon.  The  following  letters  to 
Mr.  Smith  will  trace  some  of  these  tantalizing  flick erings  through 
his  mind : 

"August  16,  1841. — Our  Telegraph  matters  are  in  a  situation 
to  do  none  of  us  any  good,  unless  some  understanding  can  be  en- 
tered into  among  the  proprietors.  I  have  recently  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Isaac  N.  Coffin,  from  Washington,  with  a  commendatory 
letter  from  Hon.  R.  McClellan,  of  the  House.  Mr.  Coffin  proposes  to 
take  upon  himself  the  labor  of  urging  through  the  two  Houses  the 
bill  relating  to  nry  Telegraph,  which  you  know  has  long  been  before 
Congress.  He  will  press  it  and  let  his  compensation  depend  on  his 
success.  He  says  :  '  I  will  attend  to  the  claim  most  vigorously  at 
the  usual  compensation  of  a  commission  on  the  amount  in  case  it  is 
obtained,  and  if  not  obtained,  even  after  many  years  of  trouble, 
time,  expense,  and  fatigue,  nothing,  or  no  remuneration,  will  be 
asked  if  not  obtained.' 

"  I  have  also  other  propositions  from  private  individuals  to  put 
down  a  line  for  the  distance  of  about  120  miles ;  they  are  men  of 
capital  who  have  opened  their  eyes  to  the  advantages  of  the  enter- 
prise, and  I  know  not  what  to  say,  for  I  have  no  authority  to  act 
except  for  myself.  I  wish  I  could  see  you.  Would  it  not  be  well 
to  let  the  first  line  be  established  without  asking  patent  fees,  in  or- 
der to  encourage  others,  for,  if  one  line  is  successfully  established, 
others  will  follow,  and  the  enterprise  will,  after  so  long  delay,  pro- 
duce us  something  ?  Please  write  and  tell  me  what  to  do.  Give 
me  a  power  of  attorney  to  act  for  you,  if  you  cannot  come  on  con- 
veniently ;  I  promise  to  do  as  well  as  I  can,  and  yet  I  should  prefer 


CRIPPLED   IN   MEANS.  417 

to  have  your  business  tact  at  hand  to  see  that  I  did  not  defraud  my- 
self. 

"  You  may  wish  to  know  the  condition  of  the  instruments,  etc. 
I  have  the  instruments,  two  registers  and  two  correspondents,  nearly 
completed  at  my  brother's  expense,  who  owns  them,  but  will  of 
course  loan  them  as  long  as  we  wish,  or  sell  them  at  cost,  to  us,  for 
he  procured  them  solely  to  encourage  the  matter.  I  have  said 
nearly  completed.  The  instruments  want  the  mounting  of  the  mag- 
nets, pens,  paper-rolls,  etc.,  and  the  glass  cases  to  protect  the 
work  from  the  dust,  etc.  I  have  not  the  means  to  proceed  with 
them.  I  am  endeavoring  to  accumulate  a  little,  that  I  may  see  at 
least  one  line,  even  if  it  be  but  a  few  miles,  in  successful  operation. 
'  The  destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty ; '  so  says  Solomon, 
and  it  is  true.  But  I  think  there  is  land  ahead,  and,  if  the  matter 
could  but  be  pressed  in  the  proper  quarter,  we  should  each  of  us 
realize  all  that  the  most  sanguine  of  us  anticipated." 

"  December  3,  1841. — I  have  just  received  another  letter  from 
Mr.  Isaac  N.  Coffin,  from  Washington,  in  relation  to  the  Telegraph. 
I  gave  him  to  understand,  last  summer,  that  I  was  favorable  to  his 
propositions,  but  that  I  could  do  nothing  without  consulting  the 
other  proprietors.  From  you  I  received  a  definite  answer,  and 
power  to  propose  certain  terms,  but  not  from  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  who 
wished  to  consult  his  brother.  It  is,  perhaps,  my  fault  that  he  has 
not  answered  definitely,  as  I  perceive,  on  recently  reading  his  letter, 
he  waited  for  a  reply  to  my  letter,  so  I  have  not  a  power  of  attorney 
to  act  for  him.  From  Dr.  Gale  I  expect  one  in  a  few  days.  In- 
deed, my  dear  sir,  something  ought  to  be  done  to  carry  forward  this 
enterprise,  that  we  all  may  receive  what  I  think  we  all  deserve. 
The  whole  labor  and  expense  of  shoving  at  all  devolves  on  me,  and 
I  have  nothing  in  the  world.  Completely  crippled  in  means,  I  have 
scarcely  (indeed,  I  have  not  at  all)  the  means  to  pay  even  the  post- 
age of  letters  on  the  subject.  I  feel  it  most  tantalizing  to  find  that 
there  is  a  movement  in  Washington  on  the  subject — to  know  that 
Telegraphs  will  be  before  Congress  this  session,  and,  from  the  means 
possessed  by  Gonon  and  Wheatstone  (yes,  Wheatstone  who  suc- 
cessfully headed  us  in  England  !),  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  plans 
will  probably  be  adopted.  Wheatstone,  I  suppose  you  know,  has  a 
patent  here,  and  has  expended  a  thousand  dollars  to  get  every  thing 
prepared  for  a  campaign  to  carry  his  project  into  operation,  and,  more 
than  this,  his  patent  is  dated  before  mine  !  My  dear  sir,  to  speak  as 
I  feel,  I  am  sick  at  heart  to  perceive  how  easily  others,  foreigners, 
27 


418  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

can  manage  our  Congress,  and  can  contrive  to  cheat  our  country 
out  of  the  honor  of  a  discovery  of  which  the  country  boasts,  and 
our  countrymen  out  of  the  profits  which  are  our  due ;  to  perceive 
how  easily  they  can  find  men  and  means  to  help  them  in  their  plans, 
and  how  difficult,  nay,  impossible  for  us  to  find  either.  Is  it  really 
so  ?  Or  am  I  deceived  ?  What  can  be  done  ?  Do  write  imme- 
diately, and  propose  something.  Will  you  not  be  in  Washington 
this  winter  ?  Will  you  not  call  on  me  as  you  pass  through  New 
York,  if  you  do  go  ? 

"  Gonon  has  his  telegraph  on  the  Capitol,  and  a  committee  of 
the  Senate  reported  in  favor  of  trying  his  for  a  short  distance,  and 
will  pass  a  bill  this  session,  if  we  are  not  doing  something.  Some 
means,  somehow,  must  be  raised.  I  have  been  compelled  to  stop 
my  machine  just  at  the  moment  of  competition.  I  cannot  move  a 
step  without  running  in  debt,  and  that  I  cannot  do. 

"  As  to  the  company  that  was  thought  of  to  carry  the  Telegraph 
into  operation  here,  it  is  another  of  those  ignes  fatui  that  have  just 
led  me  to  waste  a  little  more  time,  money,  and  patience,  and  then 
vanished.  The  gentleman  who  proposed  the  matter  was  doubtless 
friendly  disposed,  but  he  lacks  judgment  and  perseverance  in  a 
matter  of  this  sort. 

"  If  Congress  would  but  pass  the  bill  of  thirty  thousand  dollars 
before  them,  there  would  be  no  difficulty.  There  is  no  difficulty  in 
the  scientific  or  mechanical  part  of  the  matter — that  is  a  problem 
solved.  The  only  difficulty  that  remains  is,  in  obtaining  the  funds 
which  Congress  can  furnish,  to  carry  it  into  execution.  I  have  a  great 
deal  to  say,  but  must  stop  for  want  of  time  to  write  more.  Every 
thing  done  by  me  in  regard  to  the  Telegraph  is  at  arm's-length.  I 
can  do  nothing  without  consultation,  and,  when  I  write  to  consult  on 
the  most  trivial  thing,  I  have  three  letters  to  write,  and  a  week  or 
ten  days  to  wait  before  I  can  receive  an  answer.  I  feel  at  times 
almost  ready  to  cast  the  whole  matter  to  the  winds,  and  turn  my 
attention  forever  from  the  subject.  Indeed,  I  feel  almost  induced 
at  times  to  destroy  the  evidences  of  priority  of  invention  in  my  pos- 
session, and  let  Wheatstone  and  England  take  the  credit  of  it.  For 
it  is  tantalizing  in  the  highest  degree  to  find  the  papers  and  the 
lecturers  boasting  of  the  invention  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  age, 
and  as  an  honor  to  America,  and  yet  to  have  the  nation,  by  its  rep- 
resentatives, leave  the  inventor  without  either  the  means  to  put  the 
invention  fairly  before  his  countrymen,  or  to  defend  himself  against 
foreign  attacks  !  If  I  had  the  means  in  any  way  of  support  in  Wash- 


PROFESSOR  HENRY.  419 

ington  this  winter,  I  would  go  on  in  the  middle  of  January  and 
push  the  matter ;  but  I  cannot  run  the  risk.  I  would  write  a  de- 
tailed history  of  the  invention,  which  would  be  an  interesting  docu- 
ment to  have  printed  in  the  congressional  documents,  and  establish 
beyond  contradiction  both  priority  and  superiority  of  my  invention. 
Has  not  the  Postmaster-General,  or  Secretary  of  War,  or  Treasury, 
the  power  to  pay  a  few  hundred  dollars  from  a  contingent  fund  for 
such  a  purpose  ?  ' 

"  Whatever  becomes  of  the  invention  through  the  neglect  of 
those  who  could  but  will  not  lend  a  helping  hand,  you,  my  dear 
sir,  will  have  the  reflection  that  you  did  all  in  your  power  to  aid 
me,  arid  I  am  deterred  from  giving  up  the  matter  as  desperate,  most 
of  all  from  the  consideration  that  those  who  kindly  lent  their  aid 
when  the  invention  was  in  its  infancy,  would  suffer,  and  therefore 
I  should  not  be  dealing  right  by  them.  If  this  is  a  little  blue,  for- 
give it." 

During  the  absence  of  Professor  Morse  in  Europe  in  the 
winter  of  1838-39,  his  partner  Dr.  Gale  had  lent  to  Professor 
Henry,  of  Princeton,  a  reel  or  spool  of  Professor  Morse's  Tele- 
graph wire  five  miles  in  length,  with  which  Professor  Henry 
made  some  interesting  scientific  experiments  at  Princeton.  The 
results  of  these  were  reported  by  him  in  a  paper  read  before  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  November  2,  1838,  and  pub- 
lished early  in  1839,  under  the  title  of  "  Contributions  to  Elec- 
tricity and  Magnetism."  Says  Professor  Morse  :  "  On  my  return 
from  Europe,  I  found  awaiting  me  a  copy  of  Professor  Hen- 
ry's '  Contributions,'  directed  to  '  Professor  Morse,  with  the 
respects  of  the  author.'  I  had  returned  from  Europe  in  the 
expectation  of  proceeding  within  five  or  six  weeks  to  Russia, 
under  a  contract  with  a  Russian  Government  agent  in  Paris — 
the  Baron  Meyendorfl — to  establish  the  Telegraph  in  that  coun- 
try. Dr.  Gale,  my  confidential  scientific  friend,  had  sailed  for 
]STew  Orleans  on  the  very  day  of  my  return.  I  could  not  there- 
fore have  my  usual  consultations  with  him,  for  I  was  naturally 
anxious  to  review  and  revise  all  the  scientific  facts  that  lay  at 
the  foundation  of  my  invention,  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure, 
before  risking  in  a  foreign  country  either  my  own  or  my  coun- 
try's reputation  by  possible  failure.  In  this  conjuncture  I  wrote 
the  following  letter  to  Professor  Henry  : 


420  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  '  New  York,  April  24,  1839. 
" '  My  deab  Sie  :  On  my  return,  a  few  days  since,  from  Europe, 
I  found  directed  to  me,  through  your  politeness,  a  copy  of  your 
valuable  "  Contributions,"  for  which  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  warm- 
est thanks.  The  various  cares  consequent  upon  so  long  an  absence 
from  home,  and  which  have  demanded  my  more  immediate  attention, 
have  prevented  me  from  more  than  a  cursory  perusal  of  its  inter- 
esting contents  ;  yet  I  perceive  many  things  of  great  interest  to  me 
in  my  telegraphic  enterprise.  I  was  glad  to  learn,  by  a  letter  re- 
ceived in  Paris,  from  Dr.  Gale,  that  a  spool  of  five  miles  of  my  wire 
was  loaned  to  you,  and  I  perceive  that  you  have  already  made  some 
interesting  experiments  with  it.  In  the  absence  of  Dr.  Gale,  who 
has  gone  South,  I  feel  a  great  desire  to  consult  some  scientific  gen- 
tleman on  points  of  importance  bearing  upon  my  Telegraph  which 
I  am  about  to  establish  in  Russia,  being  under  an  engagement  with 
the  Russian  Government  agent  in  Paris  to  return  to  Europe  for 
that  purpose  in  a  few  weeks.  I  should  be  exceedingly  happy  to 
see  you,  and  am  tempted  to  break  away  from  my  absorbing  engage- 
ments here  to  find  you  at  Princeton.  In  case  I  should  be  able  to 
visit  Princeton  for  a  few  days,  a  week  or  two  hence,  how  should  I 
find  you  engaged  ?  I  should  come  as  a  learner,  and  could  bring  no 
"  contributions  "  to  your  stock  of  experiments  of  any  value,  nor  any 
means  of  furthering  your  experiments,  except,  perhaps,  the  loan  of 
an  additional  five  miles  of  wire  which  it  may  be  desirable  for  you 
to  have. 

" '  I  have  many  questions  to  ask,  but  should  be  happy,  in  your  reply 
to  this  letter,  of  an  answer  to  this  general  one  :  Have  you  met  with 
any  facts  in  your  experiments,  thus  far,  that  would  lead  you  to  think 
that  my  mode  of  Telegraphic  communication  will  prove  impracti- 
cable ?  So  far  as  I  have  consulted  the  savants  of  Paris,  they  have 
suggested  no  insurmountable  difficulties.  I  have,  however,  quite 
as  much  confidence  in  your  judgment,  from  your  valuable  experience, 
as  in  that  of  any  one  I  have  met  abroad.  I  think  that  you  have 
pursued  an  original  course  of  experiment,  and  discovered  facts  of 
more  value  to  me  than  any  that  have  been  published  abroad.  I 
will  not  trouble  you  at  this  time  with  my  questions  until  I  know 
your  engagements.  Accompanying  this  is  a  copy  of  a  report,  made 
by  the  Academy  of  Industry,  of  Paris,  on  my  Telegraph,  which  I 
beg  you  to  accept.  Believe  me,  dear  sir,  with  the  highest  respect, 
your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  '  Samuel  F.  B.  Moese. 
"  '  To  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  Princeton.''  " 


HENRY  TO  MORSE.  421 

"  To  this  letter  I  received  the  following  reply  : 

"  '  Princeton,  May  6,  1839. 

" '  Dear  Sir  :  Your  favor  of  the  24th  ult.  came  to  Princeton 
during  my  absence,  which  will  account  for  the  long  delay  of  my 
answer.  I  am  pleased  to  learn  that  you  fully  sanction  the  loan 
which  I  obtained  from  Dr.  Gale,  of  your  wire,  and  I  shall  be  happy 
if  any  of  the  results  are  found  to  have  a  practical  bearing  on  the 
Electrical  Telegraph.  It  will  give  me  much  pleasure  to  see  you  in 
Princeton  after  this  week  ;  my  engagements  will  not  then  interfere 
with  our  communications  on  the  subject  of  electricity.  During  this 
week  I  shall  be  almost  constantly  engaged  with  a  friend  in  some 
scientific  labors  which  we  are  prosecuting  together.  I  am  acquainted 
with  no  fact  which  would  lead  me  to  suppose  that  the  project  of 
the  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  is  impracticable ;  on  the  contrary, 
I  believe  that  science  is  now  ripe  for  the  application,  and  that  there 
are  no  difficulties  in  the  way,  but  such  as  ingenuity  and  enterprise 
may  obviate.  But  what  form  of  the  apparatus,  or  what  application 
of  the  power  will  prove  best,  can,  I  believe,  be  only  determined  by 
careful  experiment.  I  can  say,  however,  that,  so  far  as  I  am  ac- 
quainted with  the  minutige  of  your  plan,  I  see  no  practical  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  its  application  for  comparatively  short  distances ;  but 
if  the  length  of  the  wire  between  the  stations  be  great,  I  think  that 
some  other  modification  will  be  found  necessary,  in  order  to  develop 
a  sufficient  power  at  the  farther  end  of  the  line.  I  shall,  however, 
be  happy  to  converse  freely  with  you  on  these  points  when  we  meet. 
In  the  mean  time  I  remain,  with  much  respect,  yours,  etc., 

"  '  Joseph  Henry. 

"  '  To  Professor  Morse.' 

"  A  few  days  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  I  visited  him,  having 
prepared  beforehand  a  few  questions,  the  better  to  economize  his 
time : 

"  Questions  prepared  to  ash  Professor  Henry,  and  shown  him  in 
my  visit  May,  1839,  and  his  answers,  on  reading  them  to  him. 

"  '  1.  Have  you  any  reason  to  think  that  magnetism  cannot  be 
induced  in  soft  iron,  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  or  more, 
by  a  single  impulse,  or  from  a  single  battery  apparatus  ? '     '  No.' 

" '  2.  Suppose  that  a  horseshoe  magnet  of  soft  iron,  of  a  given 
size,  receive  its  maximum  of  magnetism  by  a  given  number  of  coils 
around  it,  of  wire,  or  of  ribbon,  and  by  a  given  sized  battery,  or 


422  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

number  of  batteries,  at  a  given  distance  from  the  battery,  does  a 
succession  of  magnets  introduced  into  the  circuit  diminish  the  mag- 
netism in  each  ? '     '  No.' 

" '  3.  Have  you  ascertained  the  law  which  regulates  the  proportion 
of  quantity  and  intensity  from  the  voltaic  battery,  necessary  to  over- 
come the  resistance  of  the  wire  in  long  distances,  in  inducing  mag- 
netism in  soft  iron  ? '     '  Ohm  has  determined  it.' 

"  '  4.  Is  it  quantity  or  intensity  which  has  most  effect  in  inducing 
magnetism  in  soft  iron  ?'  '  Quantity  with  short,  intensity  with  long 
wires.'  " 

A  few  days  after  receiving  Professor  Henry's  kind  invita- 
tion, Professor  Morse  went  to  Princeton,  and,  passing  the  after- 
noon and  evening  with  the  great  philosopher,  returned  the  next 
morning  to  New  York.  Previous  to  this  time  Professor  Morse 
had  successfully  operated  his  telegraph  in  New  York,  London, 
and  Paris,  before  the  most  learned,  scientific,  and  distinguished 
men  of  the  age.  Statesmen,  engineers,  philosophers,  and  me- 
chanics, had  minutely  examined  it,  and  pronounced  it  original, 
practicable,  and  successful.  Its  claims  had.  already  been  com- 
pared with  all  other  telegraphic  inventions,  and  its  superiority 
demonstrated  and  confessed.  Two  years  after  Professor  Morse 
first  consulted  with  Professor  Henry,  he  received  from  him  the 
following  letter : 

Professor  Henry  to  Professor  Morse. 

"  Princeton  College,  February  24,  1842. 
"My  dear  Sir:  I  am  pleased  to  learn  that  you  have  again 
petitioned  Congress,  in  reference  to  your  telegraph,  and  I  most 
sincerely  hope  you  will  succeed  in  convincing  our  representatives 
of  the  importance  of  the  invention.  In  this  you  may,  perhaps,  find 
some  difficulty,  since,  in  the  minds  of  many,  the  electro-magnetic 
telegraph  is  associated  with  the  various  chimerical  projects  con- 
stantly presented  to  the  public,  and  particularly  with  the  schemes 
so  popular  a  year  or  two  ago,  for  the  application  of  electricity  as  a 
moving  power  in  the  arts.  I  have  asserted,  from  the  first,  that  all 
attempts  of  this  kind  are  premature,  and  made  without  a  proper 
knowledge  of  scientific  principles.  The  case  is,  however,  entirely 
different  in  regard  to  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  Science  is 
now  fully  ripe  for  this  application,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt, 
if  proper  means  be  afforded,  of  the  perfect  success  of  the  invention. 


PROFESSOR  HENRY'S  OPINION.  423, 

"  The  idea  of  transmitting  intelligence  to  a  distance,  by  means 
of  electrical  action,  has  been  suggested  by  various  persons,  from  the 
time  of  Franklin  to  the  present ;  but  until  within  the  last  few  years, 
or  since  the  principal  discoveries  in  electro-magnetism,  all  attempts 
to  reduce  it  to  practice  were  necessarily  unsuccessful.  The  mere 
suggestion,  however,  of  a  scheme  of  this  kind  is  a  matter  for  which 
little  credit  can  be  claimed,  since  it  is  one  which  would  naturally 
arise  in  the  mind  of  almost  any  person  familiar  with  the  phenomena 
of  electricity ;  but  the  bringing  it  forward  at  the  proper  moment, 
when  the  developments  of  science  are  able  to  furnish  the  means 
of  certain  success,  and  the  devising  a  plan  for  carrying  it  into  prac- 
tical operation,  are  the  grounds  of  a  just  claim  to  scientific  reputa- 
tion as  well  as  to  public  patronage. 

"  About  the  same  time  with  yourself,  Professor  Wheatstone,  of 
London,  and  Dr.  Steinheil,  of  Germany,  proposed  plans  of  the  elec- 
tro-magnetic telegraph ;  but  these  differ  as  much  from  yours  as  the 
nature  of  the  common  principle  would  well  permit ;  and,  unless  some 
essential  improvements  have  lately  been  made  in  these  European 
plans,  I  should  peeeee  the  one  invented  by  yottesele. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  success,  I  remain,  with  much 
esteem,  yours  truly, 

"Joseph  Henry. 

"Professor  Morse." 

This  was  the  most  encouraging  communication  Professor 
Morse  received  during  the  dark  ages  between  1839  and 
1843. 

The  perfect  indifference  of  his  countrymen,  and  the  impos- 
sibility of  success  without  aid,  overwhelmed  him.  A  young 
artist  speaks  of  his  finding  the  rooms  of  Professor  Morse  while 
in  search  of  apartments  for  his  own  use : 

"In  the  spring  of  1841,1  was  searching  for  a  studio  in  which  to 
set  up  my  easel.  My  '  house-hunting '  ended  at  the  New  York 
University,  where  I  found  what  I  wanted  in  one  of  the  turrets  of 
that  stately  edifice.  When  I  had  fixed  my  choice,  the  janitor,  who 
accompanied  me  in  my  examination  of  the  rooms,  threw  open  a 
door  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  hall  and  invited  me  to  enter.  I 
found  myself  in  what  was  evidently  an  artist's  studio,  but  every 
object  in  it  bore  indubitable  signs  of  unthrift  and  neglect.  The 
statuettes,  busts,  and  models  of  various  kinds,  were  covered  with 
dust  and  cobwebs;  dusty  canvases  were  faced  to  the  wall,  and 


.424  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

stumps  of  brushes  and  scraps  of  paper  littered  the  floor.  The  only 
signs  of  industry  consisted  of  a  few  masterly  crayon  drawings  and 
little  luscious  studies  of  color  pinned  to  the  wall.  '  You  will  have 
an  artist  for  your  neighbor,'  said  the  janitor, '  though  he  is  not  here 
much  of  late ;  he  seems  to  be  getting  rather  shiftless,  he  is  wasting 
his  time  over  some  silly  invention,  a  machine  by  which  he  expects 
to  send  messages  from  one  place  to  another.  He  is  a  very  good 
painter,  and  might  do  well  if  he  would  only  stick  to  his  business; 
but,  Lord  ! '  he  added,  with  a  sneer  of  contempt, '  the  idea  of  telling 
by  a  little  streak  of  lightning  what  a  body  is  saying  at  the  other 
end  of  it ! '  Judge  of  my  astonishment  when  he  informed  me  that 
the  '  shiftless  individual,'  whose  foolish  waste  of  time  so  much  excited 
his  commiseration,  was  none  other  than  the  President  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design — the  most  exalted  position,  in  my  youthful 
artistic  fancy,  it  was  possible  for  mortal  to  attain — S.  F.  B.  Morse, 
since  much  better  known  as  the  inventor  of  the  Electric  Telegraph. 
But  a  little  while  after  this  his  fame  was  flashing  through  the 
world,  and  the  unbelievers  who  voted  him  insane  were  forced  to 
confess  that  there  was  at  least  '  method  in  his  madness.'  " 

General  Strother,  of  Virginia,  "Porte  Crayon,"  in  one  of 
bis  pen-pictnres,  shows  the  state  of  Professor  Morse's  private 
treasury  during  these  years : 

"  I  engaged  to  become  Morse's  pupil,  and  subsequently  went 
to  New  York  and  found  him  in  a  room  in  University  Place.  He 
had  three  other  pupils,  and  I  soon  found  that  our  professor  had 
very  little  patronage.  I  paid  my  fifty  dollars ;  that  settled  for  one 
quarter's  instruction.  Morse  was  a  faithful  teacher,  and  took  as  much 
interest  in  our  progress  as — more,  indeed,  than — we  did  ourselves. 
But  he  was  very  poor.  I  remember  that  when  my  second  quarter's 
~pa,y  was  due  my  remittance  from  home  did  not  come  as  expected, 
and  one  day  the  professor  came  in,  and  said,  courteously : 

"  '  Well,  Strother,  my  boy,  how  are  we  off  for  money  ? ' 

"  '  Why,  professor,'  I  answered,  '  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  have  been 
disappointed ;  but  I  expect  a  remittance  next  week.' 

"  '  Next  week ! '  he  repeated,  sadly ;  '  I  shall  be  dead  by  that 
time.' 

"'Dead,  sir?' 

",'  Yes,  dead  by  starvation ! ' 

"  I  was  distressed  and  astonished.     I  said,  hurriedly : 

"  '  Would  ten  dollars  be  of  any  service  ? ' 


THE   LOWEST  POINT.  425 

"  '  Ten  dollars  would  save  my  life ;  that  is  all  it  would  do.' 

"  I  paid  the  money,  all  that  I  had,  and  we  dined  together.  It 
was  a  modest  meal,  but  good,  and,  after  he  had  finished,  he  said : 

"  '  This  is  my  first  meal  for  twenty-four  hours.  Strother,  don't 
be  an  artist.  It  means  beggary.  Your  life  depends  upon  people 
who  know  nothing  of  your  art,  and  care  nothing  for  }'ou.  A  house- 
dog lives  better,  and  the  very  sensitiveness  that  stimulates  an  artist 
to  work,  keeps  him  alive  to  suffering.' 

"  I  remained  with  Professor  Morse  three  years,  and  then  we 
separated.  Some  time  afterward  I  met  him  on  Broadway,  one 
day.  He  was  about  the  same  as  before,  a  trifle  older,  and  somewhat 
ruddier.  I  asked  him  how  he  was  getting  along  with  his  painting, 
and  he  told  me  that  he  had  abandoned  it ;  that  he  had  something 
better,  he  believed ;  and  told  me  about  the  proposed  telegraph.  I 
accompanied  him  to  his  room,  and  there  found  several  miles  of  wire 
twisted  about,  and  the  battery,  which  he  explained  to  me.  His 
pictures,  finished  and  unfinished,  were  lying  about  covered  with 
dust.  Shortly  afterward  Congress  made  an  appropriation,  and 
Morse  was  on  the  high-road  to  wealth  and  immortality." 

Professor  Morse's  letters  to  Mr.  Tail,  during  this  crisis  in 
the  life  of  the  Telegraph  and  its  inventor,  are  full  of  the  same 
fears  and  hopes  that  were  revealed  in  those  to  Mr.  Smith.  He 
says: 

"  I  have  been  compelled  to  apply  myself  to  those  duties  which 
yield  immediate  pecuniary  relief.  I  feel  the  pressure  as  well  as 
others,  and  having  several  pupils  at  the  University  I  must  attend 
to  them.  Nevertheless,  I  shall  hold  myself  ready  to  go  to  Wash- 
ington during  the  next  session  with  the  instrument.  The  one  I 
was  constructing  is  completed,  except  the  rotary  batteries  and  the 
pen-and-ink  apparatus,  which  I  shall  soon  find  time  to  adapt  if  re- 
quired. I  hear  not  a  word  from  Mr.  Smith,  and  have  not  for  sev- 
eral months ;  he,  perhaps,  expects  me  in  Portland,  but  I  have  not 
the  means  to  visit  him.  The  telegraph  of  Wheatstone  is  going- 
ahead  in  England,  even  with  all  its  complications.  So  I  presume 
is  the  one  of  Steinheil  in  Bavaria.  Whether  ours  is  to  be  adopted 
depends  on  the  Government,  or  on  a  company,  and  the  times  are. 
not  favorable  for  the  formation  of  a  company.  Perhaps  it  is  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  let  the  matter  rest,  and  watch  for  an  opportunity 
when  times  look  better,  and  which  I  hope  will  be  soon. 

"  September  7,  1840. — I  am  tied  hand  and  foot  through  the  day 


426  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

endeavoring  to  realize  something  from  the  Daguerreotype  portrait. 
.  .  .  As  to  the  telegraph  I  know  not  what  to  say.  I  suppose  some- 
thing might  be  done  in  Washington  next  session,  if  I  or  some  of 
you  would  go  on,  but  I  have  expended  so  much  time  in  vain  there 
and  in  Europe,  that  I  feel  almost  discouraged  from  pressing  it  any 
further — only,  however,  from  want  of  funds.  I  have  none  myself, 
and  I  dislike  to  ask  of  the  rest  of  you.  You  are  all  so  scattered, 
that  there  is  no  consultation,  and  I  am  under  the  necessity  of 
attending  to  duties  which  will  give  me  the  means  of  living. 
The  reason  of  its  not  being  in  operation  is  not  the  fault  of  the  in- 
vention^ nor  is  it  my  neglect — my  faith  is  not  only  unshaken  in  its 
eventual  adoption  throughout  the  world,  but  it  is  confirmed  by 
every  new  discovery  in  the  science  of  electricity." 

The  year  1840  was  made  memorable  in  the  history  of  the 
American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  by  the  actual  issue  of 
the  first  patent  to  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse.  In  the  spring  of  the 
year  Professor  Morse  addressed  this  letter  to  the  Commissioner 
of  Patents,  his  old  friend  and  classmate : 

"  New  York,  May  2,  1840. 
"  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth,  Commissioner,  etc. 

"My  dear  Sir:  I  have  never  received  my  patent-papers  from 
your  office.  I  believe  there  was  something  to  be  done  on  my  part, 
in  relation  to  a  drawing  for  one  of  the  duplicates,  which  I  was  pre- 
vented from  accomplishing  by  the  necessity  of  preparing  suddenly 
for  my  visit  to  Europe,  with  the  Telegraph.  I  have  nearly  com- 
pleted an  improved  apparatus,  for  which  I  intend  to  take  out  a 
patent,  adding  it  to  my  patent  already  executed,  as  an  improvement. 
I  should  long  since  have  visited  Washington  with  my  apparatus, 
and  asked  for  some  action  upon  the  matter  by  Congress,  but  for  the 
low  state  of  financial  affairs,  private  and  public.  So  far  as  the  ap- 
probation of  the  scientific  and  mechanical  world  goes,  I  have  had 
the  gratification  of  having  it  loudly  and  substantially  expressed, 
that  my  Telegraph  is  the  best  of  all  that  had  been  examined.  But 
while  in  England  the  very  complicated  and  deficient  apparatus  of 
Wheatstone  is  carried  into  operation  by  a  wealthy  company  for 
thirteen  miles,  and  is  in  further  progress,  and  while  the  Telegraph 
of  Steinheil,  at  Munich,  is  adopted,  and  is  carried  into  effect  by 
the  Bavarian  Government,  I  am  fettered  and  prevented  from  bring- 
ing the  American  Telegraph  {the  first  invented,  as  dates  conclu- 
sively show,  and  the  best,  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  best  judges 


THE  FIRST   PATENT.  427 

of  the  case  here  and  in  Europe,  as  I  can  also  show)  into  operation 
for  want  of  a  little  assistance  from  our  Government.  I  was  first 
encouraged  to  offer  my  Telegraph  to  the  Government  by  letters 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  drawing  my  attention  to  the 
subject,  then  by  the  report  of  the  committees  in  Congress,  to  whom 
the  subject  was  referred,  and  by  the  report  of  a  bill  for  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  test  its  practicability.  .  I  have  been  hoping  that  an  inven- 
tion which  is  to  succeed  just  as  surely  as  steam-traveling  has  suc- 
ceeded, an  invention  which  is  truly  an  American  invention,  would 
be  in  a  sense  adopted  by  the  Government,  and  an  opportunity  given 
me  to  bring  it  forth,  in  full  operation,  to  the  honor  of  the  country. 
I  have  spent  time,  strength,  and  money,  to  accomplish  this ;  have 
been  exercised  with  the  alternate  hopes  and  disappointments  of  an 
inventor ;  and,  unless  something  is  done  to  help  me  forward,  the 
more  wealthy  Englishmen  will  have  it  4n  their  power  not  merely  to 
deprive  me  of  the  profit  of  my  discovery  in  my  own  country,  as  they 
have  already  in  their  own,  by  a  gross  act  of  injustice,  but,  as  in  the 
case  of  Halley's  quadrant,  the  Telegraph  will  be  an  English,  not  an 
American  invention. 

"  I  could  tell  you  a  long  story  on  this  point,  but  long  stories  are 
not  for  gentlemen  in  official  stations,  who  have  their  time  often  too 
thoughtlessly  consumed  by  the  intrusion  of  time-killers.  Please  tell 
me  what  I  am  to  do  in  order  to  have  my  letters-patent  for  the 
Telegraph,  and  I  will  do  it. 

"  Your  old  friend  and  classmate, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Moese." 

The  Commissioner  returned  this  answer  : 

"  Patent-Office,  May  14,  1840. 

"  Sir  :  The  specifications  and  drawings  of  your  alleged  improve- 
ment, in  the  mode  of  communicating  signals  by  the  application  of 
Electro-Magnetism,  are  herewith  returned  to  you,  the  explanatory 
reference  in  the  same  not  being  sufficient  to  properly  illustrate  the 
invention.  Some  annotations,  pointing  out  the  parts  where  these 
are  wanting,  are  marked  in  pencil  in  the  margin  of  the  description. 

"  Your  favor  of  the  2d  inst.  has  been  received,  in  reply  to  which 
the  office  has  to  state  that  the  delay  attending  the  granting  of  your 
application  has  not  been  caused  by  any  want  of  attention  on  its 
part.  Some  two  years  since,  when  your  patent  was  about  being 
issued,  a  request  was  made  by  you  that  the  case  might  be  post- 
poned, until  you  should  have  received  letters-patent  from  the  Euro- 


428  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

pean  governments.  This  request  was  complied  with ;  and,  as  no 
communication  has  been  received  from  you  since,  in  relation  to  the 
issuing  of  the  patent,  the  case  has  been  permitted  to  lie  over.  The 
patent  will  be  issued,  however,  immediately  on  the  return  of  the 
papers.  H.  L.  Ellsworth. 

"  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  New  York  City,  N.  Y." 

The  corrections  suggested  by  the  Commissioner  having  been 
made,  and  the  duplicate  set  of  drawings  prepared,  Mr.  Morse 
returned  them  to  the  Patent-Office,  with  this  letter  to  the  Com- 
missioner : 

"  New  York,  May  18,  1840. 
"  Dear  Sir  :  I  herewith  return  j'ou  the  specifications  of  my 
telegraphic  invention,  which  you  sent  me  to  correct,  and  to  add  a 
duplicate  set  of  drawings.  I  hope  all  will  be  found  correct.  My 
improvements  shall  be  specified  and  accompanied  with  drawings, 
and  sent  you  as  soon  as  I  can  complete  the  new  apparatus,  which 
is  in  progress,  and  which  I  hoped  to  have  had  the  pleasure  of  show- 
ing you  in  Washington  this  spring.  But  it  is  now  so  late  in  the 
session,  and  you  are  all  so  engaged  at  headquarters  in  fighting  the 
presidential  battle,  that  I  fear  my  lightning  will  not  have  a  fair 
chance  till  next  fall.  Hoping  to  see  you  at  the  class  meeting  in 
New  Haven,  in  August  next,  to  celebrate  our  thirty  years  exit  from 
college,  I  remain  truly  as  ever,  your  friend  and  classmate, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

"  Patent-Office,  May  26,  1840. 
"Sir:  On  reviewing  the  specification  of  your  Magnetic  Tele- 
graph, before  ordering  the  case  to  issue,  a  slight  defect  has  been 
found  in  the  oath,  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  correct,  and  which, 
on  the  previous  examination,  escaped  the  attention  of  the  examiner. 
The  defect  in  the  oath  is  in  its  being  without  a  date :  the  blank 
left  for  that  purpose  never  having  been  filled  up.  And  as  it  might 
affect  the  validity  of  your  patent,  were  the  office  to  let  it  pass  in 
its  present  form,  your  better  plan  will  be  to  make  a  new  affidavit, 
which  must  be  taken  before  the  mayor  or  recorder  of  your  city,  as 
justices  of  the  peace  in  your  State  are  not  authorized  to  administer 
general  oaths.  It  would  be  well,  also,  were  you  to  make  the  al- 
teration in  the  specifications  suggested  in  the  note,  which  you  have 
made  in  the  margin  of  it,  as  it  would  make  the  description  more 
clear.  Henry  L.  Ellsworth." 


TAKING  OUT  A  PATENT.  429 

This  is  the  affidavit  annexed  to  the  petition  or  application 
for  the  patent,  and  description  and  specification  of  the  inven- 
tion, which  it  was  supposed  was  defective  : 

"United  States  of  America,  ) 

"District  op  Columbia,  County  op  Washington,  J 

"  On  this  day  of  ,  1838,  before  the  subscriber,  a 

justice  of  the  peace  in  and  for  said  county,  personally  appeared 
the  within-named  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  and  made  solemn  oath  that 
he  believes  himself  to  be  the  first  and  original  inventor  of  the  sev- 
eral parts,  and  application  thereof,  of  the  American  Electro-Mag- 
netic telegraph,  above  mentioned  and  described  in  the  specification 
of  claims  thereto  by  him  subscribed,  and  that  he  does  not  know  or 
believe  that  the  same  was  ever  before  known  or  used,  and  that  he 
is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

"  0.  H.  Wiltberger,  Justice  of  the  Peace." 

On  receiving  this  letter,  a  new  affidavit  was  made,  and  the 
certificate  thereof  added  upon  the  documents  so  returned  for 
the  purpose,  immediately  following  the  original  affidavit,  in  these 
words : 

"  County  of  New  York,  ss. 

"  On  this  29th  day  of  May,  1840,  before  the  subscriber,  the 
Mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  personally  appeared  the  within- 
named  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  and  made  solemn  oath  that  he  believes 
himself  to  be  the  first  and  original  inventor  of  the  several  parts  and 
applications  thereof,  of  the  American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph 
above  mentioned  and  described  in  the  specification  of  claim  thereto 
by  him  subscribed,  and  that  he  does  not  know  or  believe  that  the 
same  was  ever  before  known  or  used,  and  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States.  Isaac  L.  Variak,  Mayor." 

The  direction  being  complied  with,  the  papers  were  returned 
by  Mr.  Morse  on  the  same  day  the  affidavit  was  made  and  certi- 
fied. The  patents  were  then  issued,  as  already  stated.  These 
formalities  and  vexatious  delays  are  thus  minutely  rehearsed  for 
the  special  benefit  of  future  inventors. 

Professor  Morse,  in  applying  to  his  partners  for  their  con- 
sent to  an  arrangement  with  an  agent,  had  spoken  with  great 
freedom  of  the  desperate  state  of  his  affairs.  To  Mr.  Yail  he 
wrote: 


430  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   P.    B.    MORSE. 

"  New  York,  December  13,  1841. 
"  I  am  endeavoring  to  do  something  with  the  Telegraph  at 
Washington,  but  am  much  embarrassed  for  want  of  a  power  of 
attorney  from  you,  to  act  for  you  in  this  matter.  The  prospects  of 
doing  any  thing  with  a  company  here,  which  seemed  to  dawn  for  a 
few  moments  last  summer,  have  vanished.  I  am  now  in  treaty 
with  the  person  whom  I  mentioned  to  you  in  my  letter  last  sum- 
mer— Mr.  Coffin,  at  Washington,  who  offers  his  services  to  get  the 
bill  through  Congress,  which  was  reported  by  the  Committee  of 
Commerce  some  years  ago  when  we  were  in  Washington.  I  have 
written  to  Mr.  Smith,  and  he  assents  to  any  arrangement  I  may 
make.  Dr.  Gale  also  assents.  I  wish  you  would,  therefore,  em- 
power me  on  your  part  to  conclude  the  arrangement  with  Mr. 
Coffin.  He  comes  well  recommended,  as  understanding  his  busi- 
ness, and  he  asks  ten  per  cent,  if  he  gets  the  bill  through  all  the 
stages ;  nothing,  if  he  does  not  succeed.  As  matters  now  stand, 
can  we  do  better  ?  We  all  seem  somewhat  crippled,  and  I  most 
of  all,  being  obliged  to  superintend  the  getting  up  of  a  set  of  ma- 
chinery complete,  and  to  make  the  greater  part  myself,  and  without 
a  cent  of  means.  I  am  now  at  work  upon  it,  and  for  the  purpose 
cf  lecturing  upon  it.  If  I  should  get  it  completed,  I  may  visit  you 
with  it  in  Philadelphia  some  time  before  the  winter  closes.  Mr. 
Smith  is  without  means,  and  cannot  advance  any  thing.  He  sug- 
gests that  if  I  could  raise  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  to  enable  me 
to  visit  Washington  with  the  new  machines,  it  would  be  well,  and 
he  assented  to  my  receiving  the  first  receipts  from  the  Telegraph  to 
repay  the  sum.  If  I  give  my  time  and  attention  to  the  matter,  is  it 
not  fair  that  I  should  receive  a  compensation  ?  All  the  burden  now 
rests  on  my  shoulders,  after  years  of  time  devoted  to  the  enter- 
prise, and  I  am  willing,  so  far  as  I  am  able,  to  bear  my  share,  if  the 
other  proprietors  will  lend  a  helping  hand,  and  give  me  facilities  to 
act,  and  a  reasonable  recompense  for  my  services  in  case  of  success. 
Please  answer  by  return  of  mail,  as  I  cannot  write  definitely  to  Mr. 
Coffin  until  I  hear  from  you,  and  he  ought  to  know  immediately, 
that  he  may  act  without  delay,  for  there  are  two  plans  that  inter- 
fere with  ours  that  will  be  entertained  by  Congress,  and  their  agents 
are  on  the  ground,  and  busy.  It  is  necessary  that  our  agent  should 
break  ground  at  once." 

The  letter  which  Mr.  Morse  addressed  to  Mr.  Coffin,  after 
the  assent  of  the  partners  was  obtained,  will  show  the  principle 


TERMS  WITH  THE  AGENT.  431 

by  whicli  lie  was  governed.  He  offers  to  give  the  agent  one- 
half  all  he  (Morse)  should  receive  from  his  invention,  until 
Coffin  has  received  a  sum  equal  to  five  per  cent,  of  the  appro- 
priation for  the  experimental  Telegraph.  The  Professor  was  to 
pay  from  his  own  subsequent  receipts  the  expenses  of  the  agent, 
instead  of  allowing  the  agent  to  receive  a  portion  of  the  appro- 
priation. 

"  New  York,  December  23,  1841. 

"  Deak  Sir  :  I  have  just  received  yours  of  the  21st  inst.,  and 
I  have  also  received  answers  and  authority  from  the  different  pro- 
prietors of  the  Telegraph,  to  agree  to  give  you,  which  I  hereby 
agree  to  do,  one-half  of  all  I  receive  from  the  Government,  either 
for  my  personal  services,  or  for  purchase-money  of  the  patent-right, 
until  you  shall  have  received  five  per  cent,  on  the  sum  which  Con- 
gress shall  appropriate  at  their  present  session  for  the  purpose  of 
testing  my  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  provided  you  shall  succeed 
in  getting  the  bill  through  all  its  stages  till  it  becomes  a  law. 

"  I  send  you  herewith  the  report  of  the  French  Academy  of  In- 
dustry, in  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  commission  appointed  by 
them  to  examine  my  Telegraph  not  only  give  it  the  preference  over 
Wheatstone's,  but  they  recommend  that  my  name  be  presented  to 
the  Committee  of  Premiums  for  reward,  which  was  done,  and  at 
the  annual  meeting  the  great  medal  of  honor  was  voted  me  for  the 
invention. 

"I  have  much  which  is  important  bearing  on  the  subject,  but 
which  it  will  require  a  little  time  to  prepare — such,  for  example,  as 
the  opinion  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment to  examine  and  report  on  all  the  plans  of  electric  telegraphs 
which  had  been  submitted  to  the  Government,  among  which  was 
Wheatstone's,  and,  after  careful  examination,  they  recommend  mine 
1  as  the  simplest  and  the  best.''  I  will  prepare  a  paper  for  you 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  How  soon  will  it  do?  I  have,, 
say,  over  one  hundred  of  these  French  reports,  which,  perhaps, 
might  be  distributed  in  Congress  to  advantage.  If  you  will  desig- 
nate to  whom  they  may  be  sent,  on  a  printed  list  of  members  which 
may  be  sent  me,  I  will  send  a  copy  to  such  as  you  mark." 

In  giving  his  consent  to  the  proposed  arrangement  with 
Coffin,  Mr.  Alfred  Yail  had  written  to  Professor  Morse  a  week 
before  this  last  letter  was  sent,  and  had  said : 


432  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  I  have  recently  given  considerable  thought  to  the  subject  of 
the  Telegraph,  and  was  intending  to  get  permission  of  you,  if  there 
is  any  thing  to  the  contrary  in  our  articles  of  agreement,  to  build 
for  myself  and  my  private  use  a  telegraph  upon  your  plan.  Now  I 
should  be  glad  to  have  your  assent  to  it.  It  would  be  some  time 
before  I  could  make  it  at  any  rate,  and  therefore  can  do  the  gen- 
eral cause  no  harm.  I  will  write  to  my  brother  that  I  give  my 
assent  for  him  to  give  you  the  power  of  attorney  to  act  for  us.  I 
hope  there  will  be  no  embarrassment  thrown  in  the  way  of  your 
and  our  ultimate  success  in  the  Telegraph.  I  should  be  very  much 
pleased  to  have  you  come  to  Philadelphia,  and  make  your  stay  at 
my  house,  and  I  will  endeavor  to  render  you  every  assistance  in 
my  power." 

In  the  course  of  his  answer,  Professor  Morse  says  to  Mr. 
Yail: 

"  I  have  to  do  all  the  labor  of  the  whole  enterprise  at  present, 
and  have  not  a  cent  of  money  in  the  world.  I  am  giving  my  time 
and  skill  in  getting  the  instrument  in  order  to  act  in  case  it  is  re- 
quired at  Washington,  and  I  think  it  but  fair  that  I  should  have 
my  burdens  made  as  light  as  possible.  You  can  see  in  a  moment 
that  if  I  have  to  write  to  all  the  scattered  proprietors  of  the  Tele- 
graph every  time  any  movement  is  made,  what  a  burden  falls  upon 
me  both  of  expense  of  time  and  money,  which  I  cannot  afford.  In 
acting  for  nry  own  interest  in  this  matter,  I,  of  course,  act  for  the 
interest  of  all.  If  we  can  get  that  thirty  thousand  dollars  bill  through 
Congress,  the  experiment  (if  it  can  any  longer  be  called  such)  can 
then  be  tried  on  such  a  scale  as  to  insure  its  success.  You  ask  per- 
mission to  make  a  telegraph  for  your  own  use.  I  have  no  objection. 
But,  before  you  commence  one,  I  think  you  had  better  see  me,  and 
the  improvements  which  I  have  made,  and  I  can  suggest  a  few 
more,  rather  of  an  ornamental  character,  and  some  economical 
arrangements  which  may  be  of  use  to  you.  I  thank  you  for  your 
kind  invitation,  and  when  I  come  to  Philadelphia  shall  A  Vail  my- 
self of  your  politeness.  I  suppose  by  this  time  you  have  a  brood 
of  chickens  around  you.  Well,  go  on  and  prosper.  As  for  me  I 
am  not  well,  am  much  depressed  at  times,  and  have  many  cares, 
anxieties,  and  disappointments,  in  which  I  am  aware  I  am  not  alone. 
But  all  will  work  for  the  best  if  we  only  look  through  the  cloud 
and  see  a  kind  Parent  directing  all.  This  reflection  alone  cheers 
me,  and  gives  me  renewed  strength.' 


FAILURE   OF   THE   AGENT.  433 

The  business '  was  put  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Coffin,  who 
spent  the  winter  in  prosecuting  it.  But  the  energy  and  tact,  of 
which  he  had  spoken  so  confidently  in  his  letters  to  Professor 
Morse,  amounted  to  nothing.  The  only  means  that  he  proposed 
to  employ,  or  was  allowed  to  employ,  were  argument  and  per- 
suasion, and  these  were  lost  upon  the  minds  of  members.  The 
session  of  1841-42  wore  away  and  the  Telegraph  was  untouched. 
In  the  early  part  of  this  dismal  year,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
giving  him  a  commission,  Professor  Morse  discloses  the  secret 
sorrow  over '  an  old  misfortune,  from  which  he  never  fully  re- 
covered.    He  said : 

"  Your  letter,  containing  a  draft  for  three  hundred  dollars,  I  re- 
ceived yesterday,  for  which  accept  my  sincere  thanks.  I  have  hesi- 
tated about  receiving  it  because  I  had  begun  to  despair  of  ever  being 
able  to  touch  the  pencil  again.  The  blow  I  received  from  Congress 
when  the  decision  was  made  concerning  the  pictures  for  the  Rotun- 
da, has  almost  destroyed  my  enthusiasm  for  my  art,  or  rather  I 
should  say  turned  it  into  a  different  channel,  laboring  for  the  younger 
artists,  that  they  may  not  have  the  same  kind  of  obstacles  to  over- 
come, against  which  I  have  contended.  In  this  I  find  indeed  great 
pleasure,  so  far  as  my  art  is  concerned.  I  have  not  painted  a  pict- 
ure since  that  decision,  and  I  presume  that  the  mechanical  skill  I 
once  possessed  in  the  art  has  suffered  by  the  neglect.  I  may  pos- 
sibly recover  my  skill,  and  if  any  thing  will  tend  to  this  end  it  is  the 
consciousness  of  having  the  sympathy  of  those  who  can  understand 
the  circumstances  that  have  operated  against  me. 

"  When  I  applied  to  paint  one  of  the  Rotunda  pictures,  I  was 
in  my  full  vigor.  I  had  just  returned  from  three  years'  hard  study 
in  Italy,  which  I  considered  as  completing  my  studies  as  an  historical 
painter,  and  felt  a  consciousness  of  ability  to  execute  a  work  credit- 
able to  my  country.  I  hazarded  every  thing  almost  for  this  single 
object.  "When  so  unexpectedly  I  was  repelled,  I  staggered  under 
the  blow.  I  have  endeavored  in  every  way  to  prevent  its  effects 
upon  my  mind,  but  it  is  a  thorn  which  perpetually  obtrudes  its 
point,  and  would  goad  me  to  death  were  it  not  for  its  aspect  in  the 
light  of  God's  overruling  providence.     Then  all  is  right." 

In  the  summer  of  1842  Professor  Morse  communicated  to 
the  Hon.  W.  W.  Boardman,  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  the  encouraging  letter  from  Professor 
28 


434  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

Henry,  of  February  24, 1842,  which  has  been  previously  copied. 
Again  he  wrote : 

Professor  Morse  to  Mr.  Boardman. 

"  New  York,  August  10,  1842. 

"  My  deae  Sir  :  I  inclose  you  a  copy  of  the  Tribune,  in  which 
you  will  see  a  notice  of  my  Telegraph.  I  have  showed  its  opera- 
tion to  a  few  friends  occasionally  within  a  few  weeks  ;  among  others 
to  Professor  Henry,  of  Princeton  (a  copy  of  whose  letter  to  me  on 
this  subject  I  sent  you  some  time  since)  ;  he  had  never  seen  it  in 
operation,  but  had  only  heard  from  description  the  principle  on 
which  it  is  founded.  He  is  not  of  an  enthusiastic  temperament, 
but  exceedingly  cautious  in  giving  an  opinion  on  scientific  inven- 
tions, yet  in  this  case  he  expressed  himself  in  the  warmest  terms, 
and  told  my  friend  Dr.  Chilton  (who  informed  me  of  it)  that  he  had 
just  been  witnessing  the  operation  of  the  most  beautiful  and  ingen- 
ious instrument  he  had  ever  seen.  Indeed,  since  I  last  wrote  you, 
I  have  been  wholly  occupied  in  perfecting  its  details,  and  making 
myself  familiar  with  the  whole  system.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of 
doubt  as  to  its  performing  all  that  I  have  promised  in  regard  to  it, 
and  indeed  all  that  has  been  conceived  of  it.  Few  can  understand 
the  obstacles  arising  from  want  of  pecuniary  means  that  I  have  had 
to  encounter  the  past  winter. 

"To  avoid  debt  (which  I  will  never  incur)  I  have  been  com- 
pelled to  make  with  my  own  hands  a  great  part  of  my  machinery, 
but  at  an  expense  of  time  of  very  serious  consideration  to  me.  I 
have  executed  in  six  months  what  a  good  machinist,  if  I  had  the 
means  to  employ  him,  would  have  performed  in  as  many  weeks,  and 
performed  much  better. 

"  I  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  show  my  perfected  instrument  in 
Washington  long  before  this,  and  was  (until  this  morning)  contem- 
plating its  transportation  thither  next  week.  The  news  just  received 
of  the  proposed  adjournment  of  Congress  has  stopped  my  prepara- 
tions, and  interposes,  I  fear,  another  year  of  anxious  suspense. 

"  Now,  my  dear  sir,  as  your  time  is  precious,  I  will  state  in  few 
words  what  I  desire.  The  Government  will  eventually,  without 
doubt,  become  possessed  of  this  invention,  for  it  will  be  necessary 
from  many  considerations,  not  merely  as  a  direct  advantage  to  the 
Government  and  public  at  large,  if  regulated  by  the  Government, 
but  as  a  preventive  of  the  evil  effects  which  must  result  if  it  be  a 
monopoly  of  a  company.     To  this  latter  mode  of  remunerating  my- 


LETTER   TO   MR.  BOARDMAN.  435 

self  I  shall  be  compelled  to  resort  if  the  Government  should  not  even- 
tually act  upon  it.  You  were  so  good  as  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
House  to  the  subject  by  a  resolution  of  inquiry,  early  in  the  session. 
I  wrote  you  some  time  after,  requesting  a  stay  of  action  on  the  part 
of  the  committee,  in  the  hope  that  long  before  this  I  could  show 
them  the  Telegraph  in  Washington,  but,  just  as  I  am  ready,  I  find 
that  Congress  will  adjourn  before  I  can  reach  Washington,  and  put 
the  instrument  in  order  for  their  inspection.  Will  it  be  possible,  be- 
fore Congress  rises,  to  appropriate  a  small  sum,  say  thirty-five  hun- 
dred dollars,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to 
put  my  Telegraph  in  operation  for  the  inspection  of  Congress  the 
next  session  ?  If  Congress  will  grant  this  sum,  I  will  engage  to 
have  a  complete  Telegraph  on  my  electro-magnetic  plan  between 
the  President's  house,  or  one  of  the  departments,  and  the  Capitol 
and  the  Navy- Yard,  so  that  instantaneous  communication  can  be 
held  between  these  three  points  at  pleasure,  at  any  time  of  day  or 
night,  at  any  season,  in  clear  or  rainy  weather,  and  ready  for  their 
examination  during  the  next  session  of  Congress,  so  that  the  whole 
subject  may  be  fairly  understood.  I  believe  that,  did  the  great 
majority  of  Congress  but  consider  seriously  the  results  of  this  in- 
vention of  the  Electric  Telegraph  on  all  the  interests  of  society ; 
did  they  suffer  themselves  to  dwell  but  for  a  moment  on  the  vast 
consequences  of  the  instantaneous  communication  of  intelligence 
from  one  part  to  the  other  of  the  land  in  a  commercial  point  of  view, 
and  as  facilitating  the  defenses  of  the  country,  which  my  invention 
renders  certain,  they  would  not  hesitate  to  pass  all  the  acts  neces- 
sary to  secure  its  control  to  the  Government.  I  ask  not  this  until 
they  have  thoroughly  examined  its  merits,  but  will  they  not  assist  me 
in  placing  the  matter  fairly  before  them  ?  Surely  so  small  a  sum  to 
the  Government  for  so  great  an  object  cannot  reasonably  be  denied. 

"  I  hardly  know  in  what  form  this  request  of  mine  should  be 
made.  Should  it  be  by  petition  to  Congress  ?  or  will  this  letter 
handed  in  to  the  committee  be  sufficient  ?  If  a  petition  is  required 
for  form's  sake  to  be  referred  to  the  committee  to  report,  shall  I  ask 
the  favor  of  you  to  make  such  petition  in  proper  form  ?  You  know, 
my  dear  sir,  just  what  I  wish,  and  I  know,  from  the  kind  and  friend- 
ly feeling  you  'have  shown  toward  my  invention,  I  may  count  on 
your  aid.  If  on  your  return  you  stop  a  day  or  two  in  New  York,  I 
shall  be  glad  to  show  you  the  operation  of  the  Telegraph  as  it  is. 

"  With  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 
"  Hon.  W.  W.  Boardman,  Washington." 


436  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Boardman  replied. : 

"  House  of  Representatives,  August  12,  1842. 
"  Deae  Sie  :  Yours  of  the  10th  is  received.  I  had  already  seen 
the  notice  of  your  Telegraph  in  the  Tribune,  and  was  prepared  for 
such  a  report.  This  is  not  the  time  to  commence  any  new  project 
before  Congress.  We  are,  I  trust,  within  ten  days  of  adjournment. 
There  is  no  prospect  of  a  tariff  this  session,  and,  as  that  matter  ap- 
pears settled,  the  sooner  Congress  adjourns  the  better.  The  sub- 
ject of  your  Telegraph  was  some  months  ago,  as  you  know,  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  and  by  that  committee  it  was  re- 
ferred to  Mr.  Ferris,  one  of  the  members  of  that  committee,  from 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  who,  by-the-way,  is  now  at  home  in  the 
city,  and  will  be  glad  to  see  you  on  the  subject.  I  cannot  give  you  his 
address,  but  you  can  easily  find  him.  The  Treasury  and  the  Gov- 
ernment are  both  bankrupt,  and  that  foolish  Tyler  has  vetoed  the 
tariff  bill — the  House  is  in  bad  humor,  and  nothing  of  the  kind  you 
propose  could  be  done.  The  only  chance  would  be  for  the  Commit- 
tee on  Commerce  to  report  such  a  plan,  but  there  would  be  little  or 
no  chance  of  getting  such  an  appropriation  through  this  session.  I 
have  much  faith  in  your  plan,  and  hope  you  will  continue  to  push  it 
toward  Congress.  Truly  yours,  etc., 

"  W.  W.  BOAEDMAN. 

"  Professor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  New  York." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Smith,  in  July  of  this  year  (1842),  he  com- 
municates the  most  important  results  of  his  experiments  with  a 
greater  length  of  wire  than  he  had  ever  used  before.  And  the 
encouragement  he  received  from  Professor  Henry  is  here  an- 
nounced with  intense  satisfaction.     He  said : 

4 

"  You  are  doubtless  desirous  of  knowing  what  progress  is  made 
in  the  telegraphic  enterprise.  I  have  been  compelled,  for  want  of 
means,  to  proceed  very,  very  slowly,  and  to  great  disadvantage,  in 
maturing  the  instruments  for  a  fair  exhibition  of  its  powers  to  Con- 
gress, and,  although  I  have  devoted  all  my  time  for  nearly  a  year 
past  in  the  hope  of  proceeding  to  Washington  before  the  close  of 
the  session,  and  by  a  fresh  effort  to  induce  Congress  to  grant  me  an 
appropriation  sufficient  at  least  to  show  them  the  us*e  of  the  Tele- 
graph for  a  short  distance,  I  have  been  unable  to  complete  the 
correspondent,  solely  for  want  of  funds,  and  have  many  times  been 
tempted  to  give  up  the  whole  matter,  not  from  any  difficulty  inher- 
ent in  the  invention  itself,  but  from  the  accumulation  of  extraneous 


EESULT  OF  EXPERIMENTS.  437 

obstacles  to  so  heavy  an  amount  that  it  seemed  utterly  impossible 
to  move  another  step.  I  have  oftentimes  risen  in  the  morning,  not 
knowing  where  the  means  were  to  come  from  for  the  common 
expenses  of  the  day.  Reflect  one  moment  on  my  situation  in 
regard- to  the  invention.  Compelled  from  the  first,  from  my  want 
of  the  means  to  carry  out  the  invention  to  a  practical  result,  to  ask 
assistance  from  those  who  had  means,  I  associated  with  me  the 
Messrs.  Vails  and  Dr.  Gale,  by  making  over  to  them,  on  certain  condi- 
tions, a  portion  of  the  patent-right.  These  means  enabled  me  to  carry 
it  successfully  forward  to  a  certain  point ;  at  this  point  you  were  also 
admitted  into  a  share  of  the  patent,  on  certain  conditions,  which 
carried  the  enterprise  forward  successfully  still  further ;  since  then 
disappointments  have  occurred,  and  disasters  to  the  property  of  every 
one  concerned  in  the  enterprise,  but  of  a  character  not  touching 
the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  invention  in  the  least,  }7et  bearing  on 
its  progress  so  fatally  as  for  several  years  to  paralyze  all  attempts 
to  proceed.  The  depressed  situation  of  all  my  associates  in  the 
invention  has  thrown  the  whole  burden  of  again  attempting  a 
movement  entirely  on  me.  With  the  trifling  sum  of  five  hundred 
dollars  I  could  have  had  my  instrument  perfected  and  before  Con- 
gress six  months  ago,  but  I  was  unable  to  run  the  risk,  and  I  there- 
fore chose  to  go  forward  more  slowly,  but  at  a  great  waste  of  time. 
In  all  these  remarks,  understand  me  as  not  throwing  the  least  blame 
on  any  individual.  I  believe  that  the  situation  in  which  you  all  are 
thrown  is  altogether  providential — that  human  foresight  could  not 
avert  it,  and  I  firmly  believe,  too,  that  the  delays,  tantalizing  and 
trying  as  they  have  been,  will,  in  the  end,  turn  out  to  be  beneficial. 
During  the  last  few  months  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  means 
which  Mr.  Samuel  Colt  has  had  at  his  command  in  experimenting 
with  wire  circuits  for  testing  his  submarine  batteries ;  also  to  test 
some  very  important  matters  in  relation  to  the  Telegraph.  I  loaned 
him,  in  the  first  instance,  my  two  reels  of  wire,  which,  by-the-by, 
is  reduced  to  eight  and  a  quarter  miles.  In  the  first  place,  the  wire 
was  taken  to  a  rope  walk,  and  stretched  back  and  forth,  keeping 
each  thread  at  least  six  inches  apart  from  its  neighbor,  in  order  to 
ascertain  if  the  coil  had  any  effect  in  the  result  we  obtained.  The 
experiments  were  highly  satisfactory,  the  magnetism  and  the  heat- 
ing effects,  which  latter  Mr.  Colt  desired,  being  apparently  stronger 
when  the  wire  was  stretched  out  than  when  in  coil.  We  also  found 
that  when  one  wire  was  coated,  the  other  might  be  naked,  and 
passed  to  any  distance. 


438  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  This  result  induced  Mr.  Colt  to  contract,  for  his  purposes,  for 
the  purchase  of  forty  miles  of  wire.  This  quantity,  with  two  that  he 
had  already  procured,  and  my  eight  miles,  make  fifty  miles  !  Twen- 
ty miles  have  already  been  finished,  and  we  have  experimented 
with  perfectly  satisfactory  results  on  this  distance.  In  a  few  days 
(it  may  be  weeks,  however)  he  expects  the  remainder,  when  we 
shall  pursue  our  experiments.  I  have  invented  a  battery  which  will 
delight  you :  it  is  the  most  powerful  of  its  size  ever  invented,  and 
this  part  of  my  telegraphic  apparatus  the  results  of  experiments 
have  enabled  me  to  simplify,  and  truly  to  perfect.  Dear  sir,  I  am 
just  now  in  a  dilemma  in  consequence  of  an  application  from  an 
energetic  and  enterprising  engineer,  Mr.  John  P.  Monroe,  who  is  so 
delighted  with  the  operation  of  the  telegraph  that  he  desires  to 
form  a  company,  and  at  once  put  it  in  operation  from  New  York  to 
Washington.  He  thinks  there  is  no  doubt  but  capital  could  be 
raised  for  this  purpose.  He  is  just  the  person  to  enter  upon  the 
plan,  and  Mr.  Monroe  is  a  substantial  man,  a  successful  contractor 
on  the  New  York  &  Erie  Railroad.  He  is  in  earnest,  and  I  prom- 
ised to  write  you  on  the  subject.  If  you  could  come  on  (and  ap- 
prise me  when  you  can  be  here),  I  will  endeavor  to  have  Mr.  Vail 
here  also,  and,  if  Dr.  Gale  is  on  the  spot,  we  could  put  all  our  mat- 
ters into  a  state  less  embarrassing  than  they  are  at  present.  It 
seems  to  me  that  there  is  now  an  opportunity  for  doing  something 
advantageous  to  all.  You  must  perceive  at  what  disadvantage  I  do 
business  when,  before  I  can  make  an}'  answer  to  queries  from 
persons  who  feel  disposed  to  take  hold  of  the  enterprise,  I  must 
write  two  or  three  letters  of  particulars  to  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  wait  days  for  an  answer.  The  necessity  of  our  Tele- 
graph is  made  evident  in  this  very  case.  If  you  had  in  your  parlor 
one  of  my  registers,  there  would  be  no  need  of  a  long  journey,  or 
of  waiting  three  or  four  days  for  an  answer.  In  brief,  I  can  say  that 
the  cost  per  mile  we  have  ascertained  to  be  as  follows,  and  the  wire 
you  will  perceive  is  to  be  tied  in  a  most  substantial  manner : 

Lead  pipe,  and  the  joinings  large  enough  to  contain  four  or  even 

eight  wires  per  mile .  .    $250  00 

Wire  completely  prepared,  by  winding  with  twine  saturated  in  tar 

and  in  India-rubber,  per  mile  ....•••* 150  00 

Passing  the  wire,  thus  prepared,  into  the  pipe,  per  mile 5  00 

Delivery  of  pipe  and  wire 10  00 

Excavation  and  filling  in  again,  about  one  thousand  yards,  per 

mile,  three  feet  deep 150  00 

At  fifteen  cents  per  yard,  laying  the  pipe 3  00 

$568  00 


ESTIMATE  OE  COSTS.  439 

— or  say,  in  round  numbers,  six  hundred  dollars  per  mile.  Mr.  Mon- 
roe proposes  that  a  company  be  formed  to  carry  the  Telegraph  into 
operation  from  New  York  to  Washington ;  that  about  ten  thousand 
dollars  be  raised  at  first  to  lay  it  down  as  far  as  Newark — nine 
miles;  that  the  certain  operation  of  it  at  this  distance  will  insure 
the  subscription  to  the  rest  of  the  stock  in  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
and  Baltimore ;  that  the  expenses  of  each  of  the  proprietors  should 
be  summed  up,  and  they  all  should  be  reimbursed  by  the  stock, 
which  he  thinks  would  give  confidence.  The  shares,  he  thinks, 
should  be  low,  in  order  to  interest  a  great  number  in  the  enterprise. 
Please  think  over  the  plan,  and  write  me  on  the  subject  immediate- 
ly, but  do  come  on,  if  possible.  Mr.  Monroe  will  be  in  the  city  a 
few  days  at  present,  and  I  wish  to  give  him  some  kind  of  rephy. 

"  Yours,  etc.,         S.  F.  B.  Morse." 

"  P.  S. — I  have  not  heard  a  word  from  Mr.  Coffin,  at  Washing- 
ton, since  I  saw  you.  I  presume  he  has  abandoned  the  idea  of  doing 
any  thing  in  the  time  we  proposed,  and  so  has  given  it  up.  Well, 
so  be  it — I  am  content. 

"  I  have  much  to  tell  you  of  the  most  gratifying  character  in  re- 
lation to  the  certainty  of  success,  and,  as  for  my  telegraphic  system, 
all  my  experiments  go  to  confirm  its  entire  practicability.  Professor 
Henry  visited  me  a  day  or  two  ago.  He  knew  the  principles  of  the 
Telegraph,  but  had  never  before  seen  its  operation.  He  told  a  gen- 
tleman, who  mentioned  it  again  to  me,  that  without  exception  it  was 
the  most  beautiful  and  ingenious  instrument  he  had  ever  seen.  He 
says  mine  is  the  only  truly  practical  plan.  He  has  been  experi- 
menting and  making  discoveries  on  celestial  electricity,  and  he 
says  that  Wheatstone  and  Steinheil's  Telegraph  must  so  be  influ- 
enced in  a  highly-electrical  state  of  the  atmosphere  as  at  times  to  be 
useless,  they  using  the  deflection  of  the  needle ;  while  mine,  from 
the  use  of  the  magnet,  is  not  subject  to  this  disturbing  influence.  I 
believe,  if  the  truth  were  known,  some  such  cause  is  operating  to 
prevent  our  hearing  more  of  their  telegraphs. 

"  Truly  your  friend,  etc.,  • 

"  S.  F.  B.  M. 
"New  York,  July  16,  1842." 

In  the  autumn  Professor  Morse  submitted  bis  telegraphic 
instrument  to  the  American  Institute,  and  the  following  report 
and  resolution  were  adopted  by  that  body  : 


440  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MOESE. 

Report  of  the  American  Institute  on  the  Mectro-Magnetic  Telegrcqih. 

New  York,  September  12,  1842. 
The  undersigned,  the  Committee  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  the 
American  Institute,  respectfully  report : 

That,  by  virtue  of  the  power  of  adding  to  their  numbers,  they 
called  to  their  aid  the  gentlemen  whose  names  are  hereunto  an- 
nexed, with  those  of  the  original  members  of  the  committee,  and 
proceeded  to  examine  Professor  Morse's  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph. 
Having  investigated  the  scientific  principles  on  which  it  is  founded, 
inspected  the  mechanism  by  which  these  principles  are  brought  into 
practical  operation,  and  seen  the  instruments  in  use  in  the  trans- 
mission and  return  of  various  messages,  they  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  is 
intended,  being  capable  of  forming  words,  numbers,  and  sentences, 
nearly  as  fast  as  they  can  be  written  in  ordinary  characters,  and  of 
transmitting  them  to  great  distances  with  a  velocity  equal  to  that 
of  light.  They,  therefore,  beg  leave  to  recommend  the  Telegraph 
of  Professor  Morse  for  such  testimonials  of  the  approbation  of  the 
American  Institute  as  may  in  its  judgment  be  due  to  a  most  im- 
portant practical  application  of  high  science,  brought  into  success- 
ful operation  by  the  exercise  of  much  mechanical  skill  and  ingenuity. 
All  which  is  respectfully  submitted : 

James  Renwick,  LL.  D., 
Prof.  Chem.  and  Nat.  Phil.,  Columbia  Col.,  N.  Y. 
John  W.  Draper,  M.  D., 
Prof.  Chem.  and  Min.,  University  City  of  New  York. 
William  H.  Ellet,  M.  D., 
Prof.  Chem.,  etc.,  Col.  of  Columbia,  S.  C. 
James  R.  Chilton,  M.  D., 

Chemistry,  etc.,  New  York. 
G.  C.  Schaeffer, 
Associate  Prof.  Chem.,  Columbia  College,  N.  Y. 
Edward  Clark. 
Charles  A.  Lee,  M.  D. 

Such  a  report  as  this  should  have  inspired  public  confidence 
in  the  invention,  but  it  did  not ;  and,  in  a  very  few  days  after 
it  was  made,  the  Professor  wrote  to  his  partner,  Mr.  Smith,  a 
letter  in  which  he  appears  on  the  point  of  abandoning  it  as  a 
hopeless  enterprise.  His  own  confidence  in  it  was  undiminished, 
but  it  must  perish  if  he  could  not  obtain  aid : 


SUBMARINE  EXPERIMENT.  441 

"  While,  so  far  as  the  invention  itself  is  concerned,  every  thing 
is  favorable,  I  find  myself  without  sympathy  or  help  from  any  who 
are  associated  with  me,  whose  interest  one  would  think  would  impel 
them  at  least  to  inquire  if  they  could  render  some  assistance.  For 
nearly  two  years  past,  I  have  devoted  all  my  time  and  scanty  means, 
living-  on  a  mere  pittance,  denying  myself  all  pleasures,  and  even 
necessary  food,  that  I  might  have  a  sum  to  put  my  Telegraph  into 
such  a  position  before  Congress  as  to  insure  success  to  the  common 
enterprise.  I  am  crushed  for  want  of  means,  and  means  of  so  tri- 
fling a  character,  too,  that  they  who  know  how  to  ask  (which  I  do 
not)  could  obtain  in  a  few  hours.  One  year  more  has  gone,  for 
want  of  these  means.  I  have  now  ascertained  that,  however  un- 
promising were  the  times  last  session,  if  I  could  but  have  gone  to 
Washington  I  could  have  got  some  aid  to  enable  me  to  insure  suc- 
cess at  the  next  session.  As  it  is,  although  every  thing  is  favorable, 
although  I  have  ho  competition,  and  no  opposition — on  the  con- 
trary, although  every  member  of  Congress,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  is 
favorable — }7et  I  fear  all  will  fail  because  I  am  too  poor  to  risk  the 
trifling  expense  which  my  journey  and  residence  in  Washington 
will  occasion  me.  I  will  not  run  in  debt,  if  I  lose  the  whole  mat- 
ter. So,  unless  I  have  the  means  from  some  source,  I  shall  be  com- 
pelled, however  reluctantly,  to  leave  it ;  and,  if  I  get  once  engaged 
in  my  proper  profession  again,  the  Telegraph  and  its  proprietors 
will  urge  me  from  it  in  vain.  No  one  can  tell  the  days  and  months 
of  anxiety  and  labor  I  have  had  in  perfecting  my  telegraphic  appa- 
ratus. For  want  of  means,  I  have  been  compelled  to  make  with 
my  own  hands  (and  to  labor  for  weeks)  a  piece  of  mechanism  which 
could  be  made  much  better,  and  in  a  tenth  part  of  the  time,  by  a 
good  mechanician,  thus  wasting  time — time  which  I  cannot  recall, 
and  which  seems  double-winged  to  me. 

"  '  Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick.'  It  is  true,  and  I  have 
known  the  full  meaning  of  it.  Nothing  but  the  consciousness  that 
I  have  an  invention  which  is  to  mark  an  era  in  human  civilization, 
and  which  is  to  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  millions,  would  have 
sustained  me  through  so  many  and  such  lengthened  trials  of  pa- 
tience in  perfecting  it." 

SUBMARINE   CABLE. 

During  the  summer  of  this  year  (1842),  Professor  Morse  bad 
been  making  great  preparations  for  an  experiment  destined  to 
give  wonderful  development  to  his  invention.     This  was  no  less 


442  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

than  a  submarine  wire,  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  current 
of  electricity  could  be  conducted  as  well  under  water  as  through 
the  air.  Of  this  he  had  entertained  no  doubt.  "  If  I  can  make 
it  work  ten  miles,  I  can  make  it  go  around  the  globe,"  was  a 
favorite  expression  of  his  in  the  infancy  of  his  enterprise.  But 
he  wished  to  prove  it.  He  insulated  his  wire  as  well  as  he  could 
with  hempen  strands  well  covered  with  pitch,  tar,  and  India-rub- 
ber. In  the  course  of  the  autumn  he  was  prepared  to  put  the 
question  to  the  test  of  actual  experiment.  The  wire  was  only 
the  twelfth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
annexed  engraving  of  the  lateral  and  end  sections  : 


The  copper  wire  is  represented  by  the  white  space  in  the  end- 
section.  About  two  miles  of  this,  wound  on  a  reel,  was  placed 
in  a  small  row-boat,  and,  with  one  man  at  the  oars  and  Professor 
Morse  at  the  stern,  the  work  of  paying  out  the  cable  was  com- 
menced. It  was  a  beautiful  moonlight  night,  and  those  who 
had  prolonged  their  evening  rambles  on  the  Battery  wondered, 
as  they  gazed  at  the  proceedings  in  the  boat,  what  kind  of  fishing 
the  two  men  could  be  engaged  in  that  required  so  long  a  line. 
In  somewhat  less  than  two  hours,  on  that  eventful  evening  of 
the  18th  of  October,  1842,  "the  cable"  was  laid.  Professor 
Morse  returned  to  his  lodgings  and  waited  with  some  anxiety 
the  time  when  he  should  be  able  to  test  the  experiment  fully 
and  fairly.  The  next  morning  the  New  Yorh  Herald  con- 
tained the  following  editorial  announcement : 

"mouse's  electro-magnetic  telegraph. 

"  This  important  invention  is  to  be  exhibited  in  operation  at  Cas- 
tle Garden  between  the  hours  of  twelve  and  one  o'clock  to-day.  One 
telegraph  will  be  erected  on  Governor's  Island,  and  one  at  the  Cas- 
tle, and  messages  will  be  interchanged  and  orders  transmitted  dur- 
ing the  day.  Many  have  been  incredulous  as  to  the  powers  of  this 
wonderful  triumph  of  science  and  art.  All  such  may  now  have  an 
opportunity  of  fairly  testing  it.  It  is  destined  to  work  a  complete 
revolution  in  the  mode  of  transmitting  intelligence  throughout  the 
civilized  worhV 

At  daybreak  the  Professor  was  on  the  Battery,  and  had  just 
demonstrated  his  success  by  the  transmission  of  three  or  four 


APPLICATION   TO   ME.  VAIL.  443 

characters  between  the  termini  of  the  line,  when  the  communica- 
tion was  suddenly  interrupted,  and  it  was  found  impossible  to 
send  any  messages  through  the  conductor.  The  cause  of  this  was 
explained  by  his  observing  no  less  than  seven  vessels  lying  along 
the  line  of  the  submerged  cable,  one  of  which,  in  getting  under 
way,  had  raised  it  on  her  anchor.  The  sailors,  unable  to  divine 
its  meaning,  hauled  in  about  two  hundred  feet  of  it  on  deck, 
and,  finding  no  end,  cut  off  that  portion,  and  carried  it  away 
with  them.  Thus  ended  the  first  attempt  at  submarine  tele- 
graphing. The  crowd  that  had  assembled  on  the  Battery  dis- 
persed with  jeers,  the  most  of  them  believing  they  had  been 
made  the  victims  of  a  hoax.  A  few  only,  and  the  patient  in- 
ventor was  one  of  the  very  few,  hoped  on,  while  the  prospect 
of  success  was  darkened  by  this  public  failure.  He  knew  that 
it  was  successful,  and  believed  the  world  would  yet  acknowledge 
it.  The  Professor  renewed  the  experiment  in  Washington,  in 
December,  by  carrying  his  wires  through  the  canal,  and  then 
with  perfect  success.  Both  of  these  experiments  are  mentioned 
in  detail  in  his  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  December 
23,  1844. 

The  Tails  had  been  among  his  best  friends,  and  were  still 
warmly  attached  to  him  and  his  work.  To  them  he  turned  in 
the  hope  of  obtaining  the  means  to  enable  him  to  go  to  Wash- 
ington, and  make  one  more  effort  to  secure  the  assistance  of 
Government.  To  his  application  for  a  small  sum  of  money,  he 
received  the  following  reply,  which  showed  him  very  clearly 
that,  hereafter,  his  only  reliance  must  be  on  Grod  and  himself : 

Hon.  George  Vail  to  Professor  Morse. 

"Speedwell  Iron-Works,  December  3,  1842. 
"  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  Esq. 

"  Dear  Sie  :  Your  favor  is  at  hand.  I  had  expected  that  my 
father  would  visit  you,  but  he  could  not  go  out  in  the  snow-storm 
of  Wednesday,  and,  if  he  had,  I  do  not  think  any  thing  could  in- 
duce him  to  raise  the  needful  for  the  prosecution  of  our  object.  He 
says  :  '  Tell  Mr.  Morse  that  there  is  no  one  that  I  would  sooner 
assist  than  him,  if  I  could,  but,  in  the  present  posture  of  my  affairs, 
I  am  not  warranted  in  undertaking  any  thing  more  than  to  make 
my  payments  as  they  become  due,  of  which  they  are  not  a  few.' 
He  thinks  that  Mr.  S might  soon  learn  how  to  manage  it ;  and, 


444  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

as  he  is  there,  it  would  save  a  great  expense.  I  do  not  myself  know 
that  he  could  learn ;  but,  as  my  means  are  nothing  at  the  present 
time,  I  can  only  wish  you  success,  if  you  go  on. 

"  I  am  yours  truly,  George  Vail." 

This  letter  cut  off  the  last  earthly  hope  of  the  disappointed 
and  despairing  inventor.  There  was  a  double  significance  in  its 
last  words.  Mr.  Tail  referred  merely  to  Professor  Morse's  wish 
to  go  on  to  Washington  to  make  his  last  appeal  for  Government 
assistance.  But,  to  his  sensitive  mind,  it  was  a  suggestion  that 
all  he  could  expect  of  aid  was  the  good  wishes  of  his  friends,  if 
he  were  to  go  on  with  his  fond  scheme  of  an  electric  telegraph 
•to  cover  the  earth.  Mr.  Coffin,  the  agent  who  had  promised  so 
much  aid,  and  had  been  so  unsuccessful  in  the  previous  session 
of  Congress,  renewed  his  application  to  be  again  employed.  But 
Professor  Morse  wrote  to  him  that  he  ha'd  determined  to  go  to 
Washington  himself,  and  that  he  believed  it  indispensable  to 
success  that  he  should  give  his  personal  attention  to  the  busi- 
ness. 

The  Hon.  C.  G.  Ferris,  of  New  York,  of  the  Committee  on 
Commerce,  having  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  Telegraph,  and 
fully  appreciating  its  prospective  value  to  the  world,  sought  to 
make  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  principles  and 
facts  involved,  that  he  might  intelligently  press  the  subject 
upon  the  attention  of  Congress.  At  his  request,  Professor 
Morse  wrote  the  following  letter  and  petition  : 

8.  F  B.  Morse  to  the  Hon.  C.  G.  Ferris. 

"  New  York,  December  6,  1842. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  give  you  a 
slight  history  of  my  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  since  it  was  pre- 
sented for  the  consideration  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1838. 

"  During  the  session  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Congress,  a  report  was 
made  by  the  Committee  on  Commerce  of  the  House,  which  con- 
cluded by  unanimously  submitting  a  bill  appropriating  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  for  the  purpose  of  testing  my  system  of  electro-mag- 
netic telegraphs.  The  pressure  of  business  at  the  close  of  that 
session  prevented  any  action  being  taken  upon  it. 

"  Before  the  session  closed,  I  visited  England  and  France,  for 
the  double  purpose  of  submitting  my  invention  to   the  test   of 


LETTER  TO   MR.  FERRIS.  445 

European  criticism,  and  to  secure  to  myself  some  remuneration  for 
my  large  expenditures  of  time  and  money  in  elaborating  my  inven- 
tion. In  France,  after  a  patent  had  been  secured  in  that  country, 
my  telegraph  first  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, and  its  operation  was  shown,  and  its  principles  were  ex- 
plained, by  the  celebrated  philosopher,  Arago,  in  the  session  of 
that  distinguished  body  of  learned  men,  on  September  10,  1838. 
Its  reception  was  of  the  most  enthusiastic  character.  Several  other 
societies,  among  which  were  the  Academy  of  Industry  and  the 
Philotechnic  Society,  appointed  committees  to  examine  and  report 
upon  the  invention,  from  all  of  which  I  received  votes  of  thanks, 
and  from  the  former  the  large  medal  of  honor.  The  French  Gov- 
ernment at  this  time  had  its  attention  drawn  to  the  subject  of 
electric  telegraphs,  several  systems  having  been  presented  for  its 
consideration,  from  England,  Germany,  and  France.  Through  the 
kind  offices  of  our  minister  at  the  French  Court,  General  Cass,  my 
telegraph  was  also  submitted ;  and  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  (M. 
Montalivet)  appointed  a  commission,  at  the  head  of  which  was 
placed  M.  Alphonse  Foy,  the  administrator-in-chief  of  the  tele- 
graphs of  France,  with  directions  to  examine  and  report  upon  all 
the  various  systems  which  had  been  presented.  The  result  of  this 
examination  (in  which  the  ingenious  systems  of  Professor  Wheat- 
stone,  of  London,  of  Professor  Steinheil,  of  Munich,  and  Professor 
Masson,  of  Caen,  passed  in  review)  was  a  report  to  the  minister  in 
favor  of  mine.  In  a  note  addressed  to  me  by  M.  Foy,  who  had  ex- 
pressed his  warmest  admiration  of  my  telegraph  in  my  presence,  he 
thus  writes : 

"  '  I  take  a  true  pleasure  in  confirming  to  you  in  writing  that 
which  I  have  already  had  the  honor  to  say  to  you  viva  voce,  that  I 
have  prominently  presented  (signale)  to  monsieur  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior  your  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  as  being  the  system 
which  presents  the  best  chance  of  a  practical  application ;  and  I 
have  stated  to  him  that,  if  some  trials  are  to  be  made  with  electric 
telegraphs,  I  hesitate  not  to  recommend  that  they  should  be  made 
with  your  apparatus.' 

"  In  England  my  application  for  a  patent  for  my  invention  was 
opposed  before  the  Attorney-General  by  Professor  Wheatstone  and 
Mr.  Davy,  each  of  whom  had  systems  already  patented,  essentially 
like  each  other,  but  very  different  from  mine.  A  patent  was  denied 
me  by  the  Attorney-General,  Sir  John  Campbell,  on  a  plea  which  I 
am  confident  will  not  bear  a  legal  examination.     But  there  being 


446  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

no  appeal  from  the  Attorney-General's  decision,  nor  remedy,  ex- 
cept at  enormous  exjjense,  I  am  deprived  of  all  benefit  from  my 
invention  in  England.  Other  causes  than  impartial  justice  evi- 
dently operated  against  me.  An  interest  for  my  invention,  how- 
ever, sprung  up  voluntarily,  and  quite  unexpectedly,  among  the 
English  nobility  and  gentry  in  Paris,  and,  had  I  possessed  the 
requisite  funds  to  prosecute  my  rights  before  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, I  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  secure  them,  so  powerfully 
was  I  supported  by  this  interest  in  my  favor ;  and  I  should  be  un- 
grateful did  I  not  take  every  opportunity  to  acknowledge  the  kind- 
ness of  the  several  noblemen  and  gentlemen  who  volunteered  to 
aid  me  in  obtaining  my  rights  in  England,  among  the  foremost  of 
whom  were  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  the  late  celebrated  Earl  of  Elgin, 
and  the  Hon.  Henry  Drummond. 

"  I  returned  to  the  United  States  in  the  spring  of  1839,  under 
an  engagement  entered  into  in  Paris  with  the  Russian  Councilor 
of  State,  the  Baron  Alexandre  de  Meyendorf,  to  visit  St.  Peters- 
burg with  a  distinguished  French  savant,  M.  Amj'ot,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  my  telegraphic  system  in  that  country.  The 
contract,  formally  entered  into,  was  transmitted  to  St.  Petersburg, 
for  the  signature  of  the  emperor,  which  I  was  led  to  believe  would 
be  given  without  a  doubt ;  and,  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  my 
preparations,  the  contract,  duly  signed,  was  to  be  transmitted  to 
me  in  New  York,  through  the  Russian  ambassador  in  the  United 
States,  in  four  or  five  weeks,  at  farthest,  after  my  arrival  home. 

"  After  waiting,  in  anxious  suspense,  for  as  many  months,  with- 
out any  intelligence,  I  learned  indirectly  that  the  emperor,  from 
causes  not  satisfactorily  explained,  refused  to  sign  the  contract. 

"These  disappointments  (not  at  all  affecting  the  scientific  or 
practical  character  of  my  invention),  combined  with  the  financial 
depression  of  the  country,  compelled  me  to  rest  a  while  from  fur- 
ther prosecuting  my  enterprise.  For  the  last  two  years,  however, 
under  many  discouraging  circumstances,  from  want  of  the  requisite 
funds  for  more  thoroughly  investigating  some  of  the  principles  in- 
volved in  the  invention,  I  have,  nevertheless,  been  able  to  resolve 
all  the  doubts  that  lingered  in  my  own  mind,  in  regard  to  the  per- 
fect practicability  of  establishing  my  telegraphic  system  to  any 
extent  on  the  globe.  I  say,  'doubts  that  lingered  in  my  own 
mind ; '  the  principle,  and  indeed  the  only  one  of  a  scientific  char- 
acter, which  at  all  troubled  me,  I  will  state,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  has  been  resolved  : 


FAVORABLE   EXPERIMENTS.  447 

"  At  an  early  stage  of  my  experiments,  I  found  that  the  mag- 
netic power  produced  in  an  electro-magnet,  by  a  single  galvanic 
pair,  diminished  rapidly  as  the  length  of  the  conductors  increased. 
Ordinary  reasoning  on  this  fact  would  lead  to  a  conclusion  fatal  to 
the  whole  invention,  since  at  a  great  distance  I  could  not  operate 
at  all,  or,  in  order  to  operate,  I  should  be  compelled  to  make  use  of 
a  battery  of  such  a  size  as  would  render  the  whole  plan  in  effect 
impracticable.  I  was,  indeed,  aware  that,  by  multiplying  the  pairs 
in  the  battery — that  is,  increasing  the  intensity  of  its  propulsive 
power — certain  effects  could  be  produced  at  great  distances,  such  as 
the  decomposition  of  water,  a  visible  spark,  and  the  deflection  of 
the  magnetic  needle.  But  as  magnetic  effects,  except  in  the  latter 
case,  had  not,  to  my  knowledge,  been  made  the  subject  of  careful 
experiment,  and  as  these  various  effects  of  electrical  action  seemed, 
in  some  respects,  to  be  obedient  to  different  laws,  I  did  not  feel 
entirely  assured  that  magnetism  could  be  produced  by  a  multiplica- 
tion of  pairs  sufficiently  powerful  at  a  great  distance  to  effect  my 
purpose.  From  a  series  of  experiments  which  I  made,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Professor  Fisher,  during  the  last  summer,  upon  thirty 
three  miles  of  wire,  the  interesting  fact  so  favorable  to  my  tele- 
graphic system  was  fully  verified,  that,  while  the  distance  increased 
in  an  arithvietical  ratio,  an  addition  to  the  series  of  galvanic  pairs 
of  plates  increased  the  magnetic  power  in  a  geometric  ratio.  Fifty 
pairs  of  plates  were  used  as  a  constant  power.  Two  miles  of  con- 
ductors at  a  time,  from  two  to  thirty-three,  were  successively  added 
to  the  distance.  The  weight  upheld  by  the  magnet  from  the  mag- 
netism produced  by  fifty  pairs,  gradually  diminished  up  to  the  dis- 
tance of  ten  miles  ;  after  which,  the  addition  of  miles  of  wire  up  to 
thirty-three  miles  (the  extent  to  which  we  were  able  to  try  it) 
caused  no  further  visible  diminution  of  power.  The  weight  then 
sustained  was  a  constant  quantity.  The  practical  deduction  from 
these  experiments  is  the  fact  that,  with  a  very  small  battery,  all 
the  effects  I  desire,  and  at  any  distance,  can  be  produced.  In  the 
experiments  alluded  to,  the  fifty  pairs  did  not  occupy  a  space  of 
more  than  eight  cubic  inches,  and  they  comprised  but  fifty  square 
inches  of  active  surface. 

"  The  practicability  of  establishing  my  telegraphic  system  is  thus 
relieved  from  all  scientific  objections. 

"  Let  me  now  turn  your  attention,  sir,  one  moment,  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  telegraph  as  a  source  of  revenue.  The  imperfec- 
tions of  the  common  systems,  particularly  their  uselessness,  on  ac- 


448  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE, 

count  of  the  weather,  three-quarters  of  the  time,  have  concealed 
from  view  so  natural  a  fruit  of  a  perfected  telegraphic  system.  So 
uncertain  are  the  common  telegraphs  as  to  time,  and  so  meagre  in 
the  quantity  of  intelligence  they  can  transmit  under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances,  that  the  idea  of  making  them  a  source  of  reve- 
nue would  not  be  likely  to  occur.  So  far,  indeed,  from  being  a 
source  of  revenue,  the  systems  in  common  use  in  Europe  are  sus- 
tained at  great  expense  ;  an  expense  which,  imperfect  as  they  are, 
is  justified,  in  the  view  of  the  Government,  by  the  great  political 
advantages  which  they  produce.  Telegraphs  with  them  are  a  gov- 
ernment monopoly,  and  used  only  for  government  purposes.  They 
are  in  harmony  with  the  genius  of  those  governments.  The  people 
have  no  advantage  from  them,  except  indirectly  as  the  government 
is  benefited.  Were  our  mails  used  solely  for  the  purpose  of  the 
Government,  and  private  individuals  forbidden  to  correspond  by 
them,  they  would  furnish  a  good  illustration  of  the  operation  of  the 
common  European  telegraphic  systems. 

"  The  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  I  would  fain  think,  is  more 
in  consonance  with  the  political  institutions  under  which  we  live, 
and  is  fitted,  like  the  mail  system,  to  diffuse  its  benefits  alike  to  the 
Government  and  to  the  people  at  large. 

"  As  a  source  of  reve?iue,  then,  to  the  Government,  few,  I  be- 
lieve, have  seriously  computed  the  great  profits  to  be  derived  from 
such  a  system  of  telegraphs  as  I  propose ;  and  yet  there  are  sure 
data  already  obtained  by  which  they  can  be  demonstrated. 

"  The  first  fact  is,  that  every  minute  of  the  twenty-four  hours 
is  available  to  send  intelligence. 

"  The  second  fact  is,  that  twelve  signs,  at  least,  can  be  sent  in 
a  minute,  instantaneously,  as  any  one  may  have  proof  by  actual 
demonstration  of  the  fact,  on  the  instrument  now  operating  in  the 
Capitol.1 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  cases,  where  such  speed}' 
transmission  of  intelligence  from  one  distant  city  to  another  is  de- 
sirable, are  so  numerous,  that,  when  once  the  line  is  made  for  such 
transmission,  it  will  be  in  constant  use,  and  a  demand  made  for  a 
greater  number  of  lines. 

"  The  paramount  convenience,  to  commercial  agents  and  others, 
of  thus  corresponding  at  a  distance,  will  authorize  a  rate  of  postage 
proportionate  to  the  distance,  on  the  principle  of  rating  postage  by 
the  mails. 

1  Ninety-eight,  per  minute,  can  now  be  sent  (1845). 


CALCULATION   OF  PROFITS.  449 

"  To  illustrate  the  operation  of  the  telegraph  in  increasing  the 
revenue,  let  us  suppose  that  but  eighteen  hours  of  the  twenty- 
four  are  efficiently  used  for  the  actual  purposes  of  revenue ;  that 
six  hours  are  allowed  for  repetitions  and  other  purposes,  which 
is  a  large  allowance.  This  would  give,  upon  a  single  circuit,  12,960 
signs  per  day,  upon  which  a  rate  of  postage  is  to  be  charged. 
Intelligence  of  great  extent  may  be  comprised  in  a  few  signs.  Sup- 
pose the  following  commercial  communication  is  to  be  transmitted 
from  New  York  to  New  Orleans  : 

* '  Yrs.,  Dec.  21,  rec.    Buy  25  bales  c,  at  9,  and  300  pork,  at  8.' 

"Here  are  thirty-six  signs,  which  take  three  minutes  in  the 
transmission  from  New  York  to  New  Orleans,  and  which  informs 
the  New  York  merchant's  correspondent  at  New  Orleans  of  the 
receipt  of  a  certain  document,  and  gives  him  orders  to  purchase 
twenty-five  bales  of  cotton  at  nine  cents  per  pound,  and  three  hun- 
dred barrels  of  pork  at  eight  cents  per  pound.  Thus  may  be  com- 
pleted, in  three  minutes,  a  transaction  in  business  which  now  would 
take  at  least  four  or  five  weeks  to  accomplish. 

"  Suppose  that  one  cent  per  sign  be  charged  for  the  first  100 
miles,  increasing  the  charge  at  the  rate  of  half  a  cent,  each  addi- 
tional 100  miles,  the  postage  of  the  above  communication  would 
be  $2.88  for  a  distance  of  1,500  miles.  It  would  be  sent  100  miles 
for  36  cents.  Would  any  merchant  grudge  so  small  a  sum  for 
sending  such  an  amount  of  information  in  so  short  a  time  to  such 
a  distance  ?  If  time  is  money,  and  to  save  time  is  to  save  money, 
surely  such  an  immense  saving  of  time  is  the  saving  of  an  immense 
sum  of  money.  A  telegraphic  line  of  a  single  circuit  only,  from 
New  York  to  New  Orleans,  would  realize,  then,  to  the  Government, 
daily,  in  the  correspondence  between  those  two  cities  alone,  over 
one  thousand  dollars,  gross  receipts,  or  over  $300,000  per  annum. 

"  But  it  is  a  well-established  fact  that,  as  facilities  of  inter- 
course increase  between  different  parts  of  the  country,  the  greater 
is  that  intercourse.  Thousands  travel,  in  this  day  of  railroads  and 
steamboats,  who  never  thought  of  leaving  their  homes  before. 
Establish,  then,  the  means  of  instantaneous  communication  be- 
tween the  most  distant  places,  and  the  telegraphic  line  of  a  single 
circuit  will  very  soon  be  insufficient  to  supply  the  demands  of  the 
public — they  will  require  more. 

"  Two  circuits  will  of  course  double  the  facilities,  and  double  the 
revenue  /  but  it  is  an  important  fact  that  the  expense  of  afterward 
establishing  a  second,  or  any  number  of  circuits,  does  not  proceed 
29 


450  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

on  the  doubling  principle.  If  a  channel  for  conveying  a  single  cir- 
cuit be  made,  in  the  first  instance,  of  sufficient  capacity  to  contain 
many  more  circuits,  which  can  easily  be  done,  additional  circuits 
can  be  laid  as  fast  as  they  are  called  for,  at  but  little  more  than  the 
cost  of  the  prepared  wire.  The  recent  discovery  of  Professor  Fisher 
and  myself  shows  that  a  single  wire  may  be  made  the  common  con- 
ductor for  at  least  six  circuits.  How  many  more  we  have  not  yet 
ascertained.  So  that  to  add  another  circuit  is  but  to  add  another 
wire.  Fifty  dollars  per  mile,  under  these  circumstances,  would, 
therefore,  add  the  means  of  doubling  the  facilities  and  the  revenue. 

"  Between  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  for  example,  the  whole 
cost  of  laying  such  an  additional  circuit  would  be  but  15,000,  which 
would  be  more  than  defrayed  by  two  months'  receipts  only  from  the 
telegraphs  between  these  two  cities. 

"  There  are  two  modes  of  establishing  the  line  of  conductors. 

"  The  first  and  cheapest  is  doubtless  that  of  erecting  spars  about 
30  feet  in  height  and  350  feet  apart,  extending  the  conductors  along 
the  tops  of  the  spars.  This  method  has  some  obvious  disadvan- 
tages.    The  expense  would  be  from  $350  to  1400  per  mile. 

"  The  second  method  is  that  of  inclosing  the  conductors  in  leaden 
tubes,  and  laying  them  in  the  earth.  I  have  made  the  following 
estimate  of  the  cost  of  this  method : 

Wire,  prepared,  per  mile $150  00 

Lead  pipe,  with  solderings 250  00 

Delivery  of  the  pipe  and  wire        .        .        .        .        .         .  25  00 

Passing  wire  into  the  pipes 5  00 

Excavations  and  filling  in  about  1,000  yards  per  mile,  or  3  feet 

deep,  at  15  cents  per  square  yard       ....        -  150  00 

Laying  down  the  pipe 3  00 

$583  00 

One  register,  with  its  machinery,  comprising  a  galvanic  battery 

of  four  pairs  of  my  double-cup  battery       ....        $100  00 
One  battery  of  200  pairs .       100  00 

Expense  for  thirty-nine  miles $22,837  00 

Two  registers    .        .        ...        .        .        ...  .       200  00 

Two  batteries .        .        .  200  00 

Services  of  chief  superintendent  of  construction  per  annum  .     2,000  00 

Services  of  three  assistants,  at  $1,500  each,  per  annum         .  4,500  00 

$29,637  00 
"  As  experience  alone  can  determine  the  best  mode  of  securing 


PROFESSOR   STEINHEIL.  451 

the  conductors,  I  should  wish  the  means  and  opportunity  of  trying 
various  modes  to  such  an  extent  as  will  demonstrate  the  best. 

"  Before  closing  my  letter,  sir,  I  ought  to  give  you  the  proofs  I 
possess  that  the  American  Telegraph  has  the  priority  in  the  time 
of  its  invention. 

"  The  two  European  Telegraphs  in  practical  operation  are  Pro- 
fessor Steinheil's,  of  Munich,  and  Professor  Wheatstone's,  of  Lon- 
don. The  former  is  adopted  by  the  Bavarian  Government;  the 
latter  is  established  about  200  miles  in  England,  under  the  direction 
of  a  company  in  London.  In  a  highly-interesting  paper  on  the 
subject  of  telegraphs,  translated  and  inserted  in  the  London  An- 
nals of  Electricity ,  March  and  April,  1839,  Professor  Steinheil  gives 
a  brief  sketch  of  the. various  projects  of  electric  telegraphs,  from 
the  time  of  Franklin's  electrical  experiments  to  the  present  day. 
Until  the  birth  of  the  science  of  electro-magnetism,  generated  by 
the  important  discovery  of  Oersted,  in  1820,  of  the  action  of  elec- 
tric currents  upon  the  magnetic  needle,  the  Electric  Telegraph  was 
but  a  philosophic  toy,  complicated  and  practically  useless.  Let  it 
be  here  noticed  that,  after  the  discovery  of  Oersted,  the  deflection 
of  the  needle  became  the  principle  upon  which  the  savants  of  Europe 
based  all  their  attempts  to  construct  an  electric  telegraph.  The 
celebrated  Ampere,  in  the  same  year  of  Oersted's  discovery,  sug- 
gested a  plan  of  telegraphs,  to  consist  of  a  magnetic  needle,  and  a 
circuit  for  each  letter  of  the  alphabet  and  the  numerals — making 
it  necessary  to  have  some  sixty  or  seventy  wires  between  the  two 
termini  of  the  telegraphic  line. 

"  The  suggestion  of  Ampere  is,  doubtless,  the  parent  of  all  the 
attempts  in  Europe,  both  abortive  and  successful,  for  constructing 
an  electric  telegraph. 

"Under  this  head  may  be  arranged  the  Baron  Schilling's  at 
St.  Petersburg,  consisting  of  thirty-six  needles,  and  upward  of  sixty 
metallic  conductors,  and  invented,  it  seems,  at  the  same  date  with 
my  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  in  the  autumn  of  1832.  Under 
the  same  head  comes  that  of  Professors  Gauss  and  Weber,  of  Got- 
tingen,  in  1833,  who  simplified  the  plan  by  using  but  a  single  needle 
and  a  single  circuit.  Professor  Wheatstone's,  of  London,  invented 
in  1837,  comes  under  the  same  category ;  he  employs  five  needles 
and  six  conductors.  Professor  Steinheil's,  also  invented  in  1837, 
employs  two  needles  and  two  conductors. 

"  But  there  was  another  discovery  in  the  infancy  of  the  science 
of  electro-magnetism,  by  Ampere  and  Arago,  immediately  conse- 


452  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

quent  on  that  of  Oersted,  namely,  the  electro-magnet ■,  which  none 
of  the  savants  of  Europe  who  have  planned  electric  telegraphs  ever 
thought  of  applying,  until  within  two  years  past,  for  the  purpose  of 
signals.     My  Telegraph  is  essentially  based  on  this  latter  discovery. 

"  Supposing  my  Telegraph  to  be  based  on  the  same  principle 
with  the  European  electric  telegraphs,  which  it  is  not,  mine,  having 
been  invented  in  1832,  would  still  have  the  precedence,  by  some 
months  at  least,  of  Gauss  and  Weber's,  to  whom  Steinheil  gives 
the  credit  of  being  the  first  to  simplify  and  make  practicable  the 
Electric  Telegraph.  But  when  it  is  considered  that  all  the  Eu- 
ropean telegraphs  make  use  of  the  deflection  of  the  needle  to  ac- 
complish their  results,  and  that  none  use  the  attractive  power  of  the 
electro-magnet  to  write  in  legible  characters,  I  think  I  can  claim, 
without  injustice  to  others,  to  be  the  first  inventor  of  the  Electro- 
Magnetic  Telegraph. 

"In  1839  I  visited  London,  on  my  return  from  France,  and, 
through  the  polite  solicitations  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  showed  and 
explained  its  operation  at  his  house,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1839,  to 
a  large  company  which  he  had  expressly  invited  for  the  purpose, 
composed  of  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  members  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  members  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament. 

"  Professor  Wheatstone  has  announced  that  he  has  recently 
(in  1840)  also  invented  and  patented  an  electro-magnetic  telegraph, 
differing  altogether  from  his  invention  of  1837,  which  he  calls  his 
Magnetic-Needle  Telegraph.  His  is,  therefore,  the  first  European 
electro-magnetic  telegraph,  and  was  invented,  as  is  perceived,  eight 
years  subsequent  to  mine,  and  one  year  after  my  Telegraph  was 
exhibited  in  the  public  manner  described  at  the  Earl  of  Lincoln' 's 
residence  in  London. 

"  I  am  the  more  minute  in  adducing  this  evidence  of  priority 
of  invention  to  you,  sir,  since  I  have  frequently  been  charged  by 
Europeans,  in  my  own  country,  with  merely  imitating  long-known 
European  inventions.  It  is,  therefore,  due  to  my  own  country,  as 
well  as  to  myself,  that  in  this  matter  the  facts  should  be  known. 

"  Professor  Steinheil's  telegraph  is  the  only  European  telegraph 
that  professes  to  write  the  intelligence.  He  records,  however,  by 
the  delicate  touch  of  the  needle  in  its  deflections,  with  what  practi- 
cal effect  I  am  unable  to  say ;  but  I  should  think  that  it  was  too 
delicate  and  uncertain,  especially  as  compared  with  the  strong  and 
efficient  power  which  may  be  produced  in  any  degree  by  the  elec- 
tro-magnet. 


AGAIN  IN  WASHINGTON.  453 

"  I  have  devoted  many  years  of  my  life  to  this  invention,  sus- 
tained in  many  of  the  disappointments  by  the  belief  that  it  is  des- 
tined eventually  to  confer  immense  benefits  upon  my  country  and 
the  world. 

"  I  am  persuaded  that  whatever  facilitates  intercourse  between 
the  different  portions  of  the  human  family  will  have  the  effect, 
under  the  guidance  of  sound  moral  principles,  to  promote  the  best 
interests  of  man.  I  ask  of  Congress  the  means  of  demonstrating 
its  efficiency. 

"  I  remain,  sir,  with  great  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 
"Hon.  Charles  G.  Ferris, 

"  Member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  city  of  Neio  York,  and  one 
of  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  the 
expediency  of  adopting  a  system  of  electro-magnetic  telegraphs  for  the  United 
States." 

Immediately  after  this  letter  was  sent,  Professor  Morse  once 
more  appeared  at  the  seat  of  government,  to  press  bis  impor- 
tunate suit  for  aid.  Christopher  Columbus  was  not  more  per- 
sistent under  discouragements.  In  the  Capitol  Professor  Morse 
again  mounted  his  wires  and  implored  the  members  of  Congress 
and  officers  of  the  Government  to  come  and  see.  An  incident 
occurred  at  this  time  that  greatly  cheered  him,  though  it  was  in 
itself  of  very  little  moment.  Mr.  Tuckerman,  in  his  "  Lives  of 
the  Painters,"  records  it  as  having  occurred  after  the  appropria- 
tion by  Congress  was  made,  but  it  happened  while  making 
preparations  for  the  exhibition  of  the  instrument : 

"A  striking  evidence  of  the  waywardness  of  destiny  is  af- 
forded by  the  experience  of  this  artist,  if  we  pass  at  once  from 
this  early  and  hopeful  moment  to  a  more  recent  incident.  He  then 
aimed  at  renown,  through  devotion  to  the  beautiful ;  but  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  genius  of  his  country,  in  spite  of  himself,  led  him  to 
this  object  by  the  less  flowery  path  of  utility.  He  desired  to 
identify  his  name  with  art,  but  it  has  become  far  more  widely  asso- 
ciated with  science.  A  series  of  bitter  disappointments  obliged 
him  to  '  coin  his  mind  for  bread,'  for  a  long  period  of  exclusive 
attention  to  portrait-painting,  although  at  rare  intervals  he  accom- 
plished something  more  satisfactory.  More  than  thirty  years  since, 
on  a  voyage  from  Europe,  in  a  conversation  with  his  fellow-passen 
gers,  the  theme  of  discourse  happened  to  be.  the  electro-magnet; 


454  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  one  gentleman  present  related  some  experiments  he  had  lately 
witnessed  at  Paris,  which  proved  the  almost  incalculable  rapidity 
of  movement  with  which  electricity  was  disseminated.  The  idea 
suggested  itself  to  the  active  mind  of  the  artist,  that  this  wonderful 
and  but  partially  explored  agent  might  be  rendered  subservient  to 
that  system  of  intercommunication  which  had  become  so  important 
a  principle  of  modern  civilization.  He  brooded  over  the  subject  as 
he  walked  the  deck,  or  lay  wakeful  in  his  berth,  and,  by  the  time  he 
arrived  at  New  York,  had  so  far  matured  his  invention  as  to  have 
decided  upon  a  telegraph  of  signs,  which  is  essentially  that  now  in 
use.  After  having  sufficiently  demonstrated  his  discovery  to  the 
scientific,  a  long  period  of  toil,  anxiety,  and  suspense,  intervened 
before  he  obtained  the  requisite  facilities  for  the  establishment  of 
the  magnetic  telegraph.  It  is  now  in  daily  operation  in  the  United 
States,  and  its  superiority  over  all  similar  inventions  abroad  was 
confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  Arago  and  the  appropriation  made 
for  its  erection  by  the  French  Government. 

"  By  one  of  those  coincidences  which  would  be  thought  appro- 
priate for  romance,  but  which  are  more  common,  in  fact,  than  the 
unobservant  are  disposed  to  confess,  these  two  most  brilliant  events 
in  the  painter's  life — his  first  successful  work  of  art  and  the  triumph 
of  his  scientific  discovery — were  brought  together,  as  it  were,  in  a 
manner  singularly  fitted  to  impress  the  imagination.  Six  copies  of 
his  '  Dying  Hercules '  had  been  made  in  London,  and  the  mould 
was  then  destroyed.  Four  of  these  were  distributed  by  the  artist 
to  academies,  one  he  retained,  and  the  last  was  given  to  Mr.  Bull- 
finch, the  architect  of  the  Capitol,  who  was  engaged  at  the  time 
upon  that  building.  After  the  lapse  of  many  years,  an  accident 
ruined  Morse's  own  copy,  and  a  similar  fate  had  overtaken  the 
others,  at  least  in  America.  After  vain  efforts  to  regain  one  of 
these  trophies  of  his  youthful  career,  he  at  length  despaired  of 
seeing  again  what  could  not  fail  to  be  endeared  to  his  memory  by 
the  most  interesting  associations.  One  day  he  was  superintending 
the  preparations  for  the  first  establishment  of  his  telegraph  in  the 
room  assigned  at  the  Capitol.  His  perseverance  and  self-denying 
labor  had  at  length  met  its  just  reward,  and  he  was  taking  the  first 
active  step  to  obtain  a  substantial  benefit  from  his  invention.  It 
became  necessary,  in  locating  the  wires,  to  descend  into  a  vault 
beneath  the  apartment,  which  had  not  been  opened  for  a  long  period. 
A  man  preceded  the  artist  with  a  lamp.  As  they  passed  along  the 
subterranean  chamber,  the  latter's  attention  was  attracted  by  some- 


FAVORABLE   REPORT.  455 

thing  white  glimmering  through  the  darkness.  In  approaching  the 
object,  what  was  his  surprise  to  find  himself  gazing  upon  his  long- 
lost  Hercules,  which  he  had  not  seen  for  twenty  years  !  A  little 
reflection  explained  the  apparent  miracle.  This  was  undoubtedly 
the  copy  given  to  his  deceased  friend  the  architect,  and  temporarily 
deposited  in  the  vault  for  safety,  and  undiscovered  until  after  his 
death." 

On  the  last  day  but  one  of  this  year,  1842,  Mr.  Ferris  sub- 
mitted to  Congress  the  report  and  bill  which  resulted  in  fa- 
vorable action.     It  is  in  these  words : 

Mr.  Ferris,  from  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  made  the  following 
Report,  December  30,  1842 : 

That  they  regard  the  question,  as  to  the  general  utility  of  the 
telegraphic  system,  settled  by  its  adoption  by  the  most  civilized  na- 
tions ;  and  experience  has  fully  demonstrated  the  great  advantages 
which  may  be  derived  from  its  use.  Its  capability  of  speedily  trans- 
mitting intelligence  to  great  distances,  for  national  defense,  and  for 
other  purposes,  where  celerity  is  desirable,  is  decidedly  superior  to 
any  of  the  ordinary  modes  of  communication  in  use.  By  it,  the 
first  warning  of  approaching  danger,  and  the  appearance  of  hostile 
fleets  and  armies  on  our  coasts  and  borders,  may  be  announced  si- 
multaneously and  at  the  most  distant  points  of  our  widely-extended 
empire,  thus  affording  time  and  opportunity  for  concentrating  the 
military  force  of  the  country,  for  facilitating  military  and  naval 
movements,  and  for  transmitting  orders  suitable  to  the  emergency. 

In  the  commercial  and  social  affairs  of  the  community,  occasions 
frequently  arise  in  which  the  speedy  transmission  of  intelligence 
may  be  of  the  highest  importance  for  the  regulation  of  business 
transactions,  and  in  relieving  the  anxious  solicitude  of  friends,  as  to 
the  health  and  condition  of  those  in  whose  fortunes  they  feel  an  in- 
terest. 

The  practicability  of  establishing  telegraphs  on  the  electric  prin- 
ciple is  no  longer  a  question.  Wheatstone,  of  London,  and  his  as- 
sociates, have  been  more  fortunate  than  our  American  inventor,  in 
procuring  the  means  to  put  his  ingenious  system  into  practical  use 
for  two  or  three  hundred  miles,  in  Great  Britain ;  and  the  move- 
ments of  the  cars  on  the  Blackwall  Railroad  are  at  this  time  di- 
rected with  great  economy,  and  perfect  safety  to  life  and  property, 
by  means  of  his  magnetic  needle  telegraph.  If  a  system  more 
complicated  and  less  efficient  than  the  American  telegraph  is  oper- 


4:56  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

ated  for  great  distances  in  England,  with  such  eminent  success  and 
advantage,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that,  if  the  means  be 
furnished  for  putting  in  operation  the  system  of  Professor  Samuel 
F.  B.  Morse,  of  New  York,  the  original  inventor  of  the  electro-mag- 
netic telegraph,  the  same,  if  not  greater  success,  will  be  the  result. 
Your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  but  justice  to  Professor 
Morse,  who  is  alike  distinguished  for  his  attainments  in  science  and 
excellence  in  the  arts  of  design,  and  who  has  patiently  devoted 
many  years  of  unremitting  study,  and  freely  spent  his  private  for- 
tune, in  inventing  and  bringing  to  perfection  a  system  of  telegraphs 
which  is  calculated  to  advance  the  scientific  reputation  of  the  coun- 
try, and  to  be  eminently  useful,  both  to  the  Government  and  the 
people,  that  he  should  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  competing 
with  his  European  rivals. 

Professor  Morse  bases  his  system  upon  the  two  following  facts 
in  science : 

1.  That  a  current  of  electricity  will  pass  to  any  distance  along  a 
conductor  connecting  the  two  poles  of  a  voltaic  battery  or  generator 
of  electricity,  and  produce  visible  effects  at  any  desired  points  on 
that  conductor. 

2.  That  magnetism  is  produced  in  a  piece  of  soft  iron  (around 
which  the  conductor,  in  its  progress,  is  made  to  pass)  when  the 
electric  current  is  permitted  to  flow,  and  that  the  magnetism  ceases 
when  the  current  of  electricity  is  prevented  from  flowing.  This  cur- 
rent of  electricity  is  produced  and  destroyed  by  breaking  and  clos- 
ing the  galvanic  circuit  at  the  pleasure  of  the  operator  of  the  tele- 
graph, who  in  this  manner  directs  and  controls  the  operation  of  a 
simple  and  compact  piece  of  mechanism,  styled  the  register,  which, 
at  the  will  of  the  operator  at  the  point  of  communication,  is  made 
to  record,  at  the  point  of  reception,  legible  characters,  on  a  roll  of 
paper  put  in  motion  at  the  same  time  with  the  writing  instrument. 
These  characters  the  inventor  has  arranged  into  a  conventional 
alphabet,  and  which  is  capable  of  being  learned  and  used  with  very 
little  practice. 

Professor  Morse  has  submitted  his  telegraphic  plan  to  the  severe 
scrutiny  of  European  criticism ;  and  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  of 
Paris,  the  highest  scientific  tribunal  in  the  world,  hailed  it  with  en- 
thusiasm and  approbation,  when  its  operation  was  exhibited,  and  its 
principles  explained,  by  their  distinguished  perpetual  secretary,  M. 
Arago. 

It  appears,  from  documents  produced  by  Professor  Morse,  that 


OTHER  SYSTEMS.  457 

the  thanks  of  the  several  learned  bodies  in  France  were  voted  to 
him  for  his  invention,  and  the  large  medal  of  honor  was  awarded  to 
him  by  the  Academy  of  Industry.  It  further  appears  that  several 
other  systems  of  telegraphs  on  the  electric  plan  (among  which  were 
Wheatstone's,  of  London ;  Steinheil's,  of  Munich ;  and  Masson's,  of 
Caen)  had  been  submitted  at  various  times  for  the  consideration  of 
the  French  Government,  who  appointed  a  commission  to  examine 
and  report  on  them  all,  at  the  head  of  which  commission  was  placed 
the  administrator-in-chief  of  the  telegraphs  of  France  (M.  Foy), 
who,  in  a  note  to  Professor  Morse,  thus  writes  : 

"  I  take  a  true  pleasure  in  confirming  to  you  in  writing  that 
which  I  have  already  had  the  honor  to  say  to  you  viva  voce — that 
I  have  prominently  presented  to  Monsieur  the  Minister  of  the  Inte- 
rior your  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  as  being  the  system  which 
presents  the  best  chance  of  a  practical  application ;  and  I  have  de- 
clared to  him  that,  if  some  trials  are  to  be  made  with  electric  tele- 
graphs, I  do  not  hesitate  to  recommend  that  they  should  be  made 
with  your  apparatus." 

Your  committee,  in  producing  further  evidence  of  the  approba- 
tion by  the  scientific  world  of  the  system  of  Professor  Morse,  would 
cite  the  letter  of  Professor  Henry,  of  Princeton  College,  well  known 
for  his  eminent  attainments  in  electrical  science,  in  the  appendix  of 
this  report. 

More  recently,  a  committee,  consisting  of  some  of  our  most  dis- 
tinguished scientific  citizens,  was  appointed  by  the  American  Insti- 
tute, of  New  York,  to  examine  and  report  upon  this  telegraph,  who 
made  the  report  in  the  appendix.  In  compliance  with  the  rec- 
ommendation of  this  report,  the  Institute  awarded  to  Professor 
Morse  the  gold  medal. 

Besides  the  evidence  these  testimonials  furnish  of  the  excellence 
of  Professor  Morse's  system,  your  committee,  as  well  as  the  greater 
part  of  the  members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  have  had  a  prac- 
tical demonstration  of  the  operation  of  the  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graph, and  have  witnessed  the  perfect  facility  and  extraordinary 
rapidity  with  which  a  message  can  be  sent  by  means  of  it  from  one 
extremity  of  the  Capitol  to  the  other.  This  rapidity  is  not  con- 
fined in  its  effects  to  a  few  hundred  feet,  but  science  makes  it  certain 
that  the  same  effects  can  be  produced  at  any  distance  on  the  globe, 
between  any  two  given  points  connected  by  the  conductors. 

Your  committee  have  alluded  to  other  electric  telegraphs ;  for, 
as  is  not  uncommon  in  the  birth  of  great  inventions,  scientific  minds 


458  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

have,  at  nearly  the  same  period  of  time,  in  various  parts  of  Europe, 
conceived  and  planned  electric  telegraphs ;  but  it  is  a  matter  of 
national  pride,  that  the  invention  of  the  first  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graphy by  Professor  Morse,  as  well  as  the  first  conception  of  using 
electricity  as  the  means  of  transmitting  intelligence,  by  Doctor 
Franklin,  is  the  offspring  of  American  genius. 

Your  committee  beg  leave  to  refer  to  the  letter  of  Professor 
Morse,  in  the  appendix,  to  C.  G.  Ferris,  one  of  the  committee, 
giving,  at  his  request,  a  brief  history  of  the  telegraph  since  it  was 
before  Congress  in  1838,  for  some  interesting  information  concern- 
ing it,  and  for  Professor  Morse's  estimate  of  the  probable  expense 
of  establishing  his  system  of  telegraphs  for  thirty  or  forty  miles. 

They  would  also  refer  to  the  House  document,  No.  15  (Decem- 
ber 6,  1837),  and  to  House  report,  No.  753  (April  6, 1838),  for  val- 
uable information  on  the  subject  of  telegraphs. 

Your  committee  invite  special  attention  to  that  part  of  Professor 
Morse's  letter  which  details  the  plan  of  a  revenue  which  may  be 
derived  from  his  telegraphic  system,  when  established  to  an  extent 
sufficient  for  the  purpose  of  commercial  and  general  intelligence. 
From  these  calculations,  made  upon  safe  data,  it  is  probable  that  an 
income  would  be  derived  from  its  use  by  merchants  and  citizens 
more  than  sufficient  to  defray  the  interest  of  the  capital  expended 
in  its  establishment.  So  inviting,  indeed,  are  the  prospects  of  profit 
to  individual  enterprise,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  serious  consideration, 
whether  the  Government  should  not,  on  this  account  alone,  seize 
the  present  opportunity  of  securing  to  itself  the  regulation  of  a  sys- 
tem which,  if  monopolized  by  a  private  company,  might  be  used  to 
the  serious  injury  of  the  Post-Office  Department,  and  which  could 
not  be  prevented  without  such  an  interference  with  the  rights  of 
the  inventor  and  of  the  stockholders  as  could  not  be  sustained  by 
justice  or  public  opinion. 

After  the  ordeal  to  which  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph  sj^stem 
has  been  subjected,  both  in  Europe  and  in  America,  and  the  voice  of 
the  scientific  world  in  its  favor,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  for  your  com- 
mittee to  say  that  they  have  the  fullest  confidence  in  Professor 
Morse's  plan,  and  they  earnestly  recommend  the  adoption  of  it  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States.  They  deem  it  most  fortu- 
nate that  no  definite  system  of  telegraphs  should  hitherto  have  been 
adopted  by  the  Government,  since  it  enables  them  to  establish  this 
improved  system,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  is  decid- 
edly superior  to  any  other  now  in  use,  possessing  an  advantage  over 


THE   APPROPRIATION  BILL.  459 

telegraphs  depending  on  vision,  inasmuch  as  it  may  be  used  both 
by  night  and  day,  in  all  weathers,  and  in  all  seasons  of  the  }7ear, 
with  equal  convenience ;  and,  also,  possessing  an  advantage  over 
electric  telegraphs  heretofore  in  use,  inasmuch  as  it  records,  in  per- 
manent legible  characters  on  paper,  any  communication  which  may 
be  made  by  it,  without  the  aid  of  any  agent  at  the  place  of  record- 
ing, except  the  apparatus  which  is  put  in  motion  at  the  point  of 
communication.  Thus,  the  recording  apparatus,  called  the  register, 
may  be  left  in  a  closed  chamber,  where  it  will  give  notice  of  its 
commencing  to  write,  by  a  bell,  and  the  communication  may  be 
found  on  opening  the  apartment.  Possessing  these  great  advan- 
tages, and  the  means  of  communication  not  being  liable  to  interrup- 
tion by  the  ordinary  contingencies  which  may  impede  or  prevent 
the  successful  action  of  other  telegraphs,  the  advantages  to  be  de- 
rived from  it  will  soon  be  apparent  to  the  community,  and  it  will 
become  the  successful  rival  of  the  Post-Office,  when  celerity  of  com- 
munication is  desired,  and  create  a  revenue  from  which  this  system 
of  telegraphs  may  be  extended  and  ramified  through  all  parts  of  the 
country,  without  imposing  any  burden  upon  the  people  or  draughts 
on  the  treasury,  beyond  the  outlay  for  its  first  establishment. 

As  a  first  step  toward  the  adoption  of  this  system  of  telegraphs 
by  the  Government,  your  committee  recommend  the  appropriation 
of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of 
the  Postmaster-General,  in  constructing  a  line  of  electro-magnetic 
telegraphs,  under  the  superintendence  of  Professor  Samuel  F.  B. 
Morse,  of  such  length,  and  between  such  points,  as  shall  fully  test 
its  practicability  and  utility ;  and  for  this  purpose  they  respectfully 
submit  the  following  bill : 

A  Sill  to  test  the  Practicability  of  establishing  a  System  of  Elec- 
tro-Magnetic Telegraphs  by  the  United  States. 

JBe  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represeyitatives  of 
the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  sum  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars  be,  and  is  hereby  appropriated,  out  of  any  moneys 
in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  for  testing  the  capacity 
and  usefulness  of  the  system  of  electro-magnetic  telegraphs  invented 
by  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  of  New  York,  for  the  use  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  by  constructing  a  line  of  said  electro- 
magnetic telegraphs,  under  the  superintendence  of  Professor  Samuel 
F.  B.  Morse,  of  such  length  and  between  such  points  as  shall  fully 
test  its  practicability  and  utility ;  and  that  the  same  shall  be  ex- 


460  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

pended  under  the  direction  of  the  Postmaster-General  upon  the  ap- 
plication of  said  Morse. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Postmaster-General 
be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  to  pay,  out  of  the  aforesaid  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  to  the  said  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  and  the  persons 
employed  under  him,  such  sums  of  money  as  he  may  deem  to  be  a 
fair  compensation  for  the  services  of  the  said  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse 
and  the  persons  employed  under  him,  in  constructing  and  in  super- 
intending the  construction  of  the  said  line  of  telegraphs  authorized 
by  this  bill. 

To  us,  with,  the  triumphs  of  the  Telegraph  before  us,  and 
its  incorporation  into  the  business  and  intercourse  of  the  world, 
so  as  to  have  become  as  essential  as  steam,  it  seems  incredible, 
after  the  complete  success  of  the  initial  experiment,  that  Con- 
gress should  have  so  little  faith  as  to  hesitate  to  make  the  slight 
appropriation  required  to  test  it  practically  over  a  space  of  thirty 
or  forty  miles.  But  it  had  some  believing  friends.  The  Com- 
missioner of  Patents,  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth,  was  one  of  its  ear- 
liest and  firmest  supporters.  He  was  ardently  interested  in  the 
inventor.  He  received  him  into  his  own  family,  cheered  him 
in  his  retirement,  sustained  his  flagging  energies,  and  smoothed 
his  path  with  unceasing  kindness  and  hopes  of  ultimate  sue 
cess.  Several  members  of  Congress — Kennedy,  of  Maryland ; 
Mason,  of  Ohio ;  "Wallace,  of  Indiana ;  Ferris  and  Boardman,  of 
New  York;  Holmes,  of  South  Carolina;  Aycrigg,  of  New  Jer- 
sey, and  others — supported  the  measure  with  energy  and  ability. 
The  favorable  report  of  the  bill  from  the  Committee  of  Commerce 
was  the  closing  and  encouraging  point  in  the  history  of  the  Tele- 
graph for  the  year  1842.  Ten  years  had  elapsed  since,  on  board 
the  ship,  the  scheme  of  the  Telegraph,  connecting  cities  and 
continents,  had  dawned  upon  the  mind  of  the  inventor.  Appar- 
ently he  had  often  been  upon  the  point  of  seeing  his  dreams 
made  real  by  the  practical  faith  of  his  country.  Doomed  to 
disappointment  and  driven  to  the  verge  of  despair,  he  persevered 
with  that  energy  which  faith  only  inspires.  Another  year — 1843 
— the  year  of  success,  the  year  to  be  hereafter  associated  with 
that  of  1832  in  the  history  of  the  Telegraph,  at  length  opened 
in  the  life  of  the  inventor.  Day  after  day  he  stood  at  his  in- 
strument, meekly  and  sometimes  tearfully  explaining  to  sue- 


DEBATE  IN  THE  HOUSE.  461 

cessive  visitors  its  operations.  One  and  another  member  of 
Congress  came,  saw,  heard,  and  went  away  believing.  Others 
mocked.  The  most  were  silent,  waiting  to  see  what  would 
come  of  it.  Two  months  of  the  year  were  nearly  spent,  and 
Congress  would  expire  within  a  week.  Hope  was  more  slowly 
expiring  in  the  breast  of  the  anxious  inventor.  In  vain  were 
his  entreaties.  His  predictions  were  as  those  of  a  mad  prophet. 
At  last,  on  the  21st  day  of  February,  1843,  the  Hon.  John  P. 
Kennedy  submitted  a  resolution,  that  "  the  bill  appropriating 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  a  series  of  experiments  to  test 
the  expediency  of  the  Telegraph  projected  by  Professor  Morse, 
should  be  passed."  The  debate  that  followed  is  fortunately  not 
preserved  in  the  journals  of  the  day  nor  in  the  official  reports. 
That  it  was  exceedingly  discreditable  to  the  intelligence  of  an 
American  Congress  is  abundantly  evident  in  the  meagre  report 
that  remains.  The  Congressional  Globe,  professing  to  give  ver- 
batim reports  of  the  proceedings,  disposes  of  the  discussion  in  a 
few  lines,  and  this  fact  is  perhaps  the  most  striking  evidence  of 
the  utter  indifference  of  the  public  to  the  subject.  Every  word 
of  the  debate  in  the  Globe  is  here  given : 

[From  the  Congressional  Globe,  February  21,  1843.] 
ELECTRO   AND   ANIMAL  MAGNETISM. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Kennedy,  of  Maryland,  the  committee  took 
up  the  bill  to  authorize  a  series  of  experiments  to  be  made,  in  order 
to  test  the  merits  of  Morse's  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  The  bill 
appropriates  thirty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  expended  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Postmaster-General. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Kennedy,  the  words  "  Postmaster-General " 
were  stricken  out  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  inserted. 

Mr.  Cave  Johnson  wished  to  have  a  word  to  say  upon  the  bill. 
As  the  present  had  done  much  to  encourage  science,  he  did  not 
wish  to  see  the  science  of  mesmerism  neglected  and  overlooked. 
He  therefore  proposed  that  one-half  of  the  appropriation  be  given 
to  Mr.  Fisk,  to  enable  him  to  carry  on  experiments,  as  well  as  Pro- 
fessor Morse. 

Mr.  Houston  thought  that  Millerism  should  also  be  included  in 
the  benefits  of  the  appropriation. 

Mr.  Stanly  said  he  should  have  no  objection  to  the  appropria- 


462  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

tion  for  mesmeric  experiments,  provided  the  gentleman  from  Ten- 
nessee (Mr.  Cave  Johnson)  was  the  subject.     [A  laugh.] 

Mr.  Cave  Johnson  said  he  should  have  no  objection,  provided 
the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Stanly)  was  the  operator. 
[Great  laughter.] 

Several  gentlemen  called  for  the  reading  of  the  amendment, 
and  it  was  read  by  the  clerk,  as  follows  : 

"  Provided,  that  one-half  of  the  said  sum  shall  be  appropriated 
for  trying  mesmeric  experiments,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury." 

Mr.  S.  Mason  rose  to  a  question  of  order.  He  maintained  that 
the  amendment  was  not  bona  fide,  and  that  such  amendments  were 
calculated  to  injure  the  character  of  the  House.  He  appealed  to 
the  Chair  to  rule  the  amendment  out  of  order. 

The  chairman  said  it  was  not  for  him  to  judge  of  the  motives 
of  members  in  offering  amendments,  and  he  could  not,  therefore, 
undertake  to  pronounce  the  amendment  not  bona  fide.  Objections 
might  be  raised  to  it  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  sufficiently  anal- 
ogous in  character  to  the  bill  under  consideration,  but,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  Chair,  it  would  require  a  scientific  analysis  to  determine 
how  far  the  magnetism  of  mesmerism  was  analogous  to  that  to  be 
employed  in  telegraph.  [Laughter.]  He  therefore  ruled  the  amend- 
ment in  order. 

On  taking  the  vote,  the  amendment  was  rejected — yeas  22, 
nays  not  counted. 

The  bill  was  then  laid  aside,  to  be  reported. 

ELECTRO-MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH. 

February  23,  1843. 
On  motion  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Kennedy,  the  bill  making  appropriation 
to  test  the  value  of  Morse's  magnetic  telegraph  was  taken  up,  and, 
under  the  operation  of  the  previous   question,  passed — yeas  89, 
nays  83. 

Professor  Morse  sat  in  the  gallery  while  the  vote  was  taken, 
his  frame  trembling  with  intense  anxiety,  and  his  soul  strug- 
gling at  that  moment  for  the  aid  of  an  unseen  power  in  which 
lie  believed  and  trusted  in  his  darkest  hours.  It  was  carried. 
The  majority  was  small — only  six — but  it  was  on  the  right  side. 
The  bill  had  passed  the  House.  So  far  the  victory  was  his. 
"When  the  votes  were  recorded,  they  were  found  to  stand — yeas 


ANALYSIS   OF   THE   VOTE. 


463 


90,  nays  82 — majority  8.  Professor  Morse  subjected  them  to 
analysis  and  classification,  and  the  table  remained  among  his 
papers  throughout  his  life. 

Vote  on  the  Telegraphy  February  23,  1843,  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 


Maine , . . . 

New  Hampshire. 
Massachusetts . . . 
Rhode  Island. . . . 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania. . . . 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia 

North  Carolina. . 
South  Carolina. . 


Neutral. 

Teas. 

Nays. 

2 

4 

2 

1 

4 

6 

4 

2 

1 

1 

1 

5 

4 

1 

1 

22 
6 

11 

9 

15 

4 

1 

4 

3 

1 

5 

3 

13 

4 

1 

8 

4 

1 

4 

Georgia . . 
Kentucky  , 
Tennessee , 

Ohio 

Louisiana  , 
Indiana  . . , 
Mississippi 
Illinois 
Alabama  ., 
Missouri  . , 
Arkansas  . 


10 


Teas. 


3 
1 
10 
2 
3 


90 


Nays. 


82 


This  table  is  suggestive,  and  will  reward  a  careful  study. 
On  the  same  day  Professor  Morse  wrote  to  Hon.  F.  O.  J. 
Smith : 

"  The  long  agony  (truly  agony  to  me)  is  over ;  for  you  will  per- 
ceive, by  the  papers  of  to-morrow,  that,  so  far  as  the  House  is  con- 
cerned, the  matter  is  decided.  My  bill  has  passed  by  a  vote  of 
eighty-nine  to  eighty-three,  a  close  vote,  you  will  say  ;  but  explained 
upon  several  grounds,  not  affecting  the  disposition  of  many  individ- 
ual members,  who  voted  against  i#,  to  the  invention.  In  matter, 
six  votes  are  as  good  as  a  thousand,  so  far  as  the  appropriation  is 
concerned.  The  yeas  and  nays  will  tell  you  who  were  friendly,  and 
who  adverse  to  the  bill.  Ixshall  now  bend  all  my  attention  to  the 
Senate.  There  is  a  good  disposition  there,  and  I  am  now  strongly 
encouraged  to  think  that  my  invention  will  be  placed  before  the 
country  in  such  a  position  as  to  be  properly  appreciated,  and  to 
yield  to  all  its  proprietors  a  proper  compensation.  I  have  no  desire 
to  vaunt  my  exertions,  but  I  can  truly  say  that  I  have  never  passed 
so  trying  a  period  as  the  last  two  months.  Professor  Fisher  (who 
has  been  of  the  greatest  service  to  me)  and  I  have  been  busy  from 
morning  till  night  every  day  since  we  have  been  here. 

"  I  have  brought  him  on  with  me  at  my  expense,  and  he  will  be 


464  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

one  of  the  first  assistants  in  the  first  experimental  line  if  the  bill 
passes.  I  shall  want  to  see  the  proprietors  together  very  soon  after 
my  return  to  New  York.  Drop  me  a  line  after  you  receive  this,  and 
let  me  know  what  you  now  think  of  matters.  I  received  your  letter 
in  answer  to  mine  some  time  since.  I  intended  to  reply,  but  was 
prevented  by  press  of  business  at  that  time.  All  I  will  now  say  is, 
it  was  just  such  a  letter  as  I  expected  from  my  friend  Smith.  My 
feelings  at  the  prospect  of  success  are  of  a  joyous  character,  as  you 
may  well  believe,  and  one  of  the  principal  elements  of  my  joy  is, 
that  I  shall  be  enabled  to  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  all  who 
formerly  assisted  me,  some  of  whom  are  at  present  specially  de- 
pressed." 

On  the  same  day  the  Professor  wrote  to  Mr.  Alfred  Yail : 

"  You  will  perceive,  by  the  papers  to-morrow,  that  my  bill  appro- 
priating thirty  thousand  dollars  for  a  trial  of  the  Telegraph,  has  just 
passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of  eighty-nine  to  eighty-three.  It  is 
read  a  second  time  in  the  Senate,  and  I  am  now  strongly  in  hopes 
that  it  will  be  carried  through  the  latter  body,  and  become  a  law 
before  the  4th  of  March.  You  can  have  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  sac- 
rifices and  trials  I  have  had  in  getting  the  Telegraph  thus  far  before 
the  country  and  the  world.  I  cannot  detail  them  here ;  I  can  only 
say  that,  for  two  years,  I  have  labored  all  my  time,  and  at  my  own 
expense,  without  assistance  from  the  other  proprietors  (except  in 
obtaining  the  iron  of  the  magnets  for  the  last  instruments  obtained 
of  you),  to  forward  our  enterprise ;  my  means  to  defray  my  expenses, 
to  meet  which,  every  cent  I  owned  in  the  world  was  collected,  are 
nearly  all  gone ;  and  if,  by  any  means,  the  bill  should  fail  in  the 
Senate,  I  shall  return  to  New  York,  with  the  fraction  of  a  dollar 
in  my  pocket." 

"I  watched,"  says  the  Professor,  writing  to  a  friend  in  after- 
years  of  this  memorable  day,  "  with  intense  interest  the  prog- 
ress and  vicissitudes  of  the  measure,  through  the  House  and  then 
through  the  Senate.  I  had  staked  all  I  possessed  on  the  issue. 
After  much  tantalizing  delay  the  vote  was  taken  in  the  House  amid 
many  attempts,  by  ridicule,  to  defeat  the  measure.  One  member 
moved  that  a  portion  of  the  appropriation  should  be  given  to  a  lect- 
urer on  animal  magnetism,  to  experiment  on  that  subject,  which 
motion  was  tested  and  negatived  by  a  vote  and  a  count  by  tellers  ; 
another  motion  was  made  that  a  portion  should  be  given  to  experi- 
ment on  a  railroad  to  the  moon ;  but,  after  much  skirmishing  of  this 


PASSAGE   OF   THE   BILL.  465 

sort,  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  bill  as  reported  from  the  committee, 
and  passed  by  a  small  majority.  Notwithstanding  this  vote  in  the 
House,  there  seemed  to  be  a  determination  on  the  part  of  some  in 
the  House,  as  was  reported  to  me,  to  procure  its  defeat  in  the  Senate. 
The  amount  of  business  before  the  Senate  rendered  it  more  and 
more  doubtful,  as  the  session  drew  to  a  close,  whether  the  House 
bill  on  the  Telegraph  would  be  reached;  and  on  the  last  day,  the 
3d  of  March,  1843,  I  was  advised,  by  one  of  my  senatorial  friends, 
to  make  up  my  mind  for  failure,  as  he  deemed  it  next  to  impossible 
that  it  could  be  reached  before  the  adjournment.  The  bill,  however, 
was  reached  a  few  moments  before  midnight,  and  passed.  This 
was  the  turning-point  in  the  history  of  the  Telegraph.  My  personal 
funds  were  reduced  to  the  fraction  of  a  dollar,  and,  had  the  passage 
of  the  bill  failed  from  any  cause,  there  would  have  been  little  pros- 
pect of  another  attempt  on  my  part  to  introduce  to  the  world  my 
new  invention." 

In  the  gallery  of  the  Senate  Professor  Morse  had  sat  all  the 
last  day  and  evening  of  the  session.  At  midnight  the  session 
would  close.  Assured  by  his  friends  that  there  was  no  possi- 
bility of  the  bill  being  reached,  he  left  the  Capitol  and  retired  to 
his  room  at  the  hotel,  dispirited,  and  wellnigh  broken-hearted. 
As  he  came  down  to  breakfast  the  next  morning,  a  young  lady 
entered,  and,  coming  toward  him  with  a  smile,  exclaimed  : 

"  I  have  come  to  congratulate  you  ! " 

"  For  what,  my  dear  friend  1 "  asked  the  Professor,  of  the 
young  lady,  who  was  Miss  Annie  Gr.  Ellsworth,  daughter  of  his 
friend  the  Commissioner  of  Patents. 

"  On  the  passage  of  your  bill." 

The  Professor  assured  her  it  was  not  possible,  as  he  re- 
mained in  the  Senate-Chamber  until  nearly  midnight,  and  it  was 
not  reached.  She  then  informed  him  that  her  father  was  present 
until  the  close,  and,  in  the  last  moments  of  the  session,  the  bill 
was  passed  without  debate  or  division.  Professor  Morse  was 
overcome  by  the  intelligence,  so  joyful  and  unexpected,  and 
gave  at  the  moment  to  his  young  friend,  the  bearer  of  these 
good  tidings,  the  promise  that  she  should  send  the  first  message 
over  the  first  line  of  telegraph  that  was  opened.  To  his  partner, 
Mr.  Smith,  he  announced  the  result,  dating  his  letter  incor- 
rectly, in  the  excitement  of  the  hour : 
30 


466  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.  MOESE. 

"Washington,  March  3,  1843. 
"  Well,  my  dear  sir,  the  matter  is  decided.  The  Senate  have 
just  passed  my  bill  without  division,  and  loithout  opposition,  and 
it  will  probably  be  signed  by  the  President  in  a  few  hours.  This  I 
think  is  news  enough  for  you  at  present,  and,  as  I  have  other  letters 
that  I  must  write  before  the  mail  closes,  I  must  say  good-by  until  I 
see  you,  or  hear  from  you.  Write  to  me  in  New  York,  where  I 
hope  to  be  by  the  latter  part  of  next  week." 

On  the  same  day  Professor  Morse  wrote  to  Mr.  Yail  these 
calm  but  cheerful  words  : 

"  You  will  be  glad  to  learn,  doubtless,  that  my  bill  has  passed 
the  Senate  without  a  division,  and  without  opposition,  so  that  now 
the  telegraphic  enterprise  begins  to  look  bright.  I  shall  want  to 
see  you  in  New  York  after  my  return,  which  will  probably  be  the 
latter  part  of  next  week.  I  have  other  letters  to  write,  so  excuse 
the  shortness  of  this,  which,  if  short,  is  sweet,  at  least.  My  kind 
regards  to  your  father,  mother,  brothers,  sisters,  and  wife.  The 
whole  delegation  of  your  State,  without  exception,  deserve  the 
highest  gratitude  of  us  all." 

That  is  the  most  cheerful  letter  he  had  written  in  ten  years. 
It  is  "  short,  but  sweet,"  and  expressed  the  joy  of  his  heart  at 
the  appropriation  by  Government  of  the  means  by  which  his 
long  and  painful  struggle  was  to  be  made  a  permanent  success. 

DEATH   OF   WASHINGTON"   ALLSTOK. 

In  the  midst  of  his  elation  in  the  prospect  of  now  seeing  his 
Telegraph  fully  developed,  an  event  occurred  that  deeply  touched 
him,  and  with  sorrow  more  intense  than  the  death  of  any  one 
but  his  wife  had  ever  brought  with  it. 

The  friendship  of  Allston  and  Morse  had  been  intimate  and 
beautiful.  On  the  part  of  Morse  it  was  in  some  degree  filial. 
The  condescension  and  kindness  of  the  teacher,  while  Morse  was 
his  pupil,  were  such  as  to  draw  him  to  the  heart  of  Allston  as 
to  an  equal  and  friend. 

Mr.  Morse  received  the  stunning  intelligence  of  the  death  of 
Allston,  which  occurred  July  9,  1843,  and  hastened  to  Boston 
and  Cambridge  to  the  house  of  his  departed  friend.     The  brush 


ALLSTON'S  LAST  LETTER  TO  MORSE.  467 

with  which  Allston  was  engaged  at  the  time  of  his  departure 
was  still  moist  with  the  paint  that  he  was  laying  upon  the  last 
canvas  that  he  had  touched,  "  The  Feast  of  Belshazzar."  Mr. 
Morse  begged  this  as  a  memorial  of  his  friend.  He  afterward 
presented  it  to  the  National  Academy  of  Design,  where  it  is 
preserved  with  care. 

Saddened  by  this  bereavement,  he  returned  after  the  funeral 
to  ISTew  York  and  "Washington,  with  the  feeling  that  one  less 
was  living  to  rejoice  in  the  success  that  was  now  opening  before 
him.  Allston  had  been  among  the  first  to  congratulate  him, 
when  the  appropriation  bill  passed  the  House.  The  last  letter 
Professor  Morse  ever  received  from  him  contained  these  cheer- 
ing words : 

"March  24,  1843. 
"  All  your  friends  here  join  me  in  rejoicing  at  the  passing  of 
the  act  of  Congress,  appropriating  thirty  thousand  dollars  toward 
carrying  out  your  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph.  I  congratulate  you 
with  all  my  heart.  Shakespeare  says,  '  There  is  a  tide  in  the  af- 
fairs of  men  that,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune.'  You  are 
now  fairly  launched  on  what  I  hope  will  prove  to  you  another  Pac- 
tolus.  I  pede  fausto !  This  has  been  but  a  melancholy  year  to 
me.  I  have  been  ill  with  one  complaint  or  another  nearly  the 
whole  time ;  the  last  disorder,  the  erysipelas,  but  this  has  now  near-:, 
ly  disappeared.  I  hope  this  letter  will  meet  you  as  well  in  health 
as  I  take  it  you  are  now  in  spirits." 

Professor  Morse  replied : 

"  I  thank  you,  my  dear  sir,  for  your  congratulations  in  regard  to 
my  telegraphic  enterprise.  I  hope  I  shall  not  disappoint  the  ex- 
pectations of  my  friends.  I  shall  exert  all  my  energies  to  show  a 
complete  and  satisfactory  result.  When  I  last  wrote  you  from 
Washington,  I  wrote  under  the  apprehension  that  my  bill  would 
not  be  acted  upon,  and  that  I  should  have  another  year's  perplex- 
ing delay,  and  consequently  I  wrote  in  very  low  spirits.  '  What 
has  become  of  Painting  ? '  I  think  I  hear  you  ask.  Ah,  my  dear  sir, 
when  I  have  diligently  and  perseveringly  wooed  the  coquettish 
jade  for  twenty  years,  and  she  then  jilts  me,  what  can  I  do  ?  But 
I  do  her  injustice,  she  is  not  to  blame,  but  her  guardian  for  the  time 
being.  I  shall  not  give  her  up  yet  in  despair,  but  pursue  her  even 
with  lightning,  and  so  overtake  her  at  last.  I  am  now  absorbed  in 
my  arrangements  for  fulfiling  my  designs  with  the  Telegraph,  in 


468  LIFE   o;F   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

accordance  with  the  act  of  Congress.  I  know  not  that  I  shall  be 
able  to  complete  my  experiment  before  Congress  meet  again,  but  I 
shall  endeavor  to  show  it  to  them  at  their  next  session." 

Professor  Morse  requested  the  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Allston 
to  write  him  a  letter,  giving  a  minute  account  of  the  last  mo- 
ments in  the  life  of  the  illustrious  painter,  and  Mr.  Dana  com- 
plied with  his  request  within  a  week  after  the  mournful  event 
occurred.     It  is  in  these  beautiful  words  : 

"  Boston,  July  14,  1843. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  Your  old  friend,  and  one  who  spoke  of  you 
often  with  deep  affection,  was  taken  from  us  most  suddenly,  and  I 
may  say  most  unexpectedly ;  for,  though  he  seemed  to  be  failing 
fast,  his  friends  had  no  suspicion  of  a  disease  of  the  organs  that 
would  take  him  away  instantly.  The  great  arteries  were  not  es- 
sentially impaired ;  but  one  or  two  that  fed  the  heart  itself  were 
"ossified.  "While  none  of  the  intestinal  organs  would  be  said  to  be 
in  a  healthy  state,  none,  with  the  exception  of  those  I  have  men- 
tioned as  being  ossified,  were  in  so  diseased  a  condition  that  he 

might  not  have  lived  some  years  longer.    So  long  ago  as  when 

took  a  bust  of  him,  his  friends  thought  he  would  not  live  long ;  but 
he  recruited.  The  winter  before  last  he  was  severely  ill,  and  we 
feared  for  him  then.  From  that  attack  he  but  partially  recovered, 
and  from  that  time  was  plainly,  with  short  terms  of  a  better  state, 
a  broken-down,  failing  man.  His  strength  was  not  sufficient  for 
his  labor;  and,  while  his  intellect  was  as  clear  as  ever,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  the  servant,  the  body,  was  too  much  weakened  to  do  its 
appointed  work.  He  spoke  of  himself  as  an  old,  broken-down 
man.  It  was  plain,  his  wife  says,  from  the  dreadful  depression  he 
was  under  for  the  last  ten  months,  when  his  friends  were  not  round 
him,  that  he  was  suffering  under  the  apprehension  he  should  not 
have  strength  to  finish  what  he  was  about.  God,  in  his  mercy, 
spared  him  from  living  on  with  this  thought  to  prey  upon  him,  and 
took  him  away  in  a  moment,  but  with  a  touch  as  gentle  as  the 
breaking  morning  light.  Both  my  sisters  and  my  daughter  were 
there,  preparatory  to  leaving  him  for  the  summer.  All  but  my 
daughter  went  to  bed.  She  sat  talking  with  him.  He  was  strongly 
attached  to  her ;  and  had  spoken  of  her  most  affectionately,  as  he 
was  wont  to  do,  the  last  time  I  saw  him.  '  I  like  to  talk  to  her,  for 
she  always  takes  my  meaning  at  once,'  he  said  to  me.  He  said  many 
kind  things  to  her  this  last  night.    *  You  are  my  niece,'  said  he.    '  You 


ALLSTON'S  DEATH-SCENE.  469 

are  more  to  me — you  are  my  child.  There  are  relations  nearer 
than  those  of  blood.'  Twice  he  put  his  arms  gently  round  her,  and 
the  second  time  kissed  her  forehead,  and  then  lowered  his  head  for 
her  to  kiss  his  cheek.  He  then  looked  upward,  and  his  eyes  were 
as  if  he  was  seeing  into  the  world  of  holiness  and  all  peace,  and 
he  said,  '  I  want  you  to  be  perfect,  perfect.'  .  .  .  '  I  do  not  feel  like 
talking,'  he  soon  added,  sat  down,  drew  a  chair  to  him  for  her  to 
sit  by  him,  took  her  hand,  and  occasionally  spoke  in  somewhat  the 
same  strain.  Between  twelve  and  one  o'clock  he  complained  of  a 
pain  in  the  chest;  he  had  felt  the  same  once  before,  about  three 
weeks  previous  to  this.  She  advised  his  taking  something  for  it, 
not  thinking  of  it,  however,  as  any  thing  of  much  importance ;  so 
that,  when  he  went  up  to  his  wife's  chamber  to  get  what  she  rec- 
ommended, she  herself  went  off  to  bed.  He  moved  about  as  usual, 
and,  when  his  wife  offered  to  go  down  and  prepare  something,  he 
,  answered :  '  Oh,  no !  I  can  do  it  just  as  well  myself.'  He  went 
down  again.  She  stopped  to  get  something  which  she  thought  he 
might  want,  and  followed  him  in  five  minutes.  She  found  him  sit- 
ting in  his  usual  place,  with  his  writing  apparatus,  which  he  had 
just  taken  out,  near  him,  his  feet  on  the  hearth,  and  his  head  rest- 
ing on  the  back  of  his  chair,  in  just  the  position  in  which  he  often 
took  his  nap.  She  went  up  to  him ;  his  eyes  were  open,  and,  from 
their  appearance,  she  thought  he  might  have  fainted.  They  were 
all  instantly  with  him.  One  of  my  sisters  said  to  him,  '  Mr.  Allston, 
we  are  all  here.'  His  eyes  soon  closed.  A  physician  was  called, 
they,  in  the  mean  time,  doing  all  they  could  to  revive  him.  There 
is  very  little  doubt  that  life  had  stopped  when  his  wife  reached  him. 
His  physician  says  that  he  must  have  gone  without  a  moment's 
pain — that  it  was  a  mere  closing. 

"  So  beautiful  an  expression  as  was  on  his  face,  as  he  lay  sleep- 
ing in  Jesus,  I  never  saw  on  the  face  of  man.  Spirits  were  with  his 
spirit.  And  a  most  humble  being  he  was  before  his  God.  In 
Christ  and  the  great  atonement  was  his  only  trust.  Trust,  do  I  say  ? 
it  was  his  realized,  fervid  life.  Not  a  fortnight  before  his  death  he 
opened  his  whole  soul  to  the  clergyman  here — a  mcst  interesting 
man — who  told  me  that  such  childlike,  undoubting  faith,  it  was 
delightful  to  sit  and  hear  poured  forth.  Let  us  all  pray  that  we 
may  be  prepared  to  meet  him  in  that  world  where  anguish  of  mind 
which  the  circumstances  of  life  brought  upon  him,  and  which  was 
the  prime  cause  that  broke  him  down,  is  all  passed  away,  and  he 
now  a  blessed  spirit  among  the  blessed ! 


470  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

"  I  am  aware  how  much  your  time  is  occupied,  yet  I  must  beg 
of  you  to  look  over  your  letters,  and  to  let  me  have  any  that  you 
may  have  of  Allston.  Depend  upon  it  they  will  not  be  used  in  any 
way  that  you  would  think  objectionable.  I  must  further  request 
of  you  to  begin  from  your  first  acquaintance  with  him,  and  to  write 
me  all  that  you  can  recollect  about  him — his  doings — his  sayings. 
And  I  beg  of  you  to  give  me  your  views  of  him  as  an  artist ;  there 
are  very  few  qualified  to  do  this.  It  will  be  in  safe  hands ;  and  I 
trust  some  memoir  of  him  will  be  prepared.  I  need  not  urge  this 
a  second  time ;  for,  busy  as  you  are,  I  know  that  love  can  find  time 
to  do  what  it  would,  and  I  know  that  you  loved  Allston  exceed- 
ingly. My  heart  can  hardly  bear  it  when  I  think  what  his  beauti- 
ful spirit  suffered,  and  yet  it  is  continually  going  back  to  it.  The 
God  of  peace  be  with  you  !  Richard  H.  Dana. 

"To  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Esq." 

A  few  days  afterward  Mr.  Dana  wrote  again : 

"My  dear  Sir:  I  wrote  you' a  few  days  ago.  Since  that  time 
I  have  seen  the  account  of  the  meeting  of  your  Academy,  and  find 
that  a  committee  is  appointed  to  procure  a  bust  of  our  departed 
friend.  I  write  again  thus  early  to  make  you  acquainted  with  the 
fact  that  we  employed  Brackett,  the  afternoon  of  poor  Allston's 
death,  to  take  a  cast  from  the  face.  We  did  this  because,  all  the 
time  that  Clevenger  was  here,  Allston  was  in  a  wretched  state 
of  health,  suffering  under  almost  continual  pain  in  the  face,  pro- 
ducing an  expression  of  distress  and  a  rigid  state  of  the  muscles. 
So  ill  was  he,  that  a  friend,  who  had  seen  him  for  two  or  three 
months,  upon  coming  out  of  the  painting-room,  where  he  was  sit- 
ting to  Clevenger,  said  to  me :  '  Allston  cannot  stay  with  us  much 
longer;  that  Clevenger  did  so  well  as  he  has  done  in  the  marble,  is 
surprising.'  But  so  beautiful  was  the  countenance  after  death,  so 
softened  the  muscles,  and  rounded  and  smoothed  the  face,  that  he 
looked  as  he  did  years  back,  before  disease  and  distress  of  mind  had 
so  preyed  upon  him.  Brackett  has  this  advantage,  besides  having 
seen  Mr.  A.  in  better  states  of  health  than  C.  was  fortunate  enough 
to  see  him  in.  He  has  long  had  a  great  desire  to  model  Mr.  A.'s 
head ;  and  of  his  power  his  bust  of  me,  but  especially  that  of  Bry- 
ant, may  be  said  to  settle  the  question.  ...  I  have  written  to  you 
rather  than  to  the  committee,  as  I  am  but  slightly  acquainted  with 
only  one  of  them,  Mr.  Gray ;  and  what  I  might  say  to  you,  as  Mr. 
A.'s  friend,  I  could  not  say  without  some  appearance  of  improper 
interference. 


ALLSTON'S  LAST  PICTURE.  471 

"  My  sister  is  calm ;  it  seems  almost  as  if  he  had  left  her  the  in- 
fluence of  his  spirit  as  he  departed.  But  in  Christ  is  her,  and,  I 
trust,  our  support. 

"  I  cannot  seal  this  without  telling  you  how  deeply  touched  we 
all  were  with  what  you  said  of  poor  A.  It  was  the  heart  pouring 
out  its  sorrows.  You  know  not,  my  dear  sir,  with  what  affection 
Allston  always  spoke  of  you,  and,  let  me  add,  how  highly  he 
thought  of  your  powers  as  an  artist. 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"Richard  H.  Dana." 

The  condition  in  which  Allston's  "  Belshazzar  "  was  left  by 
his  sudden  death  led  to  an  earnest  request  from  the  family 
that  Professor  Morse  would  come  and  give  his  opinion  as  to  the 
best  course  to  be  pursued  in  putting  it  into  a  state  for  exhibi- 
tion. He  went  immediately,  upon  receiving  a  request  to  that 
effect  from  Mr.  Franklin  Dexter,  and  on  his  return  Mr.  Dana 
writes  to  him : 

"  Your  coming  immediately  upon  a  line  from  Mr.  Dexter  was  no 
more  than  what  we  expected ;  for  we  knew  well  how  deep  was  your 
love  for  our  departed  friend,  and  that  you  would  not  account  any 
thing  as  labor  or  trouble  which  concerned  his  memory.  At  the 
same  time  it  was  very  gratifying  to  us  all,  and  a  true  comfort.  .  .  . 

"  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  more  of  Allston,  particularly  within 
the  last  year  of  his  life.  Frequent  use  of  terms,  and  especially  a 
cant  use  of  them,  is  apt  to  deaden  their  force  and  significancy, 
even  with  those  who  have  a  spirit  fitted  for  them ;  yet,  let  me  say, 
that,  if  ever  heavenly-mincledness  showed  itself  in  its  life  and 
beauty,  it  made  itself  visible  in  the  mind  of  Allston — humble,  child- 
like— himself  nothing,  Christ  all  things — love  overflowed  him,  and 
the  harmony  of  the  upper  world  permeated  him,  and  harmonized 
for  him  all  Nature  and  all  art.  These  were  not  separated  from  his 
religious  life,  because  they  were  taken  up  into  it  and  sanctified  and 
made  beautiful.  How  few  really  feel  and  understand  that  term, 
the  beauty  of  holiness  ! '  Yet  one  is  almost  afraid  to  speak  in  this 
way,  so  mournfully  has  a  self-presuming  spiritualism  desecrated 
spiritual  things.  May  God  bless  you,  my  dear  sir ;  and,  through  the 
trials  which  He  has  laid  upon  you,  may  you  be  fitted  for  that  pros- 
perity which,  in  his  good  providence,  I  trust,  is  now  awaiting  you ! " 

That  Allston  lived  to  see  the  great  work  of  his  pupil  and 


472  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

friend  accomplished  was  a  source  of  the  highest  satisfaction  to 
Mr.  Morse.  It  was  his  justification  for  having  turned  away 
from  his  profession  as  an  artist  to  make  an  achievement  in 
science  which  was  destined  to  confer  happiness  upon  his  fellow- 
men.  The  appropriation  of  the  money  by  Congress  for  build- 
ing the  line  from  Baltimore  to  "Washington  was  the  act  that 
gave  not  only  the  pledge  of  success,  but  also  the  means  of  its 
final  accomplishment.  Mr.  Morse  was  now  emphatically  alone 
in  the  world.  His  wife,  his  parents,  Leslie,  Allston,  West,  and 
all  those  to  whom  his  early  years  of  struggle  had  been  known, 
were  dead.  He  had  made  new  acquaintances  and  associations, 
but  friendships  formed  after  middle  life  never  take  the  place 
of  those  with  which  the  pursuits  and  aspirations  of  youth  are 
identified. 


CHAPTEE  XI. 
1843-1844:. 

PEEPAEATIONS  TO  LAY  THE  FIEST  LINE — USE  OF  TUBES  UNDEEGEOUND — 
EZEA  OOENELL — TUBES  ABANDONED — LINES  PUT  UPON  POLES — EXPEEI- 
MENTS  "WITH  160  MILES  OF  "WIEE — PEOFESSOE  HENBY's  LETTEE — PEOGEESS 
OF  THE  "WOEK — NATIONAL  WHIG  CONVENTION — NOMINATION  OF  HENEY 
CLAY  ANNOUNCED  AT  "WASHINGTON  BY  TELEGEAPH — THE  LINE  COMPLETE 
— THE    FIEST    MESSAGE  —  TEIUMPH    OF   THE    LNVENTOE — HIS    LETTEE    TO 

BISHOP   STEVENS NATIONAL   DEMOCEATIO    CONVENTION JAMES    K.    POLK 

NOMINATED — CONFEEENOE  "WITH  SILAS  "WEIGHT "WOEKING  OF  THE  TELE- 
GEAPH— PEOFESSOE  MOESE'S  EEPOET  OF  THE  COMPLETION  OF  THE  LINE 
— ENTHUSIASM  OF  THE  PEESS  AND  THE  PUBLIC! — TELEGEAPH  OFFEEED  TO 
THE   GOVEENMENT — DETEEMESTCNG  THE   LONGITUDE. 

THE  appropriation  by  Congress  having  been  made,  Professor 
Morse  proceeded  with  energy  and  delight  to  construct  the 
first  line  of  his  Electric  Telegraph.  It  was  obviously  important 
that  it  should  be  laid  where  it  would  the  most  powerfully  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Government,  the  country,  and  the  world, 
and  this  consideration  decided  the  question  in  favor  of  a  line 
between  "Washington  and  Baltimore.  Professor  Morse,  without 
any  delay,  addressed  these  communications  to  the  Secretary  of 

the  Treasury : 

"Washington,  March  8,  1843. 

"  To  the  Son.  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

"  Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  to  you  the  .report  of  the 
House  Committee  of  Commerce,  on  the  subject  of  my  Electro-Mag- 
netic Telegraph.  The  bill  which  accompanies  the  report  has  become 
a  law,  and  I  am  desirous,  with  the  least  possible  delay,  to  commence 
my  operations,  that  I  may  have  the  telegraphic  line  contemplated 
by  the  bill  completed,  ready  for  your  next  report,  and  for  the  ex- 
amination of  the  next  Congress.     I  am  aware  that  just  at  this  mo- 


474  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

ment  your  valuable  time  must  be  occupied  in  the  more  pressing 
duties  of  your  new  office,  and  I  am  therefore  unwilling  to  intrude* 
upon  you.  But  as  there  is  some  preliminary  information  necessary 
in  order  that  you  may  form  the  better  judgment  on  those  subjects 
submitted  to  you,  particularly  as  to  the  eligibility  of  the  route  to 
be  determined  for  the  trial,  I  will  proceed  immediately  to  ascertain 
these  points,  and  will  return  to  Washington  and  wait  upon  you 
again  when  you  are  more  at  leisure.  I  have  thought,  if  it  should 
meet  your  approbation,  of  establishing  the  telegraphic  line  between 
Baltimore  and  Washington,  but  whether  along  the  line  of  the  turn- 
pike or  railroad,  cannot  well  be  determined  until  I  can  have  an  inter- 
view with  the  stockholders  of  the  two  companies. 

"  With  sincere  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Mouse." 

"Washington,  D.  C,  March  10,  1843. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  In  compliance  with  your  request  this  morning,  I 
give  you  the  plan  I  propose  for  my  operations,  in  fulfillment  of  the 
design  contemplated  by  the  act  of  the  late  Congress  '  to  test  the 
practicability  and  efficacy '  of  my  system  of  Electro-Magnetic  Tele- 
graphs. I  propose  immediately  to  procure  the  necessary  quantity 
of  wire,  which  must  first  be  prepared  with  its  insulating  covering 
before  the  subsequent  operation  of  inclosing  in  tubes,  or  laying 
them  in  the  earth,  can  be  performed.  Many  interesting  experiments 
bearing  upon  the  general  result  can  then  be  tried  before  the  wire 
is  inclosed.  When  inclosed  in  tubes  other  experiments  of  the  same 
character  may  be  tried  before  laying  them  in  the  ground.  The  tele- 
graphic instruments  should  also  be  in  progress  of  making.  I  propose 
to  lay  the  experimental  line  between  Baltimore  and  Washington. 
I  propose  to  make  some  experiments  on  the  forms  of  galvanic  bat- 
teries, and  magnets,  and  in  modes  of  crossing  rivers,  with  the  elec- 
tric fluid.  I  desire  to  have  two  assistants,  to  aid  me  in  my  labors, 
Professor  Fisher  and  Professor  Gale,  of  New  York,  who  have  been 
for  a  long  time  associated  with  me  in  my  experiments. 

"  In  regard  to  the  kind  of  tubes  necessary,  Colonel  Talcott,  to 
whom  you  had  the  kindness  to  give  me  a  letter,  is  decidedly  of  opin- 
ion that  lead  is  preferable  to  all  other  substances,  both  for  durabil- 
ity and  cheapness.  For  the  proposed  experiment  at  least,  I  think 
lead  is  preferable. 

"  I  have  copied  below  the  general  estimate. 

"  I  would  say  in  conclusion  that  I  shall  remain  in  the  city  until 


ESTIMATE  OF  COST.  475 

Monday  morning,  and  will  call  at  the  chief  clerk's  office  in  the  De- 
partment before  three  o'clock  to-morrow  (Saturday)  for  the  Honor- 
able Secretary's  answer,  if  ready ;  if  not,  I  should  feel  obliged  to 
have  his  answer  forwarded  to  me  in  New  York,  where  my  address 
is  No.  142  Nassau  Street. 

"  I  remain  with  sincere  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"S.  F.  B.  Moese. 

"  To  the  Hon.  J.  0.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

,"  General  Estimate  for  the  Experimental  Essay  with  the  Electro- Magnetic 
Telegraph,  provided  for  oy  the  Act  of  Twenty-seventh  Congress,  Third 
Session,  Mouse  Bill  641. 

1.  Rooms  to  be  rented  for  preparing  the  work,  per  annum,       .      $600  00 

2.  Copper  wire,  No.  16,  and  its  preparation  with  cotton  and 

insulating  varnish,  four  lengths  of  forty  miles,     .         .  6,000  00 

3.  Lead  pipe  for  forty  miles, 10,000  00 

4.  Delivery  of  the  pipe  and  wire,  and  passing  the  wire  into  the 

pipe, 1,400  00 

5.  Machinery,  registers,  and  correspondents,  galvanic  batteries, 

magnets,  acids,  etc., 500  00 

6.  Survey  of  the  route  between  Baltimore  and  Washington,  both 

railroad  and  turnpike,  uncertain,  say,  .         .         .  300  00 

V.  Engineering,  laying  down  and  protecting  wires,       .         .  6,120  00 

8.  Experiments  on  forms  of  batteries,  etc.,  not  more  than  .  500  00 

$25,420  00" 

To  this  letter  he  received  the  following  reply : 

"Treasury  Department,  Washington,  March  14,  1843. 

"  Sir  :  I  have  received  your  communication  of  the  10th  instant, 
stating  the  plan  of  operations  you  propose,  for  fulfilling  the  object 
of  the  act  of  Congress  to  test  the  practicability  of  establishing  a 
system  of  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraphs  by  the  United  States. 

"  In  general,  I  approve  the  plan  proposed  by  you.  The  compen- 
sation of  the  two  assistants  whom  you  propose  to  employ  ought, 
however,  to  be  fixed  before  they  are  engaged,  and  you  will  report 
to  the  Department  the  amount  or  rate  which  you  deem  reasonable. 
Some  arrangement  in  respect  to  your  own  compensation  should  also 
be  made,  either  in  reference  to  the  whole  undertaking,  or  to  the 
time  which  may  be  devoted  to  it. 

"  In  order  to  preserve  a  proper  check  over  the  expenditures,  and 
to  conform  to  the  established  practice  of  the  Department,  previous  to 
the  conclusion  of  any  contract  for  materials,  or  for  any  work  by  the 
job,  you  will  submit  the  same  to  this  Department  for  its  approval. 


476  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

Of  course  this  does  not  apply  to  the  hiring  of  laborers  by  the  day 
or  the  month,  although  the  rates  of  wages  proposed  to  be  paid,  in 
such  case,  should  be  submitted  to  the  Department.  An  advance  of 
a  reasonable  sum,  to  enable  you  to  commence  your  operations,  will 
be  made  on  your  requisition,  stating  the  amount  and  object,  and 
designating  the  place  at  which  you  desire  the  same  to  be  paid  or 
transmitted  to  you.  And,  as  the  operations  proceed,  such  sums  will 
be  paid  from  time  to  time,  as  may  be  necessary,  on  similar  requisi- 
tions. As  you  will  be  held  accountable  for  all  moneys  paid  on  your 
application,  you  will  find  it  necessary  to  be  exceedingly  careful  to 
take  vouchers  in  duplicate  for  all  sums  expended  by  you.  You 
will  be  required  to  account  monthly,  at  least,  for  the  amounts  re- 
ceived, and  no  advance  or  payments  will  be  made  while  there  shall 
remain  any  considerable  sum  unaccounted  for.  It  may  be  well  for 
you  to  devolve  on  one  of  your  assistants  the  duties  of  a  disbursing 
agent,  and  of  keeping  the  accounts  of  the  experiment. 
"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  C.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
"  To  Samuel  F.  B.  Moese,  Esq." 

Keturning  to  New  York,  Mr.  Morse  proceeded  without  de- 
lay to  organize  the  system  for  the  construction  of  the  experi- 
mental line.     He  writes  to  Mr.  Tail : 

"New  York,  March  15,  1843. 
"  You  will  not  fail,  with  your  brother,  and,  if  possible,  your 
father,  to  be  in  New  York  on  Tuesday,  the  21st,  to  meet  the  propri- 
etors of  the  Telegraph.  I  was  upon  the  point  of  coming  out  this 
afternoon  to  Speedwell  to  see  you,  with  young  Mr.  Serrell,  the 
patentee  of  the  lead-pipe  machine,  which  I  think  promises  to  be  the 
best  for  our  purposes,  of  all  that  have  been  invented,  as  to  it  can 
be  applied  '  a  mode  of  filling  lead-pipes  with  wire,''  for  which  Pro- 
fessor Fisher  and  myself  have  entered  a  caveat  at  the  Patent- 
Office." 

Mr.  Tail  replied : 

"  As  an  assistant  in  the  telegraphic  experiment  contemplated 
by  act  of  Congress,  lately  passed,  I  can  superintend  and  procure 
the  making  of  the  instruments  complete  according  to  your  direc- 
tion, namely,  the  register,  the  correspondents  with  their  magnets, 
the  batteries,  the  reels  and  the  paper,  and  will  attend  to  the  pro- 
curing of  the  acids,  the  ink,  and  the  preparation  of  the  various 


ASSISTANTS  APPOINTED.  477 

stations.  I  will  assist  in  fitting  the  tubes  with,  wire,  and  the  resin- 
ous coating,  etc.,  and  I  will  devote  my  whole  time  and  attention  to 
the  business,  so  as  to  secure  a  favorable  result,  and,  should  you  wish 
to  devolve  upon  me  any  other  business  connected  with  the  Tele- 
graph, I  will  cheerfully  undertake  it.  Three  dollars  per  diem,  with 
travelling  expenses,  I  shall  deem  a  satisfactory  salary." 

Mr.  Morse  immediately  appointed  as  bis  assistants  Professor 
L.  D.  Gale  and  Professor  J.  C.  Fisher.  Mr.  Yail  was  to  devote 
his  time  and  attention  to  the  making  of  instruments  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Morse,  and  to  the  purchase  of  materials.  Pro- 
fessor Fisher  was  to  superintend  the  preparation  of  the  wire, 
from  its  manufacture  to  the  placing  of  it  in  the  tubes,  as  origi- 
nally proposed.  Professor  Gale  was  to  give  his  personal  atten- 
tion to  the  work  of  construction  at  such  points  as  Mr.  Morse 
should  consider  necessary.  Mr.  Morse  himself,  as  general  su- 
perintendent, under  the  appointment  of  the  Government, 
gave  attention  to  the  minutest  details.  Every  cent  that  was 
disbursed  passed  through  his  hands.  In  point  of  accuracy, 
attention  to  the  smallest  expenditures,  the  preservation  of 
vouchers,  and  the  presentation  of  accounts,  General  Washing- 
ton himself,  whose  books  are  models  for  all  disbursing  officers, 
was  not  more  precise,  lucid,  and  correct.  Mr.  Morse  made 
monthly  reports  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  presenting 
the  exact  state  of  his  accounts,  together  with  vouchers  for  all 
his  expenditures.  Duplicates  of  these,  carefully  preserved,  pre- 
sent the  most  beautiful  evidence  of  his  particularity  in  the  man- 
agement of  business  matters,  and  his  fidelity  in  public  trusts. 

Mr.  Ezra  Cornell1  had  invented  a  machine  to  lay  pipe,  to 
contain  conducting-lines  for  telegraphic  purposes,  and  he  was 
employed  to  take  charge  of  the  works,  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  Mr.  Morse.  The  work  was  commenced  at  the  old 
Baltimore  and  Washington  Depot,  on  the  hill,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  railroad-track,  and  was  continued  until  it  was  satisfac- 
torily proved,  by  repeated  experiments,  that  the  plan  of  tubes 
in  the  earth  would  not  succeed.     Two-thirds  of  the  appropria- 

1  Mr.  Cornell,  who  was  thus  early  connected  with  the  Telegraph,  being  employed 
at  a  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  a  year,  became  one  of  the  most  successful  con- 
structors and  largest  proprietors  of  telegraphs,  and  the  founder  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity. 


478  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.  MORSE. 

tion  were  expended,  and  it  was  estimated  that  it  would  require 
nearly  as  large  a  sum  as  the  original  appropriation  to  complete 
the  work,  with  no  prospect  of  success  when  it  was  finished. 
When  the  pipe  had  been  laid  as  far  as  the  Relay  House,  Pro- 
fessor Morse  came  to  Mr.  Cornell  and  expressed  a  desire  to  have 
the  work  arrested  until  he  could  try  further  experiments,  but 
he  was  very  anxious  that  nothing  should  be  said  or  done  to  give 
to  the  public  the  impression  that  the  enterprise  had  failed.  Mr. 
Cornell  said  he  could  easily  manage  it,  and  stepping  up  to 
the  machine,  which  was  drawn  by  a  team  of  eight  mules,  he 
cried  out,  "  Hurrah,  boys !  we  must  lay  another  length  of  pipe 
before  we  quit."  The  teamsters  cracked  their  whips  over 
the  mules,  and  they  started  on  a  livery  pace.  Mr.  Cornell 
grasped  the  handles  of  the  plough,  and,  watching  an  opportuni- 
ty, canted  it  so  as  to  catch  the  point  of  a  rock,  and  broke  it  to 
pieces,  while  Professor  Morse  stood  looking  on.  Consultations, 
long  and  painful,  followed.  The  anxiety  of  Professor  Morse 
at  this  period  was  greater  than  at  any  previous  hour  known 
in  the  history  of  his  invention.  Some  that  were  around  him 
had  serious  apprehensions  that  he  would  not  stand  up  under 
the  pressure.  Professor  Morse's  account  of  the  abandonment 
of  the  tubes  and  the  employment  of  poles  was  given  in  these 
words : 

"  Much  time  and  expense  were  lost  in  consequence  of  ray  fol- 
lowing the  plan  adopted  in  England  of  laying  the  conductors  be- 
neath the  ground.  At  the  time  the  Telegraph  bill  was  passed, 
there  had  been  about  thirteen  miles  of  telegraph-conductors,  for 
Professor  Wheatstone's  telegraph  system  in  England,  put  into 
tubes  and  interred  in  the  earth ;  and  there  was  no  hint  publicly 
given  that  that  mode  was  not  perfectly  successful.  I  did  not  feel, 
therefore,  at  liberty  to  expend  the  public  moneys  in  useless  experi- 
ments on  a  plan  which  seemed  to  be  already  settled  as  effective  in 
England.  Hence  I  fixed  upon  this  mode  as  one  supposed  to  be  the 
best.  It  was  prosecuted  till  the  winter  of  1843-'44.  It  was  aban- 
doned, among  other  reasons,  in  consequence  of  ascertaining  that,  in 
the  process  of  inserting  the  wire  into  the  leaden  tubes  (which  was 
at  the  moment  of  forming  the  tube  from  the  lead  at  melting  heat), 
the  insulating  covering  of  the  wires  had  become  charged  at  various 
and  numerous  points  of  the  line  to  such  an  extent  that  greater 


TELEGRAPH  ON  POLES.  479 

delay  and  expense  would  be  necessary  to  repair  the  damage  than 
to  put  the  wire  on  posts.  In  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  of  September  27,  1837,  one  of  the  modes  of  laying  the 
conductors  for  the  Telegraph  was  the  present  almost  universal  one 
of  extending  them  on  posts  set  about  two  hundred  feet  apart.  This 
mode  was  adopted  with  success." 

In  his  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated  Sep- 
tember 27,  1837,  he  said :  "  If  the  circuit  is  laid  through  the 
air,  the  first  cost  would,  doubtless,  be  much  lessened.  Stout 
spars,  of  some  thirty  feet  in  height,  well  planted  in  the  ground, 
and  placed  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  apart,  would, 
in  this  case,  be  required,  along  the  tops  of  which  the  circuit 
might  be  stretched."  Mr.  Cornell  remembers  an  interesting 
discussion  which  now  arose  as  to  the  mode  of  fastening  the  wires 
to  the  poles.    He  says  : 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  March  Professor  Morse  gave  me  the  order 
to  put  the  wires  on  poles,  and  the  question  at  once  arose  as  to  the 
mode  of  fastening  the  wires  to  the  poles,  and  the  insulation  of  them 
at  the  point  of  fastening.  I  submitted  a  plan  to  the  Professor 
which,  I  was  confident,  would  be  successful  as  an  insulating  me- 
dium, and  which  was  easily  available  then,  and  inexpensive.  Mr. 
Vail  also  submitted  a  plan  for  the  same  purpose,  which  involved 
the  necessity  of  going  to  New  York  or  New  Jersey  to  get  it  exe- 
cuted. Professor  Morse  gave  preference  to  Mr.  Vail's  plan,  and 
started  for  New  York  to  get  the  fixtures,  directing  me  to  get  the 
wire  ready  for  use,  and  arrange  for  setting  the  poles.  At  the  end 
of  a  week  Professor  Morse  returned  from  New  York,  and  came  to 
the  shop  where  I  was  at  work,  and  said  he  wanted  to  provide  the 
insulators  for  putting  the  wires  on  the  poles  upon  the  plan  I  had 
suggested,  to  which  I  responded:  'How  is  that,  Professor?  I 
thought  you  had  decided  to  use  Mr.  Vail's  plan.'  Professor  Morse 
replied :  '  Yes,  I  did  so  decide,  and  on  my  way  to  New  York,  where 
I  went  to  order  the  fixtures,  I  stopped  at  Princeton,  and  called  on 
my  old  friend  Professor  Henry,  who  inquired  how  I  was  getting 
along  with  my  Telegraph.  I  explained  to  him  the  failure  of  the 
insulation  in  the  pipes,  and  stated  that  I  had  decided  to  place  the 
wires  on  poles  in  the  air.  He  then  inquired  how  I  proposed  to 
insulate  the  wires  when  they  were  attached  to  the  poles.  I  showed 
him  the  model  I  had  of  Mr.  Vail's  plan,  and  he  said,  "  It  will  not 


480  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.  MORSE. 

do ;  you  will  meet  the  same  difficulty  you  had  in  the  pipes."     I  then 
explained  to  him  your  plan,  which  he  said  would  answer.' " 

In  August,  1843,  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
giving  the  result  of  some  important  experiments : 

"  New  York,  August  10,  1843. 

"  Sie  :  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  transmit  my  fifth  monthly 
report  of  expenditures,  under  the  act  of  the  last  Congress,  for  '  test- 
ing the  practicability  of  establishing  a  system  of  Electro-Magnetic 
Telegraphs  for  the  United  States.' 

"  I  also  take  this  opportunity  of  communicating  to  the  Honor- 
able Secretary  the  result  of  the  experiments,  made  on  the  8th  in- 
stant, with  the  prepared  wire  in  one  continuous  line  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  miles.  Professors  Renwick,  Draper,  Ellet,  and 
Schaeffer,  with  my  assistants,  Professors  Pisher  and  Gale,  were 
present  by  invitation ;  Professors  Silliman,  Henry,  Torrey,  and  Dr. 
Chilton,  were  also  invited,  but  were  prevented  by  official  duties 
from  attending. 

"  In  the  letter  to  the  Honorable  Secretary,  dated  March  10, 1843, 
in  which  I  propose  my  general  plan,  I  have  this  remark,  speak- 
ing of  the  wire  after  its  insulating  preparations  should  be  com- 
pleted :  '  Many  interesting  experiments  bearing  upon  the  general 
result  can  then  be  tried  before  the  wire  is  inclosed.' 

"  The  experiments  alluded  to  were  tried  on  Tuesday,  and  with 
perfect  success.  I  had  prepared  a  galvanic  battery  of  three  hun- 
dred pairs,  in  order  to  have  ample  power  at  command,  but  to  my 
great  gratification  I  found  that  one  hundred  pairs  were  sufficient 
to  produce  all  the  effects  I  desired  through  the  whole  distance  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  ! 

"  It  may  be  well  to  observe  that  the  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of 
wire  are  to  be  divided  into  four  lengths  of  forty  miles  each,  forming 
a  fourfold  cord  from  Washington  to  Baltimore.  Two  wires  form  a 
circuit ;  the  electricity,  therefore,  in  producing  its  effects  at  "Wash- 
ington from  Baltimore,  passes  from  Baltimore  to  Washington,  and 
back  again  to  Baltimore,  of  course  traveling  eighty  miles  to  produce 
its  result.  One  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  therefore,  gives  me  an  act- 
ual distance  of  eighty  miles,  double  the  distance  from  Washington 
to  Baltimore.  The  result,  then,  of  my  experiments  on  Tuesday  is, 
that  a  battery  of  only  hundred  pairs  at  Washington  will  operate  a 
Telegraph  on  my  plan  eighty  miles  distant  with  certainty,  and  with- 
out requiring  any  intermediate  station  ! 


THE  OCEAN  TELEGRAPH.  481 

"  Some  careful  experiments  on  the  decomposing  power  of  various 
distances  were  made,  from  which  the  law  of  propulsion  has  been 
deduced,  verifying  the  results  of  Ohm,  and  those  which  I  made  in 
the  summer  of  1842,  and  alluded  to  in  my  letter  to  the  Hon.  C.  G. 
Ferris,  and  published  in  the  House  Report,  No.  17,  of  the  last  Con- 
gress. 

"  The  practical  inference  from  this  law  is,  that  a  telegraphic 
communication  on  the  Electro-Magnetic  plan  may  with  certainty 
be  established  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  !  Startling  as  this  may 
now  seem,  I  am  confident  the  time  will  come  when  this  project  will 
be  realized.  , 

"  The  wire  is  now  in  its  last  process  of  preparation  for  inclosing 
in  the  lead  tube,  which  will  be  commenced  on  Tuesday,  the  15th 
instant.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  with  sincere  respect,  your 
most  obedient  servant, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse, 
"  Superintendent  of  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph. 

"To  the  Hon.  John  C.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States." 

"Treasury  Department,  August  15,  1843. 

"  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  Superintendent  of  Electro-Magnetic 
Telegraph,  New  York. 
"  Sir  :  The  accounts  and  vouchers  inclosed  in  your  letter  of  the 
10th  instant,  have  been  referred  to  the  First  Auditor  for  adjustment. 
I  am  gratified  with  the  result  of  the  experiments  made  with  the 
Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  and  trust  the  country  will  have  reason 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  result  of  your  labors. 

"  I  am,  etc., 
(Signed)  "  J.  C.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 

The  important  experiments  alluded  to  in  this  letter  were 
illustrated  in  a  communication  made  by  him  to  Sillimaw's  Jour- 
nal of  Science. 

"New  York,  September  4,  1843. 
"  Dear  Sirs  :  On  the  8th  of  August,  having  completed  my  prep- 
arations of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of  copper  wire  for  the  Elec- 
tro-Magnetic Telegraph,  which  I  am  constructing  for  the  Govern- 
ment, I  invited  several  scientific  friends  to  witness  some  experiments 
in  verification  of  the  law  of  Lenz,  of  the  action  of  galvanic  electricity 
31 


482  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   B.   F.   MORSE. 

through  wires  of  great  lengths.  I  put  in  action  a  cup  battery  of 
one  hundred  pairs,  which  I  had  constructed,  based  on  the  excellent 
plan  of  Professor  Grove,  but  with  some  modifications  of  my  own, 
economizing  the  platinum.  The  wire  was  reeled  upon  eighty  reels, 
containing  two  miles  upon  each  reel,  so  that  any  length,  from  two 
to  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  could  be  made  at  pleasure  to  con- 
stitute the  circuit.  My  first  trial  of  the  battery  was  through  the 
entire  length  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  making  of  course  a 
circuit  of  eighty  miles,  and  the  magnetism  induced  in  my  electro- 
magnet,1 which  formed  a  part  of  the  circuit,  was  sufficient  to 
move  with  great  strength  my  telegraphic  lever.  Even  forty- 
eight  cups  produced  action  in  the  lever,  but  not  so  promptly  or 
surely. 

"  "We  then  commenced  a  series  of  experiments  upon  decompo- 
sition, at  various  distances.  The  battery  alone  (one  hundred  pairs) 
gave,  in  the  measuring-gauge,  in  one  minute,  5.20  inches  of  gas. 
When  four  miles  of  wire  were  interposed,  the  result  was  1.20  inches ; 
ten  miles  of  wire,  .57 ;  twenty  miles,  .30  inches ;  fifty  miles,  .094. 
The  results  obtained  from  a  battery  of  one  hundred  pairs  are  pro- 
jected in  the  following  curve  : 

1  In  Professor  Daniel's  "Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Chemical  Philosophy," 
second  edition,  1843,  there  are  these  facts  to  be  noticed: 

In  the  preface,  there  are  these  words :  "  It  only  remains  for  me  now,  to  acknowl- 
edge my  obligations  to  my  friends  and  colleagues,  Professor  Wheatstone  and  Dr.  Todd, 
for  their  great  kindness  in  undergoing  the  disagreeable  labor  of  revising  and  cor- 
recting the  proof-sheets.  They  have  thereby  prevented  many  errors  which  'would 
have  otherwise  deformed  the  work." 

No  statement  then  of  Professor  Daniel's,  particularly  in  that  part  of  his  work 
which  related  especially  to  Wheatstone's  Telegraph,  would  be  allowed  to  pass  un- 
noticed by  Mr.  Wheatstone,  and  we  are  authorized  in  considering  any  such  state- 
ment as  having  his  sanction. 

We  then  find,  page  5*76,  the  following  statement :  "  Ingenious  as  Professor 
Wheatstone's  contrivances  are,  they  would  have  been  of  no  avail  for  telegraphic  pur- 
poses, without  the  investigation  which  he  was  the  first  to  make  of  the  laws  of  elec- 
tro-magnets, when  acted  on  through  great  lengths  of  wire.  Electro-magnets  of  the 
greatest  power,  even  when  the  most  energetic  batteries  are  employed,  utterly  cease  to  act 
when  they  are  connected  by  considerable  lengths  of  wire  with  the  battery.'''' 

If  any  thing  were  needed  to  show  that  Professor  Wheatstone  was  not  the  in- 
ventor of  the  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  it  is  this  assertion  (under  the  supervision 
of  Professor  Wheatstone)  made  by  Professor  Daniel.  In  1843  Professor  Wheat- 
stone had  not  made  the  discovery  upon  which  Professor  Morse  bases  his  invention, 
viz.,  that  electro-magnets  can  be  made  to  act,  with  an  inconsiderable  battery  too,  when 
the  latter  is  connected  with  the  former  by  considerable  lengths  of  wire  ;  eighty  miles 
may  certainly  be  considered  as  of  considerable  length. 


TABULATED  RESULTS. 


483 


Miles 


Table  constructed  from  the    Curve. 


D 


Battery  alone, 

5.20  inches 

1  mile 

3.85      " 

2  miles 

2.62      " 

3 

a 

1.84      " 

4 

a 

1.20      " 

5 

« 

1.05      " 

6 

a 

.92      " 

7 

(C 

.80      " 

8 

a 

.71      " 

9 

a 

.64      " 

10 

a 

.57      " 

20 

a 

.30      " 

30 

u 

.20      " 

40 

a 

.14      " 

50 

a 

.094    " 

"  During  the  previous  summer,  I  made  the  following  experi- 
ments, upon  a  line  of  thirty-three  miles,  of  No.  17  copper  wire, 
with  a  battery  of  fifty  pairs.  In  this  case,  I  used  a  small  steel- 
yard, with  weights,  with  which  I  was  enabled  to  weigh,  with  a 
good  degree  of  accuracy,  the  greater  magnetic  forces,  but  not  the 
lesser,  yet  sufficiently  approximating  the  recent  results  to  confirm 
the  law  in  question. 


484 


LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 


Table  of  Results. 

"  50  pairs  through  2  miles  attracted  and  raised  9  ozs. 

«       4     « 

"       3     " 

"    n " 

«  JL    u 

8 
u  l    a 

¥ 

and  each  successive  addition  of  two  miles,  up  to  33,  still  gave  an 
attractive  and  lifting  power  of  one-eighth  of  an  ounce, 


a 

4 

a 

a 

a 

6 

a 

a 

a 

8 

a 

u 

a 

10 

« 

a 

u 

12 

« 

u 

(C 

14 

u 

u 

Curve  from  these  Results. 


Miles.      1  os.       2  3  4  5  6 

I   ■    I  i  I   i   1   i   !  i  I    i  1  i   1  i  I   i   I    i  I  i   I  i 


2- 
4_ 
6- 
8. 

10. 

12. 

16_ 
20- 


'''■'■'■'■■ 


30- 


A  great  irregularity  is  seen  between  the 
tenth  and  twelfth  miles,  which  is  due,  un- 
doubtedly, to  a  deficiency  of  accuracy  in 
the  weighing  apparatus.  I  take  pleasure 
in  sending  you  the  following  calculation  of 
the  law  of  the  conducting  power  of  wires, 
for  which  I  am  indebted  to  my  friend  Pro- 
fessor Draper,  of  the  New  York  City  Uni- 
versity. 


" '  It  has  been  objected  that,  if  the  conducting  power  of  wires 
for  electricity  was  inversely  as  their  length,  and  directly  as  their 
section,  the  transmission  of  telegraphic  signals,  through  long  wires, 
could  not  be  carried  into  effect,  and  even  the  galvanic  multiplier, 


EXPLANATION   OF  THE   RULE.  485 

which  consists,  essentially,  of  a  wire  making  several  convolutions 
round  a  needle,  could  have  no  existence.  This  last  objection  was 
brought  forward  by  Professor  Ritchie,  of  the  University  of  London, 
as  an  absolute  proof  that  the  law  referred  to  is  incorrect.  There 
is,  however,  an  exceedingly  simple  method  of  proving  that  signals 
may  be  dispatched  through  very  long  wires,  and  that  the  galvanic 
multiplier,  so  far  from  controverting  the  law  in  question,  depends 
for  its  verjT  existence  upon  it. 

"  '  Assuming  the  truth  of  the  law  of  Lenz,  the  quantities  of  elec- 
tricity which  can  be  urged  by  a  constant  electro-motoric  source 
through  a  series  of  wires,  the  length  of  which  constitutes  an  arith- 
metical ratio,  will  always  be  in  a  geometrical  ratio.  Now,  the 
curve  whose  ordinates  and  abscissas  bear  this  relation  to  each  other, 
is  the  logarithmic  curve  whose  equation  is  ay=x. 

"  '  1.  If  we  suppose  the  base  of  the  system,  which  the  curve 
under  discussion  represents,  be  greater  than  unity,  the  values  of  y 
taken  between  sc=0,  and  £C=1,  must  be  all  negative. 

"'2.  By  taking  y=-0,  we  find  that  the  curve  will  intersect  the 
axis  of  the  x's  at  a  distance  from  the  origin,  equal  to  unity. 

" '  3.  By  making  x=0,  we  find  y  to  be  infinite  and  negative. 
Now,  these  are  the  properties  of  the  logarithmic  curve,  which  fur- 
nish an  explanation  of  the  case  in  hand.  Assuming  that  the  cc's 
represent  the  quantities  of  electricity,  and  the  y's  the  length  of 
the  wires,  we  perceive  at  once  that  those  parts  of  the  curve  which 
we  have  to  consider  lie  wholly  in  the  fourth  quadrant,  where  the 
abscissas  are  positive  and  the  ordinates  negative.  When,  therefore, 
the  battery-current  passes  without  the  intervention  of  any  obstruct- 
ing wire,  its  value  is  equal  to  unity.  But,  as  successive  lengths  of 
wire  are  continually  added,  the  quantities  of  electricity  passing 
undergo  a  diminution,  at  first  rapid,  and  then  more  and  more  slow. 
And  it  is  not  until  the  wire  becomes  infinitely  long  that  it  ceases 
to  conduct  at  all;  for  the  ordinate  y,  when  x=0,  is  an  asymptote 
to  the  curve.  In  point  of  practice,  therefore,  when  a  certain  limit 
is  reached,  the  diminution  of  the  intensity  of  the  forces  becomes 
very  small,  while  the  increase  in  the  lengths  of  the  wire  is  vastly 
great.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  to  conceive  a  wire  to  be  a  million 
times  as  long  as  another,  and  yet  the  two  shall  transmit  quantities 
of  electricity  not  perceptibly  different,  when  measured  by  a  delicate 
galvanometer.  But,  under  these  circumstances,  if  the  long  wire 
be  coiled,  so  as  to  act  as  a  multiplier,  its  influence  on  the  needle 
will  be  inexpressibly  greater  than  the  one  so  much  shorter  than  it. 


486  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MOESE. 

Further,  from  this  we  gather  that  for  telegraphic  dispatches,  with 
a  battery  of  given  electro-motoric  power,  when  a  certain  distance 
is  reached,  the  diminution  of  effect  for  an  increased  distance  be- 
comes inappreciable.'  " 

To  the  invitation  of  Professor  Morse  to  assist  at  the  great 
experiment  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  letter,  Professor  Henry 
replied : 

"  Princeton,  August  22,  1843. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  hope  you  will  pardon  me  for  not  before  ac- 
knowledging the  receipt  of  your  kind  letters  of  invitation  to  attend 
your  galvanic  exhibition.  My  time  has  been  so  much  occupied  dur- 
ing the  last  three  weeks,  with  an  extra  course  of  lectures,  and  our 
senior  examination,  and  so  little  at  my  own  disposal,  that  I  was  un- 
able to  say  whether  I  could  be  in  the  city  on  the  day  you  men- 
tioned or  not.  I  did  hope,  however,  to  get  away,  but  the  exami- 
nation prevented.  Dr.  Torrey  was  also  engaged,  and  could  not 
leave.  I  do  not  know,  however,  that  I  could  have  done  much  in 
the  way  of  original  experiments  in  the  course  of  a  single  day.  I 
am  not  quick  in  the  process  of  inventing  experiments,  unless  my 
mind  is  thoroughly  aroused  to  the  subject  by  several  days'  exclusive 
attention  to  the  work,  and  then  I  am  often  obliged  to  pause  be- 
tween each  effort.  I  have  not  been  able,  since  I  last  saw  you,  to 
devise  a  satisfactory  process  for  determining  the  velocity  of  galvanic 
electricity,  and,  on  reflection,  I  did  not  think  it  worth  the  expense 
which  would  be  incurred  to  have  a  machine  constructed  for  the 
mere  repetition  of  the  experiments  of  Wheatstone. 

"I  think  it  probable  that  I  shall  visit  the  city  next  week,  as  I 
shall  be  unemployed  from  this  time  until  a  week  from  next  Mon- 
day. If  there  is  any  prospect  of  your  repeating  any  of  your  ex- 
periments previous  to  that  time,  I  will  be  with  you  on  any  day  you 
may  appoint.     With  much  respect  and  esteem,  yours  truly, 

"Joseph  Hejstrt. 

"Professor  Morse. 

"  P.  S. — I  have  found  no  mention  in  my  number  of  the  Comptes 
Hendus,  of  the  French  Academy,  of  the  proofs  you  mention  rela- 
tive to  the  increasing  of  the  power  of  the  electro-magnet,  and  do 
not  believe  that  any  thing  new  of  any  importance  has  lately  been 
published  on  that  subject.  J.  H." 

The  experimental  line  was  now  approaching  its  completion. 


APPROACHING   THE  END.  487 

Professor  Morse  issued  the  following  order  to  Mr.  Cornell,  dated 
in  Washington,  March  13,  1844  : 

"  Sir  :  After  you  have  had  the  wire  for  the  pipe  drawn  in,  suffi- 
cient to  reach  the  Capitol  from  the  Patent-Office,  or  at  farthest  by 
next  Monday  morning,  you  will  proceed  at  once  to  the  preparation 
of  the  wire  for  the  posts,  passing  it  through  the  insulating  medium, 
soldering  and  covering  the  joints,  and  have  it  reeled  up  in  such  a 
manner  as  in  your  judgment  shall  be  most  convenient  to  place  on 
the  posts  where  they  are  set.  You  will  take  the  superintendence 
of  this  part,  and  put  on  as  much  force  as  shall  be  consistent  with 
safety,  so  as  to  have  the  whole  of  the  wire  prepared  by  the  end  of 
the  week  ending  March  23,  1844.  Report  to  me  what  additional 
force  you  need  before." 

The  work  went  on.  Among  the  loose  papers  of  Professor 
Morse  are  lying  the  memoranda  of  those  days  when  he  was  watch- 
ing the  progress  of  the  work,  and  noting,  for  his  own  guidance, 
every  minute  event  that  bore  upon  the  science  and  art  of  the 
Telegraph.  It  was  a  grand  as  well  as  novel  experiment  on 
which  he  was  entering,  and  these  transient  records  of  impres- 
sions are  intensely  interesting : 

"  1844 :  April  15th,  evening,  about  4.30  o'clock. — It  struck  1,  then 
2,  and  soon  after,  about  twelve  or  fifteen  times  quite  rapid,  and 
about  half  an  hour  after  it  commenced  again,  and,  at  intervals, 
struck  1,  3,  5,  1,  1,  1,  1,  3,  three  times  3;  repeated  the  same  after 
my  striking  three  times  3,  again  3 ;  3  they  again  answered  me 
several  times  without  my  returning  it. 

"April  16th.— At  5  minutes  past  9  action  of  magnet  com- 
menced ;  thought  I  received  word  that  the  connection  was  this  side 
yesterday's  work.  Afterward  many  strikings,  but  no  answer  to  mv 
question, 'Is  all  right?'  At  about  9.25  connection  was  broken, 
and  the  lever  up,  so  that  I  could  not  communicate. 

"  At  25  minutes  of  11,  lever  in  action,  but  could  not  understand 
signals.  Had  previously  doubled  the  pairs  for  quantity,  and,  upon 
connecting  the  35  again  in  a  single  battery,  found  action  of  lever.  At 
18  minutes  to  11,  action;  again  asked  'If  all  is  right?'  No  answer. 
At  8iy  minutes  to  11  action  ceased,  lever  being  up.  Went,  at  11.15, 
to  depot  for  Mr.  Cornell's  letter.  On  return  found  it  in  action  from 
Beltsville ;  at  12.30  put  49  pairs  in  action,  30  of  them  being  fresh. 
My  magnet  moved  strongly,  but  no  answers  from  the  other  end. 


488  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  At  22  minutes  to  1  o'clock  tried  39  pairs — 30  fresh  and  9  old. 
The  magnet  moved  strongly,  but  still  no  answers  from  Beltsville. 

"  At  16  minutes  to  1  tried  the  30  fresh  pairs  alone ;  moved  mag- 
net strongly,  but  still  no  answers  from  Beltsville. 

"  Tried  20  pairs,  moved  magnet  once,  feebly ;  added,  succes- 
sively up  to  30,  and  found  that  25  would  move  magnet  well. 

"  7  minutes  to  1. — Still  no  answers. 

"  5  minutes  to  1. — Still  no  answer. 

"  4  minutes  to  1. — Received  signals,  but  not  intelligible. 

"  3  minutes  to  1. — Asked  if  all  was  right ;  no  answer. 

"  1  minute  to  1. — The  same. 

"  1  o'clock. — The  same.  Gave  many  signals,  but  no  answer  re- 
turned. 

"  7  minutes  after  1. — The  same. 

"  10  minutes  after  1. — Announced  cars  of  freight-train  leaving 
for  Baltimore. 

"16  minutes  after  1. — Not  disconnected. 

"  Yl\  minutes  after  1. — Signals  received. 

"  25  minutes  after  1. — I  stopped  for  the  morning. 

"  From  2  till  20  minutes  past,  signals  were  given  better,  but 
difficult  to  understand. 

"April  18th. — 30-cup  battery  in  action  at  20  minutes  to  9 ;  quar- 
ter to  9,  lever  struck  several  times,  probably  from  Bladensburg. 
Shows  good  insulation,  notwithstanding  the  rain. 

"April  26,  1844.— Attempted  two  circuits,  according  to  Mr. 
Vail's  arrangement.  Put  the  batteries  in  action.  My  large  mag- 
net did  not  work  well.  There  were  attempts  to  write  from  Bla- 
densburg (which  I  could  not  detect  by  the  ear),  producing  a  slight 
click  at  the  great  magnet,  showing  that  the  levef  wanted  adjusting. 
After  adjustment,  the  lever  worked  well,  and  I  obtained  a  few  mark- 
ings on  the  register,  but  all  stopped  after  this. 

"  At  first,  Vail's  battery  gave  a  feeble  sj)ark,  but  mine  none ; 
and  in  touching  with  Vail's  no  effect  was  produced  on  my  magnet 
or  register ;  soon  after,  both  batteries  gave  a  vivid  spark,  and  both 
equalty  moved  the  lever ;  then,  soon  after,  the  batteries  were  in  the 
same  state  as  at  first. 

"  At  11.10  the  batteries  were  again  in  a  similar  state,  both  oper- 
ating my  magnet ;  23  in  one  battery,  and  24  in  another — 47  cups  in 
all. 

"  At  12  changed  the  circuit  to  the  distant  terminus — 20  miles ; 
found  it   sound.      Received    signals,   but  not  intelligible,   owing 


MYSTERIES  OF  THE  WIRES.  489 

doubtless  to  persons  there  not  acquainted  with  the  mode  of  opera- 
tion ;  Mr.  Cornell  not  there ;  battery  perhaps  too  weak.  At  24 
minutes  to  1  added  6  more  plates;  the  magnet  worked  much 
stronger.     Experiment  showed  the  integrity  of  the  circuit  20  miles. 

"April  29,  1844;  Monday.  —  Day  calm  and  fine.  Learned 
this  morning  that  a  wire  had  drawn  apart  at  a  bad  joint  near  Belts- 
ville,  which  was  doubtless  the  cause  of  the  difficulty  on  Saturday. 
Saturday  was  a  rainy  and  windy  day.  The  galvanometer  showed 
deflection  of  needle  two  or  three  degrees  with  60  pairs ;  a  slight 
spark  was  also  visible,  which  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  ends  of 
the  wire  being  on  the  ground,  and  a  slight  current  being  returned 
through  the  ground.  Mr.  Cornell  is  to  repair  the  wire  at  1 
o'clock,  having  the  whole  circuit  closed  at  the  Junction.  I  have 
prepared  80  pairs  for  trial :  80  operates  the  magnet  powerfully,  65 
operates  well,  70  better.  Kept  in  action  from  12  o'clock ;  at  5.30 
o'clock  battery  strong,  67  pairs  sufficient  to  operate  well ;  65  oper- 
ates small  magnet  quick,  but  not  the  large  magnet.  Near  6  o'clock 
Mr.  Vail  operated  from  Junction,  and  announced  the  cars  as  at  the 
junction  at  2  minutes  to  6  o'clock,  and  that  he  was  coming  in. 
Made  various  experiments  to-day  with  different  arrangement  of  cir- 
cuits.    Crossed  tub  of  water  without  wires ;  water  acidulated. 

"  3fay  3d. — "Went  to  Junction  to  see  arrangements  there,  and  as- 
certain the  cause  of  difficulty  of  conversing  yesterday  during  the  rain. 

"  Learned  that,  during  the  thunder  and  lightning  in  the  night, 
the  electricity  was  heard  '  snapping  like  a  chestnut-fire  in  the  tele- 
graph-room.' The  persons  there  did  not  awaken  Mr.  Vail,  and  did 
not  dare  to  go  into  the  room  of  the  telegraph.  Mrs.  Sumwalt  says 
she  saw  the  line  of  wires  surrounded  with  light.  The  electricity 
of  the  atmosphere  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  effects 
yesterday,  but  it  is  doubtful.  The  magnet  of  Mr.  Vail  at  Junc- 
tion operated  when  I  touched,  but  mine  did  not  when  he  touched. 
The  reason  of  this  is  yet  involved  in  mystery.  Returned  in  10 
o'clock  train. 

"  The  ground  circuit  was  put  in  operation  with  the  east  wire, 
and  the  result  is  that  the  effect  is  stronger  than  when  the  two  wires 
are  used  as  the  circuit.     The  telegraph  has  operated  finely  to-day." 

It  was  a  brief  work  to  build  a  line  forty  miles  long,  when 
the  system  of  poles  was  adopted.  In  expectation  of  the  meeting 
of  the  National  Whig  Convention,  May  1st,  to  nominate  candi- 
dates for  the  presidency  and  vice-presidency,  redoubled   eiier- 


490  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

gies  were  pift  forth,  and  by  that  time  the  wires  were  in  working 
order  twenty-two  miles  from  Washington  toward  Baltimore. 
The  day  before  the  convention  met,  Professor  Morse  wrote  to 
Mr.  Yail : 

"  Get  every  thing  ready  in  the  morning  for  the  day,  and  do  not 
be  out  of  hearing  of  your  bell.  When  you  learn  the  name  of  the 
candidate  nominated,  see  if  you  cannot  give  it  to  me,  and  receive 
from  me  an  acknowledgment  of  its  receipt  before  the  cars  leave 
you.  If  you  can,  it  will  do  more  to  excite  the  wonder  of  those 
in  the  cars  than  the  mere  announcement  that  the  news  is  gone  to 
Washington.  When  the  cars  are  in  sight  from  Baltimore,  which 
will  be  about  10  A.  m.  and  5  p.  m.,  prepare  me  for  the  announcement 

by  the  letter deliberately   struck,  after  the  usual  beginning 

and  ending.     When  they  arrive  at  your  station  get  the  name  of  the 

Vice-President  of    Mr.   Evans ;     write    simply    •      •  •  •  — —  . 

•  •  •  or  Mr.  Davis  —  ••  •  —  •• and  I  will  acknowl- 
edge by  •  •  •  •  which  means  '  Very  well,'  as  well  as  '  Yes.'  After- 
ward you  can  repeat  the  name  and  any  other  information  you  may 
have  received,  but  the  name  of  the  Vice-President  is  of  most  impor- 
tance. There  will  be  hours  when  it  is  of  more  importance  to  be 
attentive  at  the  register  than  at  other  times — at  10  a.  m.  until 
12  m.,  from  1  to  3,  and  from  5  to  6,  or  6|-.  At  12  m.  disconnect,  so 
that  Mr.  Cornell  may  test  the  wires  to  the  point  where  he  is  at 
work,  and  continue  disconnected  one  hour.  Tell  Mr.  Cornell  this. 
Do  not  forget  to  keep  your  circuit  closed  after  writing." 

And  the  next  day : 

"  Things  went  well  to-day.  Your  last  writing  was  good.  You 
did  not  correct  your  error  of  running  your  letters  together  until 
some  time.  Better  be  deliberate;  we  have  time  to  spare,  since  we 
do  not  spend  upon  our  stock.  Get  ready  to-morrow  (Thursday)  as 
to-day.  There  is  great  excitement  about  the  Telegraph,  and  my 
room  is  thronged ;  therefore  it  is  important  to  have  it  in  action 
during  the  hours  named.  I  may  have  some  of  the  Cabinet  to- 
morrow. I  told  Mr.  Brown  to  go  to  post-office  for  you  and  bring 
me  the  letter  if  there.  He  has  not  brought  it,  so  I  fear  there  is 
none.  Add  the  following  to  your  list  of  phrases  ....  Get  from 
passengers  in  the  cars  from  Baltimore  or  elsewhere  all  the  news  you 
can,  and  transmit.  A  good  way  of  exciting  wonder  will  be  to  tell 
the  passengers  to  give  you  some  short  sentence  to  send  me ;  let 


NOTES   OF  PREPARATION.  491 

them  note  time,  and  call  at  the  Capitol  to  verify  the  time  I  received 
it.  Before  transmitting,  notify  me  with  (48).  Your  message  to- 
day that  '  the  passengers  in  the  cars  gave  three  cheers  for  Henry 
Clay,'  excited  the  highest  wonder  in  the  passenger  who  gave  it  to 
you  to  send,  when  he  found  it  verified  at  the  Capitol. 

"  When  you  correct  your  register  again  at  1  o'clock,  after  Mr. 
Cornell   has    tried    the   wires,   notify   me   at   once    by   the   word 

'  Junction ' ••  —    —  •• •     • .      I  was 

bothered  some  time  at  noon  to-day  to  know  who  was  writing, 
whether  you  from  the  Junction,  or  Mr.  Cornell  from  the  extremity, 
and  many  persons  were  waiting  to  have  you  write." 

A  few  days  of  private  practice  and  experiment  followed,  the 
interest  of  the  public  rising  daily  as  the  results  were  reported. 
On  the  11th  of  May  Professor  Morse  said  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Yail : 

"  Every  thing  worked  well  yesterday,  but  there  is  one  defect  in 
your  writing.  Make  a  longer  space  between  each  letter,  and  a  still 
longer  space  between  each  word.  I  shall  have  a  great  crowd  to- 
day, and  wish  all  things  to  go  off  well.  Many  M.  C.'s  will  be  pres- 
ent, perhaps  Mr.  Clay  ;  give  me  news  by  the  cars.  "When  the  cars 
come  along,  try  and  get  a  newspaper  from  Philadelphia  or  New 
York,  and  give  items  of  intelligence.  The  arrival  of  the  cars  at  the 
Junction  begins  to  excite  here  the  greatest  interest,  and  both  morn- 
ing and  evening  T  have  had  my  room  thronged." 

The  back  of  one  of  these  letters  is  covered  with  pencil-notes 
that  indicate  the  "trials  and  tribulations"  of  those  anxious 
hours :  "  Wires  crossed."  "  At  Junction  the  electricity  of  the 
atmosphere  was  observed  upon  the  line  and  snapping  like  a 
chestnut-fire  during  the  storm  last  night."  "  Wires  twisted  near 
Bladensburg."  But  the  experiment  was  approaching  its  crisis. 
The  convention  assembled,  and  Henry  Clay  was  nominated  by 
■acclamation  for  the  presidency.  The  news  was  conveyed  on 
the  railroad  to  the  point  reached  by  the  Telegraph,  and  thence 
instantly  transmitted  over  the  wires  to  Washington.  An  hour 
afterward  passengers  arriving  at  the  capital,  and  supposing  that 
they  had  brought  the  first  intelligence,  were  surprised  to  find 
that  the  announcement  had  been  made  already  and  that  they 
were  the  bearers  of  old  news !  The  convention  shortly  after- 
ward nominated    Theodore    Frelinghuysen  as  Yice-President, 


492  L^E   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  the  intelligence  was  sent  to  "Washington  in  the  same  man- 
ner. The  astonishment  of  the  public  was  great.  The  fact  was 
to  many  minds  incredible. 

Before  the  month  of  May  had  passed,  the  junction  of  the 
lines  that  had  been  started  from  each  city  was  effected,  and  the 
communication  between  Washington  and  Baltimore  was  com- 
plete and  perfect. 

THE   FEKST   MESSAGE. 

On  the  24th  day  of  May,  1844,  Professor  Morse  was  prepared 
to  put  to  the  test  the  great  experiment  on  which  his  mind  had 
been  laboring  for  twelve  anxious,  weary  years.  Mr.  Tail,  his 
assistant,  was  at  the  Baltimore  terminus,  in  the  Mount  Clare 
depot.  Professor  Morse  had  invited  his  friends  to  assemble  in 
the  chamber  of  the  IT.  S.  Supreme  Court,  where  he  had  his  in- 
strument, from  which  the  wires  extended  to  Baltimore.  He 
had  promised  his  young  friend,  Miss  Ellsworth,  that  she  should 
indite  the  first  message  over  the  wires.  Her  mother  suggested 
the  familiar  words  of  Scripture  (Numbers  xxiii.  23) :  "  "What 
hath  God  wrought !  "  The  whole  verse  from  which  this  mes- 
sage was  taken  is  in  these  words:  "Surely  there  is  no  en- 
chantment against  Jacob,  neither  is  there  any  divination  against 
Israel :  according  to  this  time  it  shall  be  said  of  Jacob  and  of 
Israel,  "What  hath  God  wrought ! " 

The  words  were  chosen  without  consultation  with  the  in- 
ventor, but  were  singularly  expressive  of  his  own  sentiment  in 
regard  to  the  invention,  and  his  own  experience  in  bringing  it  to 
a  successful  accomplishment.  From  the  moment  of  its  concep- 
tion he  had  been  under  the  serious  and  sincere  impression  that 
he  was  guided  and  controlled  by  supernatural  power  in  this 
great  work.  Profoundly  religious  in  his  convictions,  and  trained 
from  earliest  childhood  to  believe  in  the  special  superintend- 
ence of  Providence  in  the  minutest  affairs  of  men,  he  had 
acted  throughout  the  whole  of  his  struggles  under  the  firm  per- 
suasion that  God  was  working  in  him  to  will  and  to  do  His  own 
pleasure  in  this  thing.  In  conversation  with  intimate  personal 
friends  and  in  private  letters  to  those  dear  to  him,  he  was  free 
to  acknowledge  this  dependence,  and  to  declare  his  confidence 
that  the  final  result  would  be  a  complete  triumph. 


WHAT  HATH  GOD  WROUGHT?  493 

Mrs.  Ellsworth  liad  often  heard  these  expressions  from  the 
lips  of  the  great  inventor.  She  knew  that  he  wonld  appreciate 
the  propriety  of  ascribing  the  honor  of  this  wonderful  invention 
to  Him  whose  lightning  shineth  out  of  the  east  even  unto  the 
west,  and  whose  words  have  gone  out  through  all  the  earth.  It 
was  with  such  reverential  emotion,  that  the  words  "  What  hath 
God  wrought ! "  were  selected  from  the  pages  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, and  accepted  by  the  inventor  as  the  first  message  to  be  re- 
corded on  a  completed  line  of  telegraph.  In  the  room  were 
assembled  many  of  the  most  distinguished  officers  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  personal  friends  of  the  inventor,  with  various 
emotions  of  doubt,  anxiety,  hope,  and  faith.  The  calmest  per- 
son in  the  company  was  Professor  Morse. 

Taking  his  seat  by  the  instrument,  he  proceeded  to  manipu- 
late it.  Slowly,  steadily,  and  successfully,  he  wrote  the  selected 
words,  in  the  Morse  telegraphic  alphabet,  as  follows  : 


a  OB 


It  was  instantaneously  received  by  Mr.  Yail  in  Baltimore, 
who  was  ignorant  of  the  message  to  be  sent.  He  returned  it  im- 
mediately to  "Washington ;  so  that  within  a  single  moment  of 
time,  those  inspired  and  inspiring  words  were  carried  back  and 
forth  through  a  circuit  of  eighty  miles. 

Again  the  triumph  of  the  inventor  was  sublime.  His  confi- 
dence had  been  so  unshaken  that  the  surprise  of  his  friends  in 
the  result  was-  not  shared  by  him.  He  knew  what  the  instru- 
ment would  do,  and  the  fact  accomplished  was  but  the  confirma- 
tion to  others  of  what  to  him  was  a  certainty  on  the  packet-ship 
Sully,  in  1832.  But  the  result  was  not  the  less  gratifying  and 
sufficient ;  had  his  labors  ceased  at  that  moment,  he  would  have 


494  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

cheerfully  exclaimed  in  the  words  of  Simeon,  "  Lord,  now  lettest 
thon  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation." 

The  congratulations  of  his  friends  followed.  He  received 
them  with  modesty,  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  simplicity  of 
his  character.  Neither  then,  nor  at  any  subsequent  period  of 
his  life,  did  his  language  or  manner  indicate  exultation.  He 
believed  himself  an  instrument  employed  by  Heaven  to  achieve 
a  great  result,  and,  having  accomplished  it,  he  claimed  simply  to 
be  the  original  and  only  instrument  by  which  that  result  had 
been  reached.  With  the  same  steadiness  of  purpose,  tenacity, 
and  perseverance,  with  which  he  had  pursued  the  idea  by  which 
he  was  inspired  in  1832,  he  adhered  to  his  claim  to  the  paternity 
of  that  idea,  and  to  the  merit  of  bringing  it  to  a  successful  issue. 
Denied,  he  asserted  it ;  assailed,  he  defended  it.  Through  long 
years  of  controversy,  discussion,  and  litigation,  he  maintained 
his  right.  Equable  alike  in  success  and  discouragement,  calm  in 
the  midst  of  victories,  and  undismayed  by  the  number,  the  vio- 
lence, and  the  power  of  those  who  sought  to  deprive  him  of  the 
honor  and  the  reward  of  his  work,  he  manfully  maintained  his 
ground  until,  by  the  verdict  of  the  highest  courts  of  his  coun- 
try, and  of  academies  of  science,  and  the  practical  adoption  and 
indorsement  of  his  system  by  his  own  and  foreign  nations,  those 
wires  which  were  now  speaking  only  forty  miles  from  Wash- 
ington to  Baltimore,  were  stretched  over  continents  and  under 
oceans,  making  a  net-work  to  encompass  and  unite,  in  instanta- 
neous intercourse  for  business  and  enjoyment,  all  parts  of  the 
civilized  world. 

Professor  Morse  said  of  the  first  dispatch,  "  It  baptized  the 
American  Telegraph  with  the  name  of  its  author."  The  author, 
as  he  believed,  was  God.  Twenty-two  years  afterward,  Bishop 
Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania,  having  requested  Professor  Morse  to 
write  his  recollections  of  the  birth  of  the  Telegraph,  received 
the  following  narrative : 

"  Paris,  November,  1866. 
"  I  cheerfully  comply  with  the  request  you  made  last  evening, 
to  give  you  in  writing  the  incidents  I  related  to  you  connected  with 
the  first  telegram  transmitted  by  the  Electro-Magnetic  Recording 
Telegraph,  the  first  ever  practically  in  public  use,  on  the  first  line 
constructed  in  the  United  States,  or  indeed  in  the  world. 


LETTER  TO   BISHOP   STEVENS.  495 

"  I  had  spent  at  Washington  two  entire  sessions  of  Congress, 
one  in  1837-38,  the  other  in  1842-'43,  in  the  endeavor  so  far  to  in- 
terest the  Government  in  the  novel  Telegraph  as  to  furnish  me  with 
the  means  to  construct  a  line  of  sufficient  length  to  test  its  practica- 
bility and  utility. 

"  The  last  days  of  the  last  session  of  that  Congress  were  about 
to  close.  A  bill  appropriating  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  my  pur- 
pose had  passed  the  House,  and  was  before  the  Senate  for  concur- 
rence, waiting  its  turn  on  the,  calendar.  On  the  last  day  of  the 
session  (3d  of  March,  1843),  I  had  spent  the  whole  day  and  part  of 
the  evening  in  the  Senate-chamber,  anxiously  watching  the  prog- 
ress of  the  passing  of  the  various  bills,  of  which  there  were,  in  the 
morning  of  that  day,  over  one  hundred  and  forty  to  be  acted  upon, 
before  the  one  in  which  I  was  interested  would  be  reached ;  and  a 
resolution  had  a  few  days  before  been  passed,  to  proceed  with  the 
bills  en  the  calendar  in  their  regular  order,  forbidding  any  bill  to 
be  taken  up  out  of  its  regular  place.  As  evening  approached,  there 
seemed  to  be  but  little  chance  that  the  Telegraph  Bill  would  be 
reached  before  the  adjournment,  and  consequently  I  had  the  pros- 
pect of  the  delay  of  another  year,  with  the  loss  of  time,  and  all  my 
means  already  expended.  In  my  anxiety,  I  consulted  with  two  of 
my  senatorial  friends — Senator  Huntington,  of  Connecticut,  and 
Senator  Wright,  of  New  York — asking  their  opinion  of  the  proba- 
bility of  reaching  the  bill  before  the  close  of  the  session.  Their  an- 
swers were  discouraging,  and  their  advice  was  to  prepare  myself  for 
disappointment.  In  this  state  of  mind  I  retired  to  my  chamber,  and 
made  all  my  arrangements  for  leaving  Washington  the  next  day. 
Painful  as  was  this  prospect  of  renewed  disappointment,  you,  my 
dear  sir,  will  understand  me  when  I  say  that,  knowing  from  experi- 
ence whence  my  help  must  come  in  any  difficulty,  I  soon  disposed 
of  my  cares,  and  slept  as  quietly  as  a  child. 

"  In  the  morning,  as  I  had  just  gone  into  the  breakfast-room,  the 
servant  called  me  out,  announcing  that  a  young  lady  was  in  the 
parlor,  wishing  to  speak  with  me.  I  was  at  once  greeted  with  the 
smiling  face  of  my  young  friend,  the  daughter  of  my  old  and  valued 
friend  and  classmate,  the  Hon.  H.  L.  Ellsworth,  the  Commissioner 
of  Patents.  On  expressing  my  surprise  at  so  early  a  call,  she  said, 
'  I  have  come  to  congratulate  you.'  '  Indeed,  for  what  ? '  '  On 
the  passage  of  your  bill.'  '  Oh,  no,  my  young  friend,  you  are  mis- 
taken ;  I  was  in  the  Senate-chamber  till  after  the  lamps  were  lighted, 
and  mv  senatorial  friends  assured  me  there  was  no  chance  for  me.' 


496  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

'  But,'  she  replied, '  it  is  you  that  are  mistaken.  Father  was  there 
at  the  adjournment,  at  midnight,  and  saw  the  President  put  his 
name  to  your  bill;  and  I  asked  father  if  I  might  come  and  tell  you, 
and  he  gave  me  leave.  Am  I  the  first  to  tell  you  ? '  The  news 
was  so  unexpected  that  for  some  moments  I  could  not  speak.  At 
length  I  replied  :  '  Yes,  Annie,  you  are  the  first  to  inform  me ;  and 
now  I  am  going  to  make  you  a  promise :  the  first  dispatch  on  the 
completed  line  from  Washington  to  Baltimore  shall  be  yours.' 
'  Well,'  said  she,  '  I  shall  hold  you  to  your  promise.' 

"  In  about  a  year  from  that  time,  the  line  from  Washington  to 
Baltimore  was  completed.  I  was  in  Baltimore  when  the  wires  were 
brought  into  the  office,  and  attached  to  the  instrument.  I  proceeded 
to  Washington,  leaving  word  that  no  dispatch  should  be  sent 
through  the  line  until  I  had  sent  one  from  Washington.  On  my 
arrival  there,  I  sent  a  note  to  Miss  Ellsworth,  announcing  to  her 
that  every  thing  was  ready,  and  I  was  prepared  to  fulfill  my  prom- 
ise of  sending  the  first  dispatch  over  the  wires,  which  she  was  to  in- 
dite. The  answer  was  immediately  returned.  The  dispatch  was, 
'  What  hath  God  wrought ! '  It  was  sent  to  Baltimore,  and  re- 
peated to  Washington,  and  the  strip  of  paper  upon  which  the  tele- 
graphic characters  are  printed,  was  claimed  by  Governor  Seymour, 
of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  then  a  member  of  the  House,  on  the 
ground  that  Miss  Ellsworth  was  a  native  of  Hartford.  It  was  de- 
livered to  him  by  Miss  Ellsworth,  and  is  now  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  the  Hartford  Museum,  or  Athenaeum. 

"  I  need  only  add  that  no  words  could  have  been  selected  more 
expressive  of  the  disposition  of  my  own  mind  at  that  time,  to 
ascribe  all  the  honor  to  Him  to  whom  it  truly  belongs. 

"  With  sincere  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

«  To  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Stevens."  "  SaMUEL  F'  B'  M°ESE" 

When  Mr.  Yail,  at  Baltimore,  had  received  and  returned  the 
first  dispatch,  "  What  hath  God  wrought ! "  a  familiar  conver- 
sation followed,  which  proved  to  the  company  that  the  dis- 
patches had  not  been  agreed  upon  previously  by  the  operators. 
Professor  Morse  said,  "  Stop  a  few  minutes."  Mr.  Yail  replied, 
"  Yes." 

"  Have  you  any  news  ?  "  "  No."  "  Mr.  Seaton's  respects  to 
you."  "  My  respects  to  him."  "  What  is  your  time  ?  "  "  ISTine 
o'clock,  twenty-eight  minutes."  "  What  weather  have  you  % " 
"  Cloudy." 


DEMOCRATIC  CONVENTION.  497 

"  Separate  your  words  more."  "  Oil  your  clock-work." 
"  Buchanan  stock  said  to  be  rising."  "  I  have  a  great  crowd  at 
my  window."  "  Yan  Buren  cannon  in  front,  with  a  fox-tail  on 
it." 

Two  days  afterward,  May  26th,  the  National  Democratic 
Convention  for  the  nomination  of  candidates  assembled  in  Bal- 
timore. Mr.  Morse  was  at  the  terminus  of  the  line  in  Wash- 
ington. Mr.  Alfred  Tail,  his  assistant,  was  at  the  terminus  in 
Baltimore.  The  most  anxious  and  careful  correspondence  had 
passed  between  them  by  mail  and  messenger,  as  well  as  by  the 
wires,  that  every  thing  might  be  in  perfect  order  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  first  great  experiment  of  the  public  use  of  the  in- 
vention. In  private  it  had  been  worked  to  their  complete  satis- 
faction. They  had  not  a  doubt  of  its  ability  to  do  all  they  had 
ever  claimed  for  it ;  but  they  well  knew  that  so  much  depended 
upon  the  success  of  its  first  appearance  in  public,  it  was  of  the 
highest  importance  that  no  failure  should  now  occur. 

The  convention  had  a  long  and  exciting  struggle  over  the 
nomination  of  a  candidate  for  the  presidency.  A  rule  was 
adopted,  requiring  a  majority  of  two-thirds  to  make  a  nomina- 
tion. Mr.  Yan  Buren,  failing  to  receive  this  number,  although 
he  was  the  first  choice  of  a  majority  of  the  convention,  was 
dropped,  and  James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  was  finally  nomi- 
nated with  great  unanimity.  The  convention,  then,  having 
rejected  Mr.  Yan  Buren  for  the  presidency,  nominated  his 
friend  Silas  "Wright,  of  New  York,  for  the  vice-presidency. 
Mr.  Wright  was  at  that  time  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
and  in  Washington.  The  fact  of  his  nomination  was  imme- 
diately communicated  by  Mr.  Yail  to  Mr.  Morse,  through  the 
Telegraph,  and  by  Mr.  Morse  to  Mr.  Wright.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments the  convention  was  astonished  by  receiving  a  message 
from  Mr.  Wright,  that  he  respectfully  declined  the  nomination. 
The  president  of  that  body  read  to  them  the  dispatch,  but  so 
incredulous  were  the  members  as  to  the  authority  of  the  evidence 
before  them,  many  utterly  disbelieving  it  to  be  possible  that 
intelligence  could  have  gone  to  Washington  and  an  answer  re- 
turned in  the  few  minutes  that  had  elapsed  since  the  nomination 
was  made,  that  the  convention  adjourned  over  to  the  following 
day,  to  await  the  report  of  a  committee  sent  to  Washington  to  get 
32 


498  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

reliable  information  upon  the  subject.  The  committee  returned 
in  the  morning,  and  their  report  confirmed  the  correctness  and 
capacity  of  the  Telegraph,  and  at  once  gave  it  such  an  adver- 
tisement and  certificate  as  its  inventor  had  desired. 

Then  followed  a  scene  of  scientific  and  moral  sublimity. 
The  convention  having  reassembled  in  the  morning,  and  the 
refusal  of  Mr.  Wright  to  accept  their  nomination  having  been 
communicated,  a  conference  with  him  was  held,  by  his  friends, 
through  the  medium  of  the  wires.  In  Washington  Mr.  Wright 
and  Mr.  Morse  were  closeted  with  the  instrument ;  at  Baltimore 
the  committee  of  conference  surrounded  Mr.  Yail  and  the  in- 
strument. Spectators  and  auditors  were  excluded.  The  com- 
mittee communicated  to  Mr.  Wright  their  reasons  for  urging 
his  acceptance  of  the  nomination.  In  a  moment  he  received 
their  communication  in  writing  and  as  quickly  returned  to  them 
his  answer.  Again  and  again  these  confidential  messages  passed, 
and  the  result  was  finally  announced  to  the  convention  that 
Mr.  Wright  was  inflexible.  Mr.  Dallas  then  received  the  nomi- 
nation and  accepted  it.  The  ticket  thus  nominated  was  success- 
ful at  the  election  in  November  of  that  year. 

The  original  slips  of  paper,  on  which  some  of  the  messages 
were  written  at  the  Baltimore  Convention,  are  still  preserved, 
and  have  an  interest  of  their  own : 

"  Governor  Morton,  of  Massachusetts,  is  now  addressing  the 
convention  in  favor  of  taking  the  question  now  on  the  two-thirds 
rule.  He  is  in  favor  of  a  majority  as  the  rule.  Governor  Morton 
closed  at  five  minutes  to  ten. 

"  Mr.  Walker  is  now  (fifteen  minutes  before  eleven)  speaking  in 
favor  of  the  two-thirds  rule,  in  answer  to  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  at 
fifteen  minutes  past  ten. 

"  Senator  Walker  closed  his  last  speech  thirty  minutes  past  ten. 

"  Robert  Rantoul  is  addressing  the  convention  in  favor  of  the 
two-thirds  rule. 

"  Lieutenant-Governor  Dickinson,  of  New  Jersey,  is  speaking  in 
favor  of  the  majority  rule. 

"  Some  firm  Democrats  here  think  Henry  Dodge,  of  Wisconsin, 
is  the  man  to  unite  upon.  B.  B.  Feench." 

"  State  Polk's  vote  at  eighth  ballot. 

"  Where  will  the  convention  meet  on  Monday  ? 


Mcduffie  and  holmes.  499 

"Mr.  Morehead's  respects,  in  return,  to  Mr.  AtAvill,  with  his 
thanks  for  the  box  of  cigars. 

"  As  a  rumor  is  prevalent  here  this  morning  that  Mr.  Eugene 
Boyle  (son  of  Mr.  John  Boyle,  of  this  place)  was  shot  at  Baltimore, 
last  evening,  Professor  Morse  will  confer  a  great  favor  upon  the 
family  by  making  inquiry  by  means  of  his  '  Electro-Magnetic  Tele- 
graph '  if  such  is  the  fact." 

Mr.  Holmes,  member  of  Congress  from  South.  Carolina,  had 
been  very  active  in  promoting  the  passage  of  the  bill  for  the  ap- 
propriation ;  and  his  brother,  a  venerable  citizen  of  Charleston, 
relates  the  following  incident  011  the  opening  of  the  Telegraph : 

"My  brother,  Isaac  Edward  Holmes,  warmly  supported  Mr. 
Morse's  application  to  Congress  for  an  appropriation  which  enabled 
him  to  erect  the  first  telegraph-wires  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore.  These  first-erected  wires  were  operated  on  by  Morse  in 
person.  I  stood  with  him  in  his  room  under  the  Senate-chamber 
at  "Washington,  saw  him  operate  by  dipping  into  a  phial  of  quick- 
silver the  end  of  one  wire  from  the  battery  in  the  corner  of  the 
room,  while  the  same  phial  held,  immersed  in  the  quicksilver,  the 
end  of  the  other  wire  from  the  same  battery.  A  reel  held,  wound 
up,  a  paper  ribbon  which,  as  it  was  unwound,  passed  over  a  roller 
having  three  grooves  corresponding  to  three  prongs  of  a  dull-pointed 
fork  which  was  passed  upon  the  paper,  and,  according  to  the  time, 
made  dots  or  lines,  which  was  the  alphabet  invented  by  Morse.  Morse 
dismissed  us  (the  spectators)  that,  as  he  said,  he  might  assist  Lieu- 
tenant afterward  Commodore  Wilkes  in  determining  by  the  Tele- 
graph the  relative  longitude  in  time  of  Washington  and  Baltimore. 
I  attempted  after  the  exhibition  to  explain  to  one  of  the  Senators 
of  South  Carolina,  McDuffie,  the  mode  of  operation.  I  failed,  for, 
though  he  listened,  I  am  sure  he  did  not  heed,  since,  at  the  conclu- 
sion, he  exclaimed — 

"  '  I  don't  understand  one  word  you've  said ! ' 

"  Which  produced  an  explosive  laugh  from  our  other  Senator, 
Huger,  who  was  quietly  smoking  his  cigar,  expecting  just  such  a 
result." 

Mr.  Tail  kept  a  diary  in  those  early  days  of  the  Telegraph, 
and  we  have  his  reminiscences  : 

"  The  Telegraph  first  put  in  operation,  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore,  in  the  spring  of  1844,  was  shown,  without  charge,  until 


500  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  P.   B.   MORSE. 

April  1,  1845.  Congress,  during  the  session  of  1844-'45,  made  an 
appropriation  of  eight  thousand  dollars  to  keep  it  in  operation  dur- 
ing the  year,  placing  it,  at  the  same  time,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Postmaster-General.  He,  at  the  close  of  the  session,  ordered  a 
tariff  of  charges  of  one  cent  for  every  four  characters  made  by  or 
through  the  telegraph,  appointing  also  the  operators  of  the  line, 
Mr.  Vail  for  the  Washington  station,  and  Mr.  H,  J.  Rogers  for 
Baltimore.  This  new  order  of  things  commenced  on  April  1,  1845, 
and  the  object  was  to  test  the  profitableness  of  the  enterprise. 

"  Mr.  Polk  had  just  been  inaugurated,  and,  as  is  always  the  case 
on  the  advent  of  a  new  Administration,  the  city  was  filled  with  per- 
sons seeking  for  office.  A  gentleman  of  Virginia,  who  stated  that 
to  be  his  errand  to  the  city,  came  to  the  office  on  the  1st  day  of 
April,  and  desired  to  see  its  operation.  The  oath  of  office  being 
fresh  in  the  mind  of  the  operator,  and  he  being  determined  to  ful- 
fill it  to  the  very  letter,  the  gentleman  was  told  of  the  rates  of 
charges,  and  that  he  would  see  its  operation  by  sending  his  name 
to  Baltimore,  and  having  it  sent  back,  at  the  rate  of  four  letters  or 
figures  for  a  cent,  or  he  might  ask  Baltimore  regarding  the  weather, 
etc.  This  he  refused  to  do,  and  coaxed,  argued,  and  threatened. 
He  said  there  could  be  no  harm  in  showing  him  its  operation,  as 
that  was  all  he  wanted.  He  was  told  of  the  oath  just  taken  by  the 
incumbent,  and  of  his  intention  to  observe  it  faithfully ;  and  that,  if 
it  was  shown  to  him  by  the  passage  of  a  communication  gratui- 
tously, it  would  be  in  violation  of  his  oath  of  office.  He  stated  that 
he  had  no  change.  In  reply  he  was  told  that,  if  he  would  call  upon 
the  Postmaster-General,  and  obtain  his  consent  that  the  operation 
should  be  shown  him  gratis,  the  operator  would  cheerfully  comply 
to  almost  any  extent.  He  stated,  in  reply,  that  he  knew  the  Post- 
master-General, and  had  considerable  influence  with  some  of  the 
officers  of  the  Government,  and  that  he,  the  operator,  had  better 
show  it  to  him  at  once,  intimating  that  he  might  be  subjected  to 
some  peril  by  refusing.  He  was  told  that  no  regard  would  be  paid 
to  the  extent  of  his  influence,  etc.,  be  it  great  or  little  ;  that  he  did 
not  think  he  was  at  liberty  to  use  the  property  of  the  Government 
for  individual  benefit  when  under  oath  to  exact  pay,  and  cited  the 
rules  of  the  post-office  in  relation  to  the  carriage  of  letters ;  but 
that  he  was  willing  to  do  as  directed  by  the  Postmaster-General 
(Hon.  Cave  Johnson).  The  discussion  lasted  almost  an  hour,  when 
the  gentleman  left  the  office  in  no  pleasant  mood. 

"  This  was  the  patronage  received  by  the  Washington  office  on 


AMUSING  INCIDENT.  501 

the  1st,  2d,  and  3d  of  April.  On  the  4th  the  same  gentleman 
*  turned  up '  again,  and  repeated  some  of  his  former  arguments. 
He  was  asked  if  he  had  seen  the  Postmaster-General,  and  obtained 
his  consent  to  his  request ;  to  which  he  replied  he  had  not.  After 
considerable  discussion,  which  was  rather  amusing  than  vexatious, 
he  said  that  he  had  nothing  less  than  a  twenty-dollar  bill,  and  one 
cent,  all  of  which  he  pulled  out  of  his  breeches-pocket.  He  was 
told  that  he  could  have  a  cent's  worth  of  telegraphing,  if  that 
would  answer,  to  which  he  agreed.  After  his  many  manoeuvres, 
and  his  long  agony,  the  gentleman  was  finally  gratified  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner :  Washington  asked  Baltimore,  '  4,'  which  means,  in 
the  list  of  signals,  '  What  time  is  it  f '  Baltimore  replied  '  1,' 
which  meant  '  one  o'clock?  The  amount  of  the  operation  was  one 
character  each  way,  making  two  in  all,  which,  at  the  rate  of  four 
for  a  cent,  would  amount  to  half  a  cent  exactly.  He  laid  down  his 
cent,  but  was  told  that  half  a  cent  would  suffice,  if  he  could  pro- 
duce the  change.  This  he  declined  to  do,  and  gave  the  whole  cent, 
after  which,  being  satisfied,  he  left  the  office. 

"  Such  was  the  income  of  the  Washington  office  for  the  first 
four  days  of  April,  1845.  On  the  5th,  twelve  and  a  half  cents 
were  received.  The  6th  was  the  Sabbath.  On  the  7th,  the  re- 
ceipts ran  up  to  sixty  cents  ;  on  the  8th,  to  one  dollar  and  thirty- 
two  cents ;  on  the  9th,  to  one  dollar  and  four  cents.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark,"  concludes  Mr.  Vail,  "  that  more  business  was  done  by  the 
merchants  after  the  tariff  was  laid  than  when  the  service  was  gratui- 
tous." 

The  most  amusing  incidents  are  related  in  the  early  history 
of  this  new  and  unintelligible  mode  of  communication.  Many 
of  the  published  incidents  are  undoubtedly  fictitious,  inven- 
tions of  those  who  are  fond  of  extracting  amusement  from  the 
gravest  events.  Among  those  preserved  by  Professor  Morse  him- 
self, and  therefore  worthy  of  being  credited,  is  the  following : 

A  pretty  little  girl  tripped  into  the  Washington  City  termina- 
tion, and,  after  a  great  deal  of  hesitation  and  blushing,  asked  how 
long  it  would  "take  to  send  to  Baltimore ? "  The  interesting  ap- 
pearance of  the  little  questioner  attracted  Mr.  Morse's  attention, 
and  he  very  blandly  replied,  "  One  second." 

"  Oh,  how  delightful,  how  delightful !  "  ejaculated  the  little 
beauty,  her  eyes  glistening  with  delight.  "  One  second,  only — 
here,,  send  this  even  quiclcer,  if  you  can."     And  Mr.  Morse  found  in 


502  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

his  hand  a  neatly-folded,  gilt-edged  note,  the  very  perfume  and 
shape  of  which  told  a  volume  of  love. 

"  I  cannot  send  this  note,"  said  Mr.  Morse,  with  some  feeling ; 
"  it  is  impossible." 

"  Oh,  do,  do  ! "  implored  the  distracted  girl ;  "  William  and  I 
have  had  a  quarrel,  and  I  shall  die  if  he  don't  know  that  I  forgive 
him  in  a  second — I  know  I  shall." 

Mr.  Morse  still  objected  to  sending  the  note,  when  the  fair  one, 
brightening  up,  asked,  "  You  will  then  send  me  on,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  Perhaps,"  said  one  of  the  clerks,  "  it  would  take  your  breath 
away  to  travel  forty  miles  in  a  second ! " 

"  Oh,  no,  it  won't — no,  it  won't,  if  it  carries  me  to  William ! 
The  cars  in  the  morning  go  so  slow  I  can't  wait  for  them." 

Mr.  Morse  now  comprehended  the  mistake  which  the  petitioner 
was  laboring  under,  and  attempted  to  explain  the  process  of  con- 
veying important  information  along  the  wires.  The  letter-writer 
listened  a  few  moments  impatiently,  and  then  rolled  her  burning 
epistle  into  a  ball,  in  the  excitement  under  which  she  labored,  and 
thrust  it  into  her  bosom. 

"  It's  too  slow,"  she  finally  exclaimed,  "  it's  too  slow,  and  my 
heart  will  break  before  William  knows  I  forgive  him ;  and  you  are  a 
cruel  man,  Mr.  Morse,"  said  the  fair  creature,  the  tears  coming  into 
her  eyes,  "  that  you  won't  let  me  travel  by  the  telegraph  to  see 
William."  And  full  of  emotion  she  left  the  office,  illustrating  the 
truth  of  the  poet's  wish — 

ll  Annihilate  but  space  and  time, 
And  make  two  lovers  happy." 

Many  of  the  letters  of  Professor  Morse  to  Mr.  Yail  during 
these  few  weeks  before  and  after  opening  the  first  line,  are  the 
reflection  of  the  inner  life  and  history  of  the  invention  as  it  was 
approaching  its  introduction  to  the  world  : 

"  May  15,  1844. 
"  Every  thing  operated  finely  last  evening,  and  this  too  without 
additional  cups.  We  will  try  this  morning,  after  the  train  has 
passed  you  for  Washington,  the  number  of  cups  necessary.  Yes- 
terday there  were  80,  and  a  less  number  I  think  will  answer.  When 
I  am  ready,  I  will  tell  you  as  I  did  a  few  days  ago.  I  will  first  say, 
'  Try  70,'  — •  • then  I  will  go  into  the  battery- 
room  and  change  to  70 — return  and  write  '  70  ' •  •    

then  of  65  ;    '  try  65  '  — and  so  on,  waiting 


INSTRUCTIONS  TO  MR.  VAIL.  503 

between  each  time  to  get  your  answer.  If  I  do  not  get  it,  I  will  go 
and  change  to  a  higher  number,  and  give  you  that  number.  Mast 
and  Ground  is  the  present  circuit.  I  want  to  try  the  others,  but 
we  must  understand,  if  a  change  does  not  operate  in  five  minutes  after 
we  have  made  it,  put  back  the  wires  to  Mast  and  Ground  again.  I 
will  give  you  to-day  the  doings  in  the  Capitol  occasionally,  and  I 
wish  you  to  be  particular  in  writing  down  in  your  note-book  the 
time  .  you  receive  each  piece  of  news,  with  the  news,  as  this  will 
verify  the  fact  to  many  minds.  We  will  set  watches  by  Capitol 
time  to-day." 

"  May  25,  1844. 

"  Inclosed  are  some  abbreviations.  You  had  better  put  upon 
your  door  a  notice  to  this  effect :  '  In  order  to  report  the  principal 
events  of  the  conventions,  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  the 
doors  closed  except  to  assistants  and  messengers.'  Mr.  Houghton, 
of  Detroit,  will  call  on  you,  and  you  can  arrange  with  him  and  Mr. 
Cornell  the  best  mode  of  getting  from  the  conventions  such  facts  as 
will  be  interesting  here.  If  necessary,  employ  two  or  three  persons 
as  messengers  and  door-keeper.  Do  not  experiment  for  persons, 
or  explain,  until  after  the  conventions  have  adjourned,  but  request 
those  who  desire  to  see  the  operation,  to  wait  till  afterward.  Con- 
dense your  information,  but  not  so  as  to  be  obscure.  Select  the 
most  important  facts,  if  you  are  crowded  with  matter,  and  leave  the 
rest  to  be  transmitted  at  leisure.  Prepare  to  be  pretty  busy,  and, 
if  possible,  take  the  time  of  adjournment  for  dinner-time.  Write 
your  communication  first  on  paper,  in  the  abbreviated  form,  thus  : 
1  T.  com.  sess.  2  K.  P.  Conv.  Gov.— 250  mem.  Walker,  Sen.  Mo. 
|d.  maj. — A.  N.'  If  any  confusion  arises  from  using  abbrevia- 
tions, use  the  more  lengthened  form.  I  will  apprise  you  of  this, 
by  writing  '  JSTO  abbrev.J  and  if  I  wish  you  to  try  again,  I  will 
write  '  Abbrev.' " 

"  May  28th. — Things  went  off  well,  on  the  whole,  yesterday. 
You  confound  your  ms,  ts,  and  Is,  and  do  not  separate  your  words. 
Sometimes  your  dots  were  not  made.  It  is  not  the  fault  of  local 
battery  here,  for  at  other  times  it  worked  perfectly  well,  but  for 
want,  I  think,  of  perfect  contact  in  touching  at  your  end.  No  time 
to  add.     Be  particular  to-day." 

"  May  29th. — Every  thing  worked  finely  yesterday.  You  have 
little  conception  of  the  sensation  produced  by  telegraphic  dis- 
patches. The  wonders  of  the  Telegraph,  since  it  is  discovered  it 
is  no  humbug,  are  in  everybody's  mouth.     Your  ms,  ts,  and  Is,  were 


504  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   E.   B.   MORSE. 

better  yesterday,  but  still  might  be  improved  by  attention  to  pro- 
portionate length.  Separate  your  words  a  little  more.  Strike  your 
dots  firmer,  and  do  not  separate  the  two  dots  of  the  0  so  far  apart. 
Condense  your  language  more,  leave  out  '  the '  whenever  you  can, 
and  when  h  follows  t,  separate  them  so  that  they  shall  not  be  8. 
The  beginning  of  a  long  common  word,  will  generally  be  sufficient 
— if  not,  I  can  easily  ask  you  to  repeat  the  whole,  o,  for  example. 
Butler  made  communication  in  favor  of  majority  rule. — '  Butler 
made  com- in  fav- of  maj.-'  'rulef  or  similar  words,  are  unneces- 
sary to  repeat,  when  the  subject  has  just  been  considered." 

The  Telegraph  was  now  a  reality.  Its  completion  was  hailed 
with  enthusiasm.  The  newspapers  of  the  day  announced  the 
annihilation  of  time  and  space  in  the  intercourse  of  men.  The 
name  of  the  inventor  was  lauded  to  the  skies.  Resolutions  of 
thanks  and  applause  were  adopted  by  popular  assemblies.  Lan- 
guage was  found  too  feeble  to  express  the  wonder  and  joy  of 
the  people. 

It  was  a  favorite  idea  with  Professor  Morse,  from  the  incep- 
tion of  his  enterprise,  that  the  Telegraph  should  belong  to  the 
General  Government.  In  pursuance  of  this  intention,  on  the 
same  day  when  he  communicated  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury the  completion  of  the  work  between  Baltimore  and  "Wash- 
ington, he  sent  a  communication  to  Congress,  making  a  formal 
overture  of  the  Telegraph  to  the  Government. 

Professor  Morse  to  Son.  Mc  ClintocJc  Young. 

"Washington,  June  3,  1844. 

"  Sib  :  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  the  experimental  essay 
authorized  by  the  act  of  Congress  on  March  3,  1843,  appropriating 
thirty  thousand  dollars  for  '  testing '  my  '  system  of  Electro-Mag- 
netic Telegraphs,  and  of  such  length,  and  between  such  points,  as 
shall  test  its  practicability  and  utility?  has  been  made  between 
Washington  and  Baltimore — a  distance  of  forty  miles — connecting 
the  Capitol,  in  the  former  city,  with  the  railroad  depot  in  Pratt 
Street,  in  the  latter  city. 

"  On  the  first  point  proposed  to  be  settled  by  the  experiment,  to 
wit,  its  practicability,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  (since  the  pub- 
lic demonstration  which  has  been  given  of  its  efficacy,  for  some 
days  past,  during  the  session  of  the  different  conventions  in  the  city 
of  Baltimore),  that  it  is  fully  proved. 


BENEFITS  ALREADY   KNOWN".  505 

"  Items  of  intelligence  of  all  kinds  have  been  transmitted  back 
and  forth,  from  the  simple  sending  of  names,  to  the  more  length- 
ened details  of  the  proceedings  of  Congress  and  the  conventions. 
One  fact  will,  perhaps,  be  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  efficiency  and 
speed  with  which  intelligence  can  be  communicated  by  the  tele- 
graph. 

"  In  the  proceedings  of  the  Democratic  Convention  at  Baltimore 
for  the  nomination  of  a  candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States 
at  the  next  election,  the  result  of  the  votes,  in  the  nomination  of 
the  Hon.  J.  K.  Polk,  was  conveyed  from  the. convention  to  the  tele- 
graphic terminus  in  Baltimore,  transmitted  to  Washington,  an- 
nounced to  the  hundreds  assembled  in  front  of  the  terminus  at  the 
Capitol,  and  to  both  Houses  of  Congress  ;  the  reception  of  the  news 
at  Washington  was  then  transmitted  to  Baltimore,  sent  to  the  con- 
vention and  circulated  among  its  members — all  before  the  nomina- 
tion of  the  successful  candidate  was  officially  announced  by  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  convention. 

"  In  regard  to  the  utility  of  the  Telegraph,  time  alone  can  de- 
termine and  develop  the  whole  capacity  for  good  of  so  perfect  a 
system.  In  the  few  days  of  its  infancy,  it  has  already  casually 
shown  its  usefulness  in  the  relief,  in  various  ways,  of  the  anxieties 
of  thousands ;  and,  when  such  a  sure  means  of  relief  is  available  to 
the  public  at  large,  the  amount  of  its  usefulness  becomes  incalcu- 
lable. An  instance  or  two  will  best  illustrate  this  quality  of  the 
telegraph : 

"  A  family  in  Washington  was  thrown  into  great  distress  by  a 
rumor  that  one  of  its  members  had  met  with  a  violent  death  in  Bal- 
timore the  evening  before.  Several  hours  must  have  elapsed  ere 
their  state  of  suspense  could  be  relieved  by  the  ordinary  means  of 
conveyance.  A  note  was  dispatched  to  the  telegraph-rooms  at  the 
Capitol,  requesting  to  have  inquiry  made  at  Baltimore.  The  mes- 
senger had  occasion  to  wait  but  ten  minutes,  when  the  proper 
inquiry  was  made  at  Baltimore,  and  the  answer  returned  that  the 
rumor  was  without  foundation.  Thus  was  a  worthy  family  relieved 
immediately  from  a  state  of  distressing  suspense. 

"  An  inquiry  from  a  person  in  Baltimore  holding  the  check  of  a 
gentleman  in  Washington,  upon  the  Bank  of  Washington,  was  sent 
by  telegraph,  to  ascertain  if  the  gentleman  in  question  had  funds 
in  that  bank.  A  messenger  was  instantly  dispatched  from  the 
Capitol,  who  returned  in  a  few  minutes  with  an  affirmative  answer 
which  was  returned  to  Baltimore  instantly ;  thus  establishing  a  con- 


506  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

fidence  in  a  money  arrangement  which  might  have  affected  unfa- 
vorably (for  many  hours  at  least)  the  business  transactions  of  a  man 
in  good  credit. 

"  Other  cases  might  be  given ;  but  these  are  deemed  sufficient 
to  illustrate  the  point  of  utility,  and  to  suggest  to  those  who  will 
reflect  upon  them,  thousands  of  cases  in  the  public  business,  in 
commercial  operations,  and  in  private  and  social  transactions,  which 
establish  beyond  a  doubt  the  immense  advantages  of  such  a  speedy 
mode  of  conveying  intelligence. 

"  In  the  construction  of  this  first  line  of  conductors,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  experiments  should  be  made  to  ascertain  the  best  mode 
of  establishing  them.  The  plan  I  first  suggested  in  my  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  1837  (see  House  Report,  No.  6,  April 
6,  1838),  of  placing  my  conductors  upon  posts  thirty  feet  high,  and 
some  three  hundred  feet  apart,  is,  after  experiment,  proved  to  be 
the  most  eligible.  The  objection,  so  strongly  urged  in  the  outset, 
that,  by  being  exposed  aboveground,  the  conductors  were  in  dan- 
ger from  evil-disposed  persons,  had  such  weight  with  me,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  experience  on  the  subject,  as  early  to  turn  my  whole  atten- 
tion to  the  practicability  of  placing  my  conductors  in  tubes  beneath 
the  earth,  as  the  best  means  of  safety.  The  adoption  of  the  latter 
mode,  for  some  thirteen  miles  in  England,  by  the  projectors  of  the 
English  Telegraph,  confirmed  me  in  the  belief  that  this  would  be 
best.  I  was  thus  led  to  contract  for  lead  pipe  sufficient  to  contain 
my  conductors  through  the  whole  route.  Experience,  however,  has 
shown  that  this  mode  is  attended  with  disadvantages  far  outweigh- 
ing any  advantages  from  its  fancied  security  beneath  the  ground. 
If  apparently  more  secure,  an  injury  once  sustained  is  much  more 
difficult  of  access,  and  of  repair ;  while  upon  posts,  if  injury  is  sus- 
tained, it  is  at  once  seen,  and  can  be  repaired,  ordinarily  almost 
without  cost.  But  the  great  advantage  of  the  mode  on  posts 
over  that  beneath  the  ground  is  the  cheapness  of  its  construction. 
This  will  be  manifest  from  the  following  comparative  estimate  of 
the  two  modes  in  England  and  in  America : 

"  Cost  of  English  Telegraph— -In  pipe,  £287  6s.,  or  $1,275  per 
mile.     On  posts,  £149  5s.,  or  $662  per  mile. 

"  Cost  of  American  Telegraph,  as  estimated  in  Souse  Report, 
No.  17,  Twenty-seventh  Congress,  Third  Session. — In  pipe,  $583 
per  mile.     On  posts,  from  $350  to  $400  per  mile. 

"These  comparisons  also  show  how  much  less  is  the  cost  of 
the  American  Telegraph,  even  at  the  highest  estimate. 


OFFER  TO   GOVERNMENT.  507 

"But  these  estimates  of  the  cost  of  construction  largely  exceed 
the  actual  cost,  under  the  improved  modes  recently  suggested  by 
experiment,  and  now  adopted ;  and  the  cost  of  the  line  between 
Baltimore  and  Washington,  already  constructed,  involves  numerous 
expenditures  of  an  experimental  character,  which  will  not  be  inci- 
dent to  an  extension  of  the  line  onward  to  New  York,  if  that  shall 
be  deemed  desirable. 

"  Of  the  appropriation  made,  there  will  remain  in  the  Treasury, 
after  the  settlement  of  outstanding  accounts,  about  $3,500,  which 
may  be  needed  for  contingent  liabilities,  and  for  sustaining  the  line 
already  constructed,  until  provision  by  law  shall  be  made  for  such 
an  organization  of  a  telegraphic  department  or  bureau  as  shall  en- 
able the  Telegraph  at  least  to  support  itself,  if  not  to  become  a 
profitable  source  of  revenue  to  the  Government. 

"  I  will  conclude  by  saying  that  I  feel  grateful  for  the  generous 
confidence  which  Congress  has  thus  far  extended  toward  me  and 
my  enterprise ;  and  I  will  cheerfully  afford  any  further  and  more 
detailed  information  on  the  subject  of  the  Telegraph,  when  desired, 
and  will  be  prepared  to  make  and  execute  any  desirable  arrange- 
ments for  the  extension  of  it  that  Congress  shall  require. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse, 
"  Superintendent  of  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph. 

"  To  the  Hon;  HcClintock  Young,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  ad  interim.'''1 

Accompanying  the  report,  Professor  Morse  addressed  the 

following  memorial : 

"Washington,  June  3,  1844. 
"  To  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  undersigned,  for  himself  and  coproprietors  of  Morse's  Elec- 
tro-Magnetic Telegraph,  represents  that  the  report  of  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Telegraph  from  Washington  City  to  Baltimore  has 
been  made  of  its  completion  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and 
the  proprietors  now  ask  the  further  action  of  Congress  upon  the 
subject.  That  report  will  furnish  full  information  of  the  proceed- 
ings that  have  been  had,  under  and  by  virtue  of  the  former  appro- 
priation made  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  feasibility  of  the  Tele- 
graph, and  of  the  present  satisfactory  and  successful  operation  of  it. 

"  The  proprietors  respectfully  suggest  that  it  is  an  engine  of 
power,  for  good  or  for  evil,  which  all  opinions  seem  to  concur  in 
desiring  to  have  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Government,  rather 
than  have  it  in  the  hands  of  private  individuals  and  associations ; 


508  UFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.   MORSE. 

and,  to  this  end,  the  proprietors  respectfully  submit  their  willing- 
ness to  transfer  the  exclusive  use  and  control  of  it  from  Washing- 
ington  City  to  the  city  of  New  York  to  the  United  States,  together 
with  such  improvements  as  shall  be  made  by  the  proprietors,  or 
either  of  them,  if  Congress  shall  proceed  to  cause  its  construction, 
and  upon  either  of  the  following  terms : 

"  1.  By  Congress  paying  the  proprietors  such  remuneration  for 
it  as  may  be  justly  due  to  its  value  and  importance,  and  the  years 
of  anxious  toil  and  expense  it  has  cost  to  bring  it  to  its  present 
state  of  perfection. 

"  And  in  case  of  this  arrangement,  the  Government  will  proceed 
to  construct  it  at  their  own  expense,  and  under  their  own  direction, 
without  imposing  any  care  or  responsibility  of  it  on  the  proprie- 
tors; or — 

"  2.  The  proprietors  will  contract  with  the  Government  to  con- 
struct it,  complete  for  use  as  soon  as  may  be  done,  from  Baltimore 
to  some  point  in,  or  opposite  to  (as  may  be  found  most  practicable), 
the  city  of  New  York,  including  a  sufficient  number  of  wires,  to 
establish  distinct  communications  to  and  from  Washington  and 
each  of  the  following  places,  viz. :  Baltimore  in  Maryland,  Wilming- 
ton in  Delaware,  Philadelphia  in  Pennsylvania,  Trenton  in  New 
Jersey,  and  New  York  City,  or  a  point  most  practicable  opjDosite 
thereto,  including  a  supply  of  all  necessary  instruments  to  put  the 
same  in  complete  operation,  delivering  it  into  the  charge  of  the 
Government  as  fast  as  each  successive  section  of  ten  miles  shall  be 
completed,  and  relinquish  to  the  Government  the  exclusive  right 
and  property  in  the  use  of  the  same,  with  the  improvements  afore- 
said, for  the  sum  of  dollars,  and  the  unexpended 
balance  of  the  former  appropriation,  subject  to  the  payment  of  all 
unliquidated  claims  outstanding  against  such  balance  ;  said  sums 
shall  be  in  full  compensation  for  all  materials,  labor,  and  every 
expense  of  construction,  up  to  the  delivery  of  every  section  to  the 
Government  ready  for  use  as  aforesaid. 

"  The  work  and  the  materials  to  be  upon  the  plan,  and  in  all 
respects  equal  to  the  line,  constructed  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore  City,  and  the  points  of  communications  to  be  in  said 
several  cities  and  towns  mentioned  at  such  places  as  the  Govern- 
ment, by  its  proper  officer,  shall  provide  and  determine,  the  terms 
of  payment  to  be  ten  per  cent,  at  the  commencement  of  the  work, 
or  signing  of  the  contract,  and  a,  pro-rata  sum  for  every  successive 
ten  miles  when  completed. 


DETERMINING   THE   LONGITUDE.  509 

V  The  undersigned  will  add  that  he  will  take  pleasure  in  afford- 
ing any  further  information  than  is  contained  in  the  two  former 
reports  made  on  the  subject. 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse, 

"  Superintendent  of  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph.'''1 

The  overture  was  not  accepted,  as  it  will  soon  appear. 

Professor  Morse  suggested  to  Arago,  in  1839,  that  the 
Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  would  be  the  means  of  determining 
the  difference  of  longitude  between  places  with  an  accuracy 
hitherto  unattained.  By  the  following  letter  from  Captain 
Charles  Wilkes  to  Professor  Morse,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the 
first  experiment  of  the  kind  resulted  in  the  fulfillment  of  the 
Professor's  prediction : 

"Washington,  June  13,  1844. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  The  interesting  experiments  for  obtaining  the 
difference  of  longitude  through  your  Magnetic  Telegraph  were 
finished  yesterday,  and  have  proved  very  satisfactory.  They  re- 
sulted in  placing  the  Battle  Monument  Square,  Baltimore,  1'  34".868 
east  of  the  Capitol. 

"  The  time  of  the  two  places  was  carefully  obtained  by  transit 
observations.  Lieutenants  Carr  and  Eld  assisted  me  in  these  ob- 
servations. The  latter  was  engaged  in  those  at  Baltimore.  The 
comparisons  were  made  through  chronometers,  and  without  any 
difficulty.  They  were  had  in  three  days,  and  their  accuracy  proved 
in  the  intervals  marked  and  recorded  at  both  places.  I  have 
adopted  the  results  of  the  last  day's  observations  and  comparisons, 
from  the  elapsed  time  having  been  less. 

"  The  difference  from  former  results  found  in  the  American 
Almanac  is  .732  of  a  second.  After  these  experiments  I  am  well 
satisfied  that  your  Telegraph  offers  the  means  for  determining  me- 
ridian distances  more  accurately  than  was  before  within  the  power 
of  instruments  and  observers. 

"  Accept  my  thanks  and  those  of  Lieutenant  Eld  for  yourself 
and  Mr.  Vail,  for  your  kindness  and  attention  in  affording  us  the 
facilities  to  obtain  these  results. 

"  With  great  respect  and  esteem,  your  friend, 

"Charles  Wilkes. 

"  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  Capitol,  Washington." 


OHAPTEE    XII. 
1845. 

OONGEESS   EEFUSES   FUETHEB   APPEOPEIATIONS — LETTEB  OF  PEOFESSOE  MOE8E 

TO  HIS  DAUGHTER HON.  AMOS  KENDALL  ENGAGED  AS  AGENT — FOEMATION 

OF    THE    MAGNETIC    TELEGEAPH    COMPANY LETTEES    TO    ME.   VAIL ME. 

VAIL'S  EEPLTES PEOFESSOE  MOESE  GOES  ABEOAD — IN  LONDON — GENERAL 

OOMMEECIAL    TELEGEAPH    COMPANY  —  HON.   LOTUS    MCLANE PEOFESSOE 

MOESE  IN  HAMBTJEG EETUENS  TO  LONDON — EXHIBITIONS  OF  THE  TELE- 
GEAPH IN  HAMBTJEG,  ST.  PETEESBTTEG,  BEELIN,  AND  VIENNA — ME.  FLEISCH- 
MANN'S  ACCOUNT  OF  ITS  EECEPTION — PEOFESSOE  MOESE  IN  PAEIS — AEAGO 
EXHIBITION   BEFOEE   OHAMBEE   OF   DEPUTIES — EETUEN   TO   AMEEICA. 

THE  Telegraph,  no  longer  an  experiment,  was  an  accom- 
plished fact.  Speaking  for  itself,  it  required  no  cham- 
pions on  the  floor  of  Congress,  or  in  the  public  press.  The 
extension  of  the  line  from  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  and  to  all  the  cities  of  the  land*,  was  only  a  work  of  time. 
But  the  aid  of  Congress  was  sought  in  vain.  An  appropriation 
of  $8,000  was  made  to  support  the  line  between  the  capital  and 
Baltimore,  while  in  its  infancy,  but  further  than  that  the  Gov- 
ernment declined  to  go.  The  sum  named  as  the  price  for  which 
the  Morse  Company  would  sell  the  Telegraph  to  the  Govern- 
ment, was  $100,000.  The  subject  was  discussed  in  the  report 
of  Hon.  Cave  Johnson,  the  Postmaster-General,  under  President 
Polk.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress  when  the  bill  was  before 
the  House  appropriating  $30,000  for  the  experimental  line,  and 
was  one  of  those  who  ridiculed  the  whole  subject  as  unworthy 
the  notice  of  sensible  men !  As  Postmaster-General  he  said  in 
his  report,  after  the  experiment  had  succeeded  to  the  admiration 
of  mankind :  "  That  the  operation  of  the  Telegraph  between 


VALUE  OF  THE  TELEGRAPH.  511 

Washington  and  Baltimore  had  not  satisfied  him  that,  under  any 
rate  of  postage  that  eonld  be  adopted,  its  revenues  could  be 
made  equal  to  its  expenditures." 

Such  an  opinion,  with  the  evidence  then  in  the  possession  of 
the  Department,  would  appear  to  be  the  limit  of  official  blind- 
ness. But  it  was  undoubtedly  fortunate  for  the  inventor,  and 
for  the  country,  that  the  development  of  the  Telegraph  was  left 
to  private  enterprise.  A  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  Govern- 
ment had  declined  to  take  the  Telegraph  at  the  price  of  $100,000, 
a  project  was  started  to  establish  lines  of  Telegraph  to  be  used 
by  the  Government  as  part  of  the  mail  postal  system,  or  to  take 
possession  of  the  lines  already  established.  And  in  1873  the 
Postmaster-General,  Mr.  Cresswell,  stated  in  his  report  that  the 
entire  cost  of  all  the  lines  in  the  country,  including  patents,  was 
less  than  $10,000,000,  and  that  the  cost  of  a  new  system,  equal 
in  extent  to  the  present,  would  be  $11,800,000.  At  the  time 
this  estimate  was  made,  the  property  of  the  existing  Telegraph 
companies  was  worth  in  the  market,  $50,000,000. 

In  a  letter  to  his  daughter,  who  had  removed  with  her  hus- 
band to  Porto  Pico,  in  the  West  Indies,  Professor  Morse  wrote, 
February  8,  1845 : 

"  The  Telegraph  operates  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  the  pub- 
lic, as  you  perhaps  see  by  the  laudatory  notices  of  the  papers  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  I  am  now  in  a  state  of  unpleasant  suspense, 
waiting  the  passage  of  the  *  bill  for  the  extension  of  the  Telegraph 
to  New  York.'  I  am  in  hopes  they  will  take  it  up  and  pass  it  next 
week ;  if  they  should  not,  I  shall  at  once  enter  into  arrangements 
with  private  companies  to  take  it  and  extend  it.  I  do  long  for  the 
time,  if  it  shall  be  permitted,  to  have  you  with  your  husband,  and 
little  Charles,  around  me ;  I  feel  my  loneliness  more  and  more  keen- 
ly every  day.  Fame  and  money  are,  in  themselves,  a  poor  substi- 
tute for  domestic  happiness ;  as  means  to  that  end,  I  value  them. 
Yesterday  was  the  sad  anniversary  (the  twentieth)  of  your  dear 
mother's  death,  and  I  spent  the  most  of  it  in  thinking  of  her.  How 
I  should  like  to  look  in  upon  you  !  You  must  describe  your  situa- 
tion, so  that  I  can  form  an  idea  of  what  you  are  doing  daily.  I 
wish  you  were  not  so  far  off;  I  get  discouraged  almost  in  writing 
to  you,  it  seems  so  like  an  age  before  I  can  get  an  answer,  and  so 
uncertain  as  to  the  fate  of  my  letters. 


512  LIFE   OP   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  I  dine  on  Tuesday  with  the  Russian  Minister,  Mr.  Bodisco ; 
both  the  Russian  and  French  Governments  are  taking  an  interest 
in  Electric  Telegraphs,  and  I  may  have  to  visit  both  these  countries. 
It  is  one  of  the  possible  things  that  we  may  meet  in  Europe. 

"  Thursday,  February  12. — I  dined  at  the  Russian  ambassador's 
Tuesday.  It  was  the  most  gorgeous  dinner-party  I  ever  attended 
in  any  country.  Thirty-six  sat  down  to  table ;  there  were  eleven 
Senators  (nearly  half  the  Senate).  I  will  give  you  their  names, 
Evans,  Woodbury,  Webster,  Huntington,  Buchanan,  Bayard,  Ar- 
cher, Huger,  Berrien,  Crittenden,  Benton,  and  Barrow  ;  Mr.  Webster 
is  Senator-elect ;  then  there  were  General  Scott,  Captain  Shubrick, 
Captain  Morris,  Seaton,  Mayor  of  Washington,  Judge  McLane,  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  Dickens,  Secretary  of  the  Senate,  and  many 
members  of  the  House.  The  table,  some  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet 
long,  was  decorated  with  immense  gilt  vases  of  flowers,  on  a  splen- 
did plateau  of  richly-chased  gilt  ornaments,  and  candelabra  with 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  lights.  We  were  ushered  into  the  house 
through  eight  liveried  servants,  who  afterward  waited  on  us  at 
table. 

"  I  go  to-morrow  evening  to  Mr.  Wickliffe's,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, and  probably,  on  Wednesday  evening  next,  to  the  President's. 
The  new  President,  Polk,  arrived  this  evening  amid  the  roar  of 
cannon  ;  he  will  be  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March,  and  I  presume 
I  shall  be  here.  I  am  most  anxiously  waiting  the  action  of  Con- 
gress on  the  Telegraph  ;  it  is  exceedingly  tantalizing  to  suffer  so 
much  loss  of  precious  time  that  cannot  be  recalled. 

"  Your  affectionate  father,  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

Professor  Morse  had  long  known  that  his  pecuniary  interests 
required  him  to  commit  them  to  the  hands  of  skillful,  able,  and 
honest  men  of  business.  While  the  invention  was  in  progress, 
his  mind  was  far  more  engrossed  with  it  than  with  its  future 
possible  advantage  to  himself,  though  he  was  never  insensible  to 
the  charms  of  fame  and  fortune.  But  no  one  could  invent  for 
him.  That  labor  he  bore  in  solitude  and  unaided,  save  by  the 
divine  spirit,  which  he  believed  to  be  continually  at  work  with 
him  to  produce  the  result  he  sought.  But  now  that  the  Tele- 
graph was  in  operation,  and  his  own  agency  in  its  production 
acknowledged  by  the  Government,  he  perceived  at  once  the  ne- 
cessity of  confiding  his  business  to  the  hands  of  a  competent 


AMOS  KENDALL  ENGAGED.  513 

agent,  who  should  administer  the  trust  to  their  mutual  advan- 
tage. Such  a  man  he  found.  The  Hon.  Amos  Kendall  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  New 
Hampshire.  He  had  spent  his  active  life  in  Kentucky,  and  had 
been  called  to  Washington  by  General  Jackson,  when  that  dis- 
tinguished man  became  President  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Kendall  had  acquired  a  national  reputation  by  his  able,  wise,  and 
energetic  administration  as  Postmaster-General  of  the  United 
States  under  President  Jackson.  In  that  office  he  had  become 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  postal  affairs  of  the  country,  and 
had  demonstrated  executive  ability  that  commanded  the  admira- 
tion of  the  friends  and  opponents  of  the  Administration.  Pro- 
fessor Morse  was  peculiarly  happy  in  securing  the  services  of 
such  a  man,  and  in  March,  1845,  he  constituted  Mr.  Kendall  his 
attorney,  and  committed  his  telegraphic  interests  to  his  control. 
A  contract  was  concluded  with  the  original  proprietors,  S.  F.  B. 
Morse,  Alfred  Yail,  and  L.  D.  Gale,  and  Amos  Kendall,  by 
which  Mr.  Kendall  became  their  agent,  and  was  clothed  with 
full  powers  to  manage  the  business  according  to  his  own  judg- 
ment. 

The  proprietors  of  the  Morse  patent,  despairing  of  action  by 
Congress  for  the  adoption  of '  the  Telegraph  which  it  had  called 
into  existence,  on  the  15th  day  of  May,  1845,  organized  a  joint- 
stock  company  under  the  name  of  "  The  Magnetic  Telegraph 
Company,  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  and  carrying  on  a  line 
of  said  Telegraph  from  New  York  to  Washington."  The  follow- 
ing persons  constituted  this  first  telegraphic  organization  in  the 
United  States,  viz.,  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Leonard  D.  Gale,  Al- 
fred Yail,  by  their  attorneys  in  fact,  Amos  Kendall,  Francis  O. 
J.  Smith,  B.  B.  French,  Keller,  aud  Greenough,  by  J.  J.  Green- 
ongh,  Charles  Monroe,  David  Gold,  E.  Cornell,  A.  Warren 
Paine,  James  A.  McLaughlin,  Charles  G.  Page,  T.  L.  &  A. 
Thos.  Smith,  Jno.  M.  Broadhead,  J.  C.  Broadhead,  by  J.  M. 
Broadhead,  Amos  Kendall,  P.  G.  Washington,  John  E.  Kendall, 
Corcoran  &  Biggs,  John  J.  Waley,  Eliphalet  Case,  by  F.  O.  J. 
Smith.  An  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained  from  the  Mary- 
land Legislature,  and  the  first  list  of  subscribers  to  the  stock  of 
the  company  antedating  the  act  of  incorporation,  and  under  the 
articles  of  association,  was  as  follows : 

33  * 


514 


LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 


Corcoran  &  Riggs   $1,000 

B.  B.  French 1,000 

Eliphalet    Case 1,000 

Charles  Monroe 1,000 

Peter  G.  Washington 200 

John  J.  Waley,  New  York 500 

John  E.  Kendall 300 

James  A.  McLaughlin 350 

Amos  Kendall 500 

E.  Cornell,  New  York 500 

Daniel  Gold 1,000 

Simon  Brown 500 

J.  J.  Glossbrenner 500 


John  M.  Broadhead $1,000 

Chas.  G.  Page 500 

Geo.  Templeman 200 

Henry  J.  Rogers,  Baltimore . .      100 

J.  W.  Murphy,  Baltimore 100 

A.  W.  Paine 500 

F.  O.  J.  Smith 2,?50 

J.  Black 200 

Keller  &  Greenough  ........      500 

J.  G.  Broadhead,  Boston  ....      500 

T.  L.  &  A.  T.  Smith  . . . 200 

A.  Thos.  Smith 100 


$15,000 


From  this  time  the  extension  of  the  Telegraph  proceeded 
step  by  step,  and  sometimes  with  rapid  strides,  over  the  United 
States  of  America.  Professor  Morse  had  the  proud  satisfaction 
of  seeing  his  invention  acknowledged  before  the  world  as  an 
American  invention.  He  felt  ambitious  to  secure  that  honor  to 
his  country,  which  he  loved  with  the  devotion  of  a  child  to  its 
parent.  "  When  you  arrive  in  sight  of  dear  America,"  he  said, 
in  a  letter  from  Paris  under  date  of  October  13,  1839,  to  Mr. 
Smith  embarking  in  Liverpool  homeward  bound,  "  bless  it  for 
me ;  and  when  you  land,  kiss  the  very  ground  for  me.  Land 
of  lands  !  Oh,  that  all  our  countrymen  would  but  know  their 
blessings !  God  hath  not  dealt  so  with  any  nation.  "We  ought 
to  be  the  best,  as  well  as  the  happiest  and  most  prosperous,  of 
all  nations.  ISTor  should  we  forget  to  whom  we  are  indebted, 
either  as  a  nation,  or  as  individuals,  for  these  more  distinguished 
favors.  '  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach 
to  any  people.'  " 

"  The  Secret  Corresponding  Vocabulary,  adapted  for  Use  to 
Morse's  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  and  also  in  conducting 
Written  Correspondence  transmitted  by  the  Mails,  or  otherwise," 
was  now  printed  in  a  volume,  prepared  by  Francis  O.  J.  Smith, 
Esq.,  and  published  at  Portland,  Maine.  The  dedication  of  the 
work  is  in  these  words  : 

To  Professor  Samuel  F.   B.  Morse,  Inventor  of  the  American 
Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph. 
"  Sir  :  The  homage  of  the  world  during  the  last  half-century 
has  been,  and  will  ever  continue  to  be,  accorded  to  the  name  and 


FRANKLIN  AND   MORSE.  515 

genius  of  the  Illustrious  American  philosopher,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
for  having  first  taught  mankind  that  the  wild  and  terrific  ways  and 
forces  of  the  electric  fluid,  as  it  flies  and  flashes  through  the  rent 
atmosphere,  or  descends  to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  are  guided  by 
positive  and  fixed  laws,  as  much  as  the  movements  of  more  sluggish 
matter  in  the  physical  creation  ;  and  that  its  terrible  death-strokes 
may  be  rendered  harmless  by  proper  scientific  precautions. 

.  "  To  another  name  of  another  generation,  yet  of  the  same  proud 
national  nativity,  the  glory  has  been  reserved  of  having  first  taught 
mankind  to  reach  even  beyond  the  results  of  Franklin,  and  to  sub- 
due in  a  modified  state,  into  the  familiar  and  practical  uses. of  a 
household  servant,  who  runs  at  his  master's  bidding,  this  same  once 
frightfuTand  tremendous  element.  Indeed,  the  great  work  of  sci- 
ence which  Franklin  commenced  for  the  protection  of  man,  you 
have  most  triumphantly  subdued  to  his  convenience.  And  it  needs 
not  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  foresee,  nor  the  spirit  of  personal  flattery 
to  declare,  that  the  names  of  Franklin  and  Morse  are  destined  to 
glide  down  the  declivity  of  time  together,  the  equals  in  the  renown 
of  inventive  achievements,  until  the  hand  of  History  shall  become 
palsied,  and  whatever  pertains  to  humanity  shall  be  lost  in  the  gen- 
eral dissolution  of  matter. 

"  Of  one  thus  rich  in  the  present  applause  of  his  countrymen, 
and  in  the  prospect  of  their  future  gratitude,  it  affords  the  author 
of  the  following  compilation,  which  is  designed  to  contribute  in  a 
degree  to  the  practical  usefulness  of  your  invention,  a  high  gratifi- 
cation to  speak  in  the  presence  of  an  enlightened  public  feeling. 

"  That  you  may  live  to  witness  the  full  consummation  of  the 
vast  revolution  in  the  social  and  business  relations  of  your  country- 
men, which  your  genius  has  proved  to  be  feasible,  under  the  liberal 
encouragement  of  our  national  councils,  and  that  you  may,  with 
this  great  gratification,  also  realize  from  it  the  substantial  reward 
which  inventive  merit  too  seldom  acquires,  in  the  shape  of  pecuniary 
independence,  is  the  sincere  wish  of, 

"  Your  most  respectful  and  obedient  servant, 

"Forest  Home,  Westbeook,  Me.,  )  The  Atjthoe. 

November  23,  1844."  J 

The  Telegraph  must  have  suddenly  asserted  itself  before  the 
world  to  justify  such  language  as  this  in  the  first  year  of  its 
actual  operation.  Judge  Wayne,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  on  receiving  a  copy  of  this  work,  wrote  to  Mr. 


516  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

Morse :  "  No  one  lias  watched  your  career  in  the  arts  and  in 
philosophy  with  more  interest  than  I  have  done,  or  with  strong- 
er wishes  for  your  success,  and  the  eminence  which  you  have  at- 
tained in  both,  I  trust,  will  be  followed  by  substantial  advan- 
tages, as  I  know  it  will  be  by  durable  fame." 

The  spring  and  summer  of  1845  were  passed  by  Professor 
Morse  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  superintendent  of  the 
Telegraph  between  Washington  and  Baltimore,  and  it  was  more 
important  than  ever  to  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon  attempts  to 
invade  the  rights  of  the  patentees,  by  pretended  improvements 
or  actual  manufacture  of  the  Morse  instruments.  The  Professor 
wrote  to  Mr.  Yail,  in  July : 

"  You  need  have  no  printing-telegraph.  I  have  studied  the 
principles  of  our  writing  as  well  as  our  printing  telegraph  very 
thoroughly,  and  the  single  key  must  beat  all  others,  about  in  the 
ratio  that  a  man  can  write  faster  than  he  can  set  up  type — perhaps 
a  little  slower,  yet  at  least  half  as  fast  again.  I  wrote  to-day  122 
(S's.)  in  succession  in  one  minute.  It  is  all  humbug  that  House, 
even  if  he  were  a  meeting-house  as  big  as  Trinity  Church,  can  print 
120  in  a  minute.  I  doubt  if  he  can  print  30.  Depend  upon  it,  all 
these  printing-telegraphs  will  explode.  Mark  my  predictions.  .  .  . 
I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Fleischman.  Wheatstone 
was  going  to  bring  out  one  like  mine,  in  about  a  week  from  the 
time  he  wrote,  that  is,  if  he  can  make  it.  I  am  exceedingly  anxious 
to  be  beforehand  with  him  :  I  believe  I  shall  be,  for  he  cannot '  con- 
ceive how  I  produce  my  marks,  or  how  1  produce  so  powerful  a 
magnet.'  Fleischman  has  gone  to  Paris,  and  hopes  to  do  something 
in  Germany  for  us.  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but  I  can  produce, 
on  my  principle  of  alphabetic  writing  or  printing,  a  rapidity  of  com- 
munication as  far  beyond  any  thing  the  printing-telegraph  men 
have  dreamt  of,  as  lightning  is  beyond  railroad  speed ;  and  it  is  by 
methods  known  to  you  and  me.  But  keep  dark  upon  the  subject. 
Give  me  specimens  of  timed  writers  to  take  with  me.  Try  your 
best.    I  sail  on  the  6th  of  August  in  the  Ashburton,  for  Liverpool." 

"New  York,  July  30,  1845. 
"  I  have  a  capital  letter  from  the  Russian  Minister  Bodisco,  who 
has  given  me  a  letter  to  Count  Nesselrode,  the  Prime-Minister  of 
Russia,  and  next  in  power  to  the  emperor.     I  would  not  be  san- 
guine, but  still  I  hope  to  effect  something.     I  have  received  Dr. 


MORSE   IN   EUKOPE.  517 

Page's  letter,  for  which  thank  him  for  me,  and  say  :  '  Doctor,  I  stick 
to  it  and  can  prove  it  mathematically,  that  the  mode  of  suspending 
the  rotating  keeper  which  I  suggested,  is  the  STEADIEST  !  !  !  and 
on  the  other  side  of  this  sheet  I  think  I  can  show  that  the  bevel  is 
also  as  effective,  if  not  more  so,  than  the  other  plan.'  The  doctor 
has  erred  in  supposing  that  the  keeper  and  the  magnet  were  of  the 
same  size." 

Professor  Morse  left  New  York  for  Europe  August  6,  1845, 
and  arrived  in  Liverpool  on  the  25th.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Yail 
from  London  as  soon  as  he  arrived : 

"London,  September  1,  1845. 
"  I  have  just  taken  lodgings  with  my  brother  and  his  family, 
preparatory  to  looking  about  for  a  week,  when- 1  shall  continue  my 
journey  to  Stockholm  and  St.  Petersburg,  by  the  way  of  Hamburg 
direct  from  London.  On  my  way  from  Liverpool,  I  saw  at  Rugby 
the  telegraph-wires  of  Wheatstone,  which  extend,  I  understood,  as 
far  as  Northampton.  I  went  into  the  office  as  the  train  stopped  a 
moment,  and  had  a  glimpse  of  the  instrument,  as  we  have  seen  it 
in  the  Illustrated  Times.  The  place  was  the  ticket-office,  and  the 
man  very  uncommunicative  ;  but  he  told  me  it  was  not  in  operation, 
and  that  they  did  not  use  it  much.  This  is  easily  accounted  for,  from 
the  fact  that  the  two  termini  are  inconsiderable  places,  and  Wheat- 
stone's  system  clumsy  and  complicated.  The  advantage  of  record- 
ing is  incalculable,  and  in  this  I  have  the  undisputed  superiority. 
As  soon  I  can  visit  the  telegraph-office  here,  I  will  give  you  the 
result  of  my  observation.  I  shall  probably  do  nothing  until  I  re- 
turn from  the  North." 

Professor  Morse  immediately  placed  himself  in  communica- 
tion with  the  "  General  Commercial  Telegraph  Company  "  in 
London,  and  submitted  to  them  a  proposition  to  demonstrate 
the  superiority  of  his  instrument  over  those  in  use  in  England, 
and  to  receive  for  the  use  of  his  instrument  a  small  sum  in  hand, 
and  only  one-quarter  of  what  the  company  would  save  by  sub- 
stituting his  apparatus  for  their  own  !  He  was  invited  to  meet 
a  committee  of  that  company  September  11th,  and,  accepting 
the  invitation,  he  made  to  them  the  following  proposition  in 
writing : 

"  In  prefacing  my  proposition  to  you,  I  would  beg  leave  to  ask, 
if  Mr.  Wheatstone  or  Davy  in   their  systems  can  give  a  certain 


518  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

amount  of  intelligence  with  two  wires  in  one  minute,  is  not  a  system 
which  gives  double  the  amount  with  one  wire  in  the  same  time 
worth  four  times  as  much? 

"  I  will  guarantee  that  my  apparatus  shall  accomplish  what  I 
promise  it  shall  do,  and  ocular  demonstration  shall  be  given. 

"  I  have  with  me  the  apparatus  complete  for  establishing  my 
system  of  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraphs,  now  in  such  successful 
operation  in  the  United  States.  I  have  a  part  of  the  apparatus 
never  revealed  to  the  public,  and  which  is  essential  to  the  efficacy 
of  my  plan.  I  can  put  it  in  operation  (if  arrangements  are  con- 
cluded with  a  company)  in  a  few  days.  If  we  can  agree  on  terms, 
I  will  delay  my  visit  to  Russia ;  put  in  order  the  apparatus  ;  fully 
explain  it  to  those  authorized  by  you  to  take  out  the  patent  for  you, 
and  leave  my  whole  apparatus  with  you.  I  will  also  instruct  two 
persons  whom  you  may  designate  in  the  use  of  it. 

"  On  the  delivery  of  the  apparatus  into  your  possession,  you 
shall  pay  me  one  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  further  guarantee 
to  pay  me  one-fourth  part  of  the  savings  derived  from  the  use  of 
my  system.  That  is  to  saj',  ascertain  the  utmost  amount  of  intelli- 
gence under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  that  Messrs.  Wheat- 
stone  &  Cooke,  or  Mr.  Davy,  can  give  in  a  minute,  and  the  number 
of  wires  necessary  to  produce  their  result.  If  I  cannot  give  more 
under  the  same  circumstances  in  the  same  time,  I  will  ask  no  more 
than  the  one  thousand  pounds  to  be  paid  down  on  delivery  to  you 
of  the  apparatus,  although  the  advantage  alone  of  recording  in  so 
simple  arid  easy  a  manner  is  very  greatly  in  favor  of  mine.  If  I  can 
give  more,  then  I  must  be  paid,  in  addition,  a  certain  proportion  of 
the  savings  by  my  system.  For  example,  say  that  Messrs.  W.  &  C. 
or  Mr.  D.,  by  giving  the  signals  complete  for  twenty-five  letters  of 
the  alphabet  in  one  minute,  enable  you  to  realize  fifteen  per  cent, 
on  your  capital ;  if  I  can  by  my  system  give  you  fifty  letters  per 
minute,  I  enable  you  to  realize  a  much  larger  per  cent.,  and  I  will 
then  ask  one-fourth  part  of  your  savings  derived  from  the  use  of  my 
system.  To  illustrate  my  proposition,  say  that  the  expense  of  one 
wire  from  London  to  Birmingham  will  cost  £500.  Four  will  cost 
£2,000.  Suppose  that  I  can  communicate  with  two  wires  as  much 
information  as  W.  or  D.  can  give  with  four.  Here  would  be  a 
saving  of  £1,000  to  you.  Of  this  I  propose  you  should  pay  me 
£250.  Say  that  W.  &  C.  or  D's  apparatus  at  each  station  cost  £80, 
and  mine  but  £40,  here  would  be  a  saving  of  £40.  I  propose  you 
should  pay,  on  account  of  this  saving,  £10. 


LETTER  TO   LOUIS  McLANE.  519 

"  Say  that  two  attendants  are  necessary  at  each  station  with 
W.  &  C.'s  or  D.'s  apparatus  with  salary  of  £100  per  annum  each, 
and  mine  should  require  but  one,  here  would  be  a  saving  of  £100 
per  annum  at  each  station.  Of  this  sum  I  propose  you  should  pay 
me  £25  per  annum,  and  so  for  the  saving  in  any  other  item  of  ex- 
pense." 

The  Hon.  Louis  McLane  was  at  that  time  the  American 
Minister  in  England,  and  with  him  Professor  Morse  had  re- 
peated interviews  in  regard  to  the  introduction  of  his  system 
into  European  countries.  To  meet  some  difficulties  in  the  mind 
of  Mr.  McLane  in  regard  to  the  chronology  of  telegraphs,  Pro- 
fessor Morse  addressed  him  this  important  letter  : 

"13  Bkompton  Square,  September  15, 1845. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  Accompanying  this  are  the  documents  I  prom- 
ised in  conversation  with  you  this  morning,  and  I  have  procured 
and  reexamined  with  some  attention  the  article  in  the  Electrical 
Magazine,  to  which  you  had  the  kindness  to  direct  my  notice. 
There  is  so  much  obscurity  in  the  description  of  his  arrangements, 
arising  probably  from  the  translation,  that  I  am  really  in  doubt 
whether  M.  Matteucci's  experiments  are  a  repetition  of  mine  or  not. 
His  experiments,  in  repetition  of  M.  Mangrini's,  and  made  with 
so  many  precautions,  appear  to  me  to  have  no  novelty  in  them. 
Franklin  made  the  ground  for  a  distance  of  three\or  four  miles  a 
part  of  an  electrical  circuit,  for  the  passage  of  common  electricity, 
and  Professor  Steinheil,  of  Munich,  as  far  back  as  1837,  showed 
that  galvanic  electricity  was  subject  to  the  same  law.  My  tele- 
graphic circuit,  as  you  well  know,  is  constructed  on  this  well-known 
fact  in  science,  the  ground  for  forty  miles  making  one-half  of  my 
circuit  since  the  earliest  moment  of  its  construction ;  and  I  am  a  lit- 
tle surprised  that  at  this  late  date  so  much  wonder  at  a  result  so 
long  known  should  be  manifested  by  so  distinguished  a  man  of 
science  as  Matteucci. 

"  In  regard  to  crossing  rivers  without  wires,  whether  M.  Mat- 
teucci's experiments  are  a  repetition  of  mine  or  not,  the  dates  of  his 
experiments  and  mine  are  now  in  your  possession,  and  will  resolve 
any  doubt  whether  his  or  mine  were  earliest.  Matteucci's  seem  to 
have  been  performed  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  year,  while 
mine  were  made  in  1842,  and  were  announced  at  the  time  in  the 
Journal  of  Commerce,  long  before  they  were  presented  to  Congress 
in  the  form  you  have  (in  document  24),  which  bears  date  1844. 


520  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

There  was  ample  time  intervening'  between  this  late  date  and  the 
date  of  M.  M.'s  experiment  to  have  reached  Europe  and  to  circulate 
through  the  scientific  world. 

"  From  the  magazine  on  your  table,  page  78,  paragraph  '  Chess 
by  Telegraph]  you  will  observe  an  instance  of  the  mode  in  which 
the  public  here  are  made  to  believe  in  the  priority  of  experiments 
on  their  Telegraph.  When  I  have  mentioned  in  conversation  the 
games  of  chess  played  by  means  of  my  Telegraph  between  B.  and 
W.,  the  answer  has  uniformly  been,  '  Oh,  ah,  yes,  we  have  had  that 
experiment  on  ours  long  ago.'  This  English  game  of  chess  and 
its  precise  date  I  saw  announced  in  a  paper  published  a  few  days 
after  it  occurred,  with  a  great  flourish,  as  marking  an  era  in  the 
game  of  chess.  The  date,  as  you  perceive,  is  Wednesday  and 
Thursday,  April  9  and  10, 1845.  The  date  of  one  of  our  games  of 
chess  (see  page  3,  document  24)  is  December  5,  1844. 

"  On  the  last  page  of  the  magazine,  page  80,  and  the  last  para- 
graph but  one,  you  will  see  a  notice  of  my  discovery  of  a  mode 
of  causing  electricity  to  cross  rivers." 

Professor  Morse,  having  accomplished  nothing  in  London, 
continued  bis  journey  to  the  north  of  .Europe,  and  his  letters  to 
his  daughter,  gave  a  lively  account  of  his  journey  to  Hamburg 
and  his  return. 

"Hamburg,  September  2*7,  1845. 
"  My  dear  Susajst :  Every  thing  being  ready  on  the  morning  of 
the  17th  instant  (September),  we  left  Brompton  Square  in  very 
rainy  and  stormy  weather,  and  drove  down  to  the  Custom-house 
Wharf,  and  went  on  board  our  destined  steamer,  the  William 
Joliffe,  a  dirty,  black-looking,  tub-like  thing,  about  as  large  but 
not  half  so  neat  as  a  North-River  wood-sloop.  The  wund  was  fresh 
from  the  southwest,  blowing  a  gale,  with  rain,  and  I  confess  I  did 
not  much  fancy  leaving  land  in  so  unpromising  a  craft,  and  in  such 
weather ;  yet  our  vessel  proved  an  excellent  sea-boat,  and,  although 
all  were  sea-sick  on  board  but  Mr.  Ellsworth  and  myself,  we  had  a 
safe  but  rough  passage  across  the  boisterous  North  Sea.  The 
weather  cleared  up,  however,  before  we  arrived  in  mid-channel,  and 
the  moon,  breaking  through  the  clouds,  made  the  latter  part  of  our 
voyage  more  agreeable.  We  made  the  light  on  the  island  of  Schou- 
wen,  on  the  Dutch  shore,  a  little  after  midnight,  and  at  daylight 
found  ourselves  in  smooth  water  opposite  Helvoetsluis.  We  were 
compelled,  on  account  of  the  tide,  to  make  a  circuitous  route  to 


TELEGRAPH  AT  AMSTERDAM.  521 

this  place,  close  to  Dort,  and,  passing  Delft  Haven,  arrived  at  the 
Hotel  des  Pays  Bas  in  Rotterdam,  about  half-past  two  o'clock,  on 
the  18th  instant.  On  the  morning  of  the  19th  we  took  a  carriage, 
and  drove  about  the  city.  There  is  nothing  like  a  Dutch  city  on  our 
side  of  the  water.  The  wide  and  deep  canals,  in  which  the  largest 
class  of  vessels,  as  well  as  the  smaller  craft,  lie  opposite  your  win- 
dows ;  the  singular  rig  of  their  vessels,  the  sides,  and  masts,  and 
blocks  of  which  are  all  brightly  polished  and  varnished  (even  the 
anchors  being  rubbed  bright),  give  to  their  streets  a  very  novel 
appearance.  We  went  in  the  afternoon  to  Delft  Haven,  a  place  I 
was  very  desirous  of  seeing  on  account  of  its  associations  with  the 
embarkation  of  the  Pilgrims.  I  presume  we  were  on  the  spot 
whence  they  embarked,  and  where  the  distinguished  Robinson  knelt 
and  prayed  with  them  before  they  went  on  board  the  Speedwell. 
In  the  evening  we  left  Rotterdam  for  the  Hague  in  a  carriage,  and 
at  the  latter  place  arrived  in  the  nick  of  time  to  take  the  cars  for 
Haarlem  and  Amsterdam.  At  Haarlem  I  saw  a  single  wire  on 
small  posts,  not  so  high  as  the  railroad-cars,  which  I  learned  was 
an  electric  telegraph.  It  is  on  Mr.  Wheatstone's  plan,  and  I  have 
since  had  ocular  demonstration  that  it  is  far  less  efficient  than 
mine.1     We  arrived  late  in  the  evening,  and,  finding  the  principal 

1  Professor  Morse  made  the  following  memorandum  at  the  time : 

"  Amsterdam,  Monday,  Septe?nber  22, 1845. 

"  Went  to  see  the  Telegraph  which  is  established  here  between  Amsterdam  and 
Haarlem.  The  Amsterdam  terminus  is  at  the  railway-depot,  and  used  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  road  only.  It  has  been  established  six  weeks.  It  communicates  a  dis- 
tance of  only  ten  miles  English.  The  system  is  Wheatstone's  ratchet-wheel  instru- 
ment, slightly  modified  from  the  instrument  shown  me  at  the  Southampton  terminus 
in  London.  A  dial-plate,  with  the  letters  marked  upon  the  outer  edge,  is  turned  to 
the  desired  point  for  each  letter,  and  then  stopped  a  moment  to  be  recognized.  After 
each  word  a  period  is  shown,  and  after  each  message  a  cross  +.  I  inquired  how 
many  letters  could  be  shown  in  a  minute ;  the  answer  was  fifteen  ordinarily,  but 
they  could  give  twenty-four  in  a  minute.  A  single  wire  is  used  in  this  case ;  it  is 
said  to  be  iron.  A  battery  of  six  cups  was  shown  me,  which  required  replenishing 
every  few  days.  The  cost,  the  conductor  told  me,  was  about  twenty  pounds  sterling 
per  mile.  The  posts  are  about  three  inches  diameter,  and  not  more  than  eight  or 
nine  feet  high ;  they  are  planted  along  »the  railroad,  not  so  high  as  the  tops  of  the 
cars.  The  telegraph  is  not  used  at  present  for  general  purposes,  but  the  Government 
has  been  petitioned  to  grant  them  the  privilege,  and  it  is  expected  to  be  granted.  It 
is  used  exclusively  for  the  service  of  the  railroad.  The  wire  is  covered  with  silk, 
and  of  iron;  so  said  the  superintendent.     It  is  larger  than  mine — about  No.  12. 

"  Remarks  :  In  this  instrument  Wheatstone  has  left  his  needles,  and  taken  up 
the  electro-magnet,  the  basis  of  my  system.  The  conductor  told  me  that  Mr.  Wheat- 
stone  was  engaged  upon  an  instrument  which  would  print  the  letter,  and  that  it 
would  be  ready  in  about  two  weeks.     From  what  I  could  learn  it  might  possibly 


522  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

hotels  full,  at  length  got  lodged  at  the  Hotel  Rondeel.  The  next  day 
(Saturday),  having  ascertained  that  we  must  remain  till  Wednes- 
day of  the  next  week,  we  determined  to  see  a  little  of  the  vicin- 
ity of  Amsterdam.  "We  had  heard  much  of  the  singular  Dutch 
village  of  Broek;  so,  taking  a  boat,  we  crossed  the  harbor,  and 
hired  a  carriage  to  take  us  six  miles  to  the  village.  On  the  way 
we  turned  aside  for  a  few  moments  to  look  into  the  interior  of  a 
Dutch  farm-house,  and  to  learn  a  little  of  its  economy.  You  can- 
not conceive  of  its  extreme  neatness  and  order.  I  thought  of  Aunt 
Salisbury  all  the  while  I  was  there,  wishing  she  could  be  with  me,' 
for  she  would  have  enjoyed  it  of  all  things.  The  stalls  of  the  cows 
are  kept  with  as  much  care  as  any  parlor.  The  dairy,  or  rather  the 
cheese-room,  is  in  the  same  room  with  the  cows,  and  is  set  round 
with  the  crockery-ware.  All  the  iron  and  brass  utensils,  every 
chair  and  nail-head,  are  polished  perfectly.  The  floors  in  the  stalls 
are  of  clean  shells  and  gravel.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  is 
done  with  all  the  litter  of  a  cow-house,  unless  the  Dutch  cows  have 
learned  the  rare  secret  of  living  without  eating  and  drinking. 
Every  part  of  the  process  of  cheese-making  is  conducted  with 
such  superlative  neatness  and  cleanliness,  that  I  think  I  shall  eat 
Dutch  cheeses  in  preference  to  all  other  kinds.  We  purchased  two, 
at  a  guilder  (forty  cents)  each.  We  were  shown  also  the  apart- 
ments of  the  family.  The  tables,  chairs,  bureaus,  floors,  all  were 
of  the  same  character  of  neatness.  Not  a  spot  or  particle  of  dirt, 
not  a  fly  or  spider,  or  any  insect,  could  be  found  in  any  nook  or 
corner  of  the  whole  house.  One  would  suppose  it  had  been  ex- 
pressly fitted  up  for  exhibition,  and  yet  we  were  told  this  was  but 
a  fair  specimen  of  all  Dutch  farm-houses. 

print  as  fast  as  it  now  shows  a  letter ;  that  is,  ordinarily,  about  fifteen  letters  per  min- 
ute, while  mine  ordinarily  prints  forty-five,  and  can  print  eighty,  and,  with  some  new 
arrangements  of  my  first  mechanism,  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  letters  per  minute. 
I  have,  therefore,  still  the  advantage.  I  have  adhered  strictly  to  the  plan  of  mine 
first  conceived  in  1832.  I  still  retain  my  single  circuit  of  one  wire  ;  my  alphabet 
invented  to  suit  my  system,  my  power  the  electro-magnet,  and  with  this  arrangement 
I  now  print  in  legible  characters  at  least  sixty  letters  per  minute ;  while  Mr.  Wheat- 
stone,  whose  first  invention  of  an  electric  telegraph  was  in  183*7,  first  used  five  mag- 
netic needles  and  six  conducting  wires.  He  has  been  varying  his  system  until  he 
has  first  reduced  his  needles  to  three,  and  then  to  two,  with  as  many  conductors, 
and  at  length  has,  in  1840,  adopted  the  electro-magnet,  the  basis  of  mine,  as  the 
basis  of  his  new  arrangement ;  by  which  he  only  shows  fifteen,  or,  at  the  most,  twen- 
ty-four letters  per  minute,  and  is  expecting  to  print  as  many  by  another  modification 
of  his  invention.  With  these  facts,  the  scientific  world  may  form  their  judgment 
who  was  the  inventor  of  the  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph." 


THE   EXCESS   OF  NEATNESS.  523 

"  The  inn  at  Broek  was  another  example  of  the  same  neatness. 
Here  we  took  a  little  refreshment  before  going  into  the  village.  "We 
walked,  of  course,  for  no  carriage,  not  even  a  wheelbarrow,  appeared 
to  be  allowed,  any  more  than  in  a  gentleman's  parlor.  Every  thing 
about  the  exterior  of  the  houses  and  gardens  was  as  carefully  cared 
for  as  the  furniture  and  embellishments  of  the  interior.  The  streets 
(or  rather  alleys,  like  those  of  a  garden)  were  narrow,  and  paved 
with  small,  variously-colored  bricks,  forming  every  variety  of  orna- 
mental figures.  The  houses,  from  the  highest  to'  the  lowest  class, 
exhibited  not  merely  comfort,  but  luxury ;  yet,  it  was  a  selfish  sort 
of  luxury.  The  perpetually-closed  door,  and  shut-up  room  of  cere- 
mony, the  largest  and  most  conspicuous  of  all  in  the  house,  gave 
an  air  of  inhospitableness  which,  I  should  hope,  was  not  indicative 
of  the  real  character  of  the  inhabitants ;  yet  it  seemed  to  be  a 
deserted  village,  a  place  of  the  dead,  rather  than  of  the  living,  an 
ornamented  graveyard.  The  liveliness  of  social  beings  was  absent 
and  was  even  inconsistent  with  the  superlative  neatness  of  all  around 
us.  It  was  a  besb  parlor  out-of-doors,  where  the  gayety  of  frolicking 
children  would  derange  the  set  order  of  the  furniture,  or  an  acci- 
dental touch  of  a  sacrilegious  foot  might  scratch  the  polish  of  a 
fresh-varnished  fence,  or  flatten  down  the  nap  of  the  green  carpet 
of  grass,  every  blade  of  which  is  trained  to  grow  exactly  so.  The 
grounds  and  gardens  of  a  Mr.  Yander  Beck  were,  indeed,  a  curiosity 
from  the  strange  mixture  of  the  useful  with  the  ridiculously  orna- 
mental. Here  were  the  beautiful  banks  of  a  lake,  and  Nature's 
embellishment  of  reeds  and  water-plants,  which,  for  a  wonder,  were 
left  to  grow  in  their  native  luxui'iance,  and  in  the  midst  a  huge 
pasteboard  or  wooden  swan,  and  a  wooden  mermaid  of  tasteless 
proportions,  blowing  from  a  conch-shell.  In  another  part  were  a 
cottage  with  puppets,  the  size  of  life,  moving  by  clock-work,  a  peas- 
ant smoking  and  turning  a  reel  to  wind  off  the  thread  which  his 
"  goed  vrow  "  is  spinning  upon  a  wheel,  while  a  most  sheep-like  dog 
is  made  to  open  his  mouth  and  to  bark — a  dog  which  is,  doubtless, 
the  progenitor  of  all  the  barking,  toy-shop  dogs  of  the  world;  and 
directly  in  the  vicinity  is  a  beautiful  grapery,  with  the  richest  clus- 
ters of  grapes  literally  covering  the  top,  sides,  and  walls  of  the 
greenhouse,  which  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  garden,  gay  with  dahlias 
and  amaranths,  and  every  variety  of  flowers,  with  delicious  fruits 
thickly  studding  the  well-trained  trees.  Every  thing,  however,  was 
cut  up  into  miniature  landscapes ;  little  bridges  and  little  temples 
adorned  little  canals,  and  little  mounds,  miniature  representations 
of  streams  and  hills. 


524  LIFE  OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 

"  We  visited  the  residence  of  the  burgomaster.  He  was  away, 
and  his  servants  permitted  us  to  see  the  house.  It  was  cleaning- 
day.  Every  thing  in  the  house  was  in  keeping  with  the  character 
of  the  village.  But,  the  kitchen !  how  shall  I  describe  it  ?  The 
polished  marble  floor,  the  dressers,  with  glass  doors  like  a  book-case, 
to  keep  the  least  particle  of  dust  from  the  bright-polished  utensils 
of  brass  and  copper.  The  varnished  mahogany  handle  of  the  brass 
spigot,  lest  the  moisture  of  the  hand  in  turning  it  should  soil  its 
polish :  and,  will  you  believe  it,  the  very  pot-hooks  as  well  as  the 
cranes  (for  there  were  two)  in  the  fireplace  were  as  bright  as  your 
scissors  !  Broek  is,  certainly,  a  curiosity.  It  is  unique,  but  the  im- 
pression left  upon  me  is  not,  on  the  whole,  agreeable.  I  should  not 
be  contented  to  live  there.  It  is  too  ridiculously  and  uncomfort- 
ably nice.  Fancy  a  lady  always  dressed  throughout  the  day  in  her 
best  evening-party  dress,  and  say  if  she  could  move  about  with 
that  ease  which  she  would  like.  Such,  however,  must  be  the  feel- 
ing of  the  inhabitants  of  Broek ;  they  must  be  in  perpetual  fear, 
not  only  of  soiling  or  deranging  their  clothes  merely,  but  their  very 
streets,  every  step  they  take.  But,  good-by  to  Broek.  I  would 
not  have  missed  seeing  it,  but  do  not  care  to  see  it  again. 

"  In  Amsterdam  we  were  compelled  to  stay  four  or  five  daj^s  to 
take  the  steamer  to  Hamburg,  which  goes  but  twice  a  week.  I 
found  here  an  American  artist  of  great  merit,  Mr.  Schwartze,  of 
Philadelphia.  I  went  with  him  to  see  some  of  the  galleries  of  pict- 
ures. I  also  went  one  evening  to  a  place  of  amusement  called 
FrascaWs,  after  a  celebrated  cafe  of  that  name  in  Paris.  A  large 
room  fitted  up  with  evergreens  and  statuary,  and  a  fine  band  of 
music,  is  the  evening  resort  of  the  citizens  to  take  coffee  and  other 
refreshments,  and  to  hear  the  music. 

"  Wednesday,  September  24,  six  o'clock,  p.  m.       / 
On  board  Steamer  Willem  de  Ernest  for  Hamburg,  f 

"  We  have  just  embarked  on  board  the  steamer  for  Hamburg. 
The  weather,  so  essential  in  the  life  of  a  traveler,  is  beautifully 
calm,  and  as  we  lie  at  anchor  off  the  booms  in  the  harbor,  awaiting 
the  hour  of  midnight  to  get  under  way,  the  chimes  of  the  clocks,  so 
famous  in  the  Dutch  cities,  give  us  a  serenade  every  half-hour. 

"  Hamburg,  September  26th. 
"  At  midnight  we  set  sail  from  Amsterdam  yesterday,  and  had 
not  proceeded  five  miles  before  we  ran  aground,  and  were  unable 
to  proceed  for  five  or  six  hours.     We  at  length  got  underway 


RETURN   TO   LONDON.  525 

again,  and  pushed  out  into  the  North  Sea  through  the  outlet  be- 
tween Wieland  and  Ter  Schilling,  sailing  over  the  Zuyder-Zee, 
which  is  a  large  expanse  of  water,  the  effect  of  an  inundation  many 
centuries  ago,  which  deluged  many  cities  and  fields  like  those  now 
existing  in  Holland,  destroying  some  eighty  thousand  lives.  One 
feels  in  Holland  like  being  in  a  ship,  constantly  liable  to  spring  a 
leak.  We  had  some  pleasant  passengers  on  board,  principally 
Danes.  Count  Blucher,  aide-de-camp  to  the  King  of  Denmark,  and 
cousin  to  the  celebrated  general  of  that  name  who  led  the  Prus- 
sians at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  Hamburg,  you  may  remember, 
was  nearly  destroyed  by  fire  in  1842.  It  is  now  almost  rebuilt,  and 
in  a  most  splendid  style  of  architecture.  I  am  much  prepossessed  in 
its  favor.  We  have  taken  up  our  quarters  at  the  Victoria  Hotel, 
one  of  the  splendid  new  hotels  of  the  city.  I  find  the  season  so 
far  advanced  in  these  northern  regions  that  I  am  thinking  of  giving 
up  my  journey  farther  north.  My  matters  in  London  will  demand 
all  my  spare  time. 

"  September  30th. 

"  The  windows  of  my  hotel  look  out  upon  the  Alster  Basin,  a 
beautiful  sheet  of  water ;  three  sides  of  which  are  surrounded  with 
splendid  houses.  Boats  and  swans  are  gliding  over  the  glassy  sur- 
face, giving,  with  the  well-dressed  promenaders  along  the  shores,  an 
air  of  gayety  and  liveliness  to  the  scene. 

".  London,  October  9,  1845. 

"  I  am  once  more  seated  at  the  table  at  No.  13  Brompton  Square, 
after  my  journey  and  voyage  to  Hamburg,  and  continue  my  letter, 
which  has  been  written  at  such  intervals  of  time  as  I  could  catch 
from  out-door  duties.  Mrs.  Overmann  and  family  left  on  the  30th 
ultimo,  in  the  August,  to  go  down  the  Elbe.  I  went  on  board 
the  steamer  Caledonia,  for  London,  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  in- 
stant, having  parted  most  reluctantly  from  my  friends,  the  Ells- 
worths, on  the  30th  ultimo,  they  having  left  that  day  for  Lubeck 
and  Stockholm.  On  going  on  board,  Mr.  Miller  brought  a  little 
girl,  and  introduced  her  to  me  as  Miss  Axelina  Murdoch,  a  niece 
of  Mr.  Lind,  and  said  she  was  to  be  a  fellow-passenger  with  me 
to  London,  where  she  is  going  to  school.  She  is  quite  a  pretty  and 
intelligent  little  girl,  of  fourteen  years,  and  we  had  a  great  deal  to 
say  about  St.  Thomas,  and  '  Uncle  Edward,'  and  her  school  in  Lon- 
don. I  took  charge  of  her.  We  set  sail  in  the  night,  and  in  the 
morning,  after  passing  a  great  number  of  vessels,  we  saw  several 
ships  ahead.     I  told  Axelina  we  must  look  out  for  the  August ;  for 


526  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

I  was  sure  she  could  not  yet  have  got  out  of  the  river,  as  the  wind 
had  been  contrary  ever  since  they  sailed  from  Hamburg,  and,  sure 
enough,  just  as  we  were  about  to  sit  down  to  breakfast,  we  were 
coming  up  fast  with  a  ship  under  full  sail,  and,  just  off  Cuxhaven, 
as  soon  as  we  came  near  enough  to  read  her  name,  I  found  it,  in- 
deed, to  be  the  August.  We  passed  so  near  as  to  distinguish  the 
persons  on  board.  I  saw  only  Mr.  Lunt  on  deck,  the  rest  being 
below  on  account  of  the  weather,  which  was  a  little  rainy.  We 
shook  our  handkerchief,  and  Mr.  Lunt,  after  surveying  us  with  the 
spy-glass,  disappeared,  and  in  a  moment  after  the  whole  family  were 
at  the  side  of  the  ship  shaking  handkerchiefs,  and  nodding  farewell 
to  Axelina  and  myself,  whom  they  recognized.  We  were  soon  past 
them,  but  we  had  the  gratification  thus  of  once  more  greeting  them 
before  they  sailed  for  the  West  Indies. 

"  We  had  a  boisterous  and  disagreeable  day,  but  a  still  more 
boisterous  night ;  the  sea  was  so  high  and  the  vessel  so  uneasy, 
that  I  could  not  lie  in  my  berth,  and  at  midnight  I  opened  the  door 
of  the  companion-way  and  looked  out  on  the  tempest,  for  it  was 
then  blowing  a  perfect  gale.    I  had  no  sooner  opened  the  door  than 
I  saw  a  brilliant  rocket  go  up  from  a  vessel  close  to  us,  and  a  blue 
light  from  the  same  vessel  showed  us  a  large  steamer  coming  tow- 
ard us.     Our  captain  at  once  gave  orders  to  our  helmsman  to  put 
up  the  helm,  which  was  done,  and  a  rocket  and  blue  light  were 
burned  on  board  ours.     I  supposed  at  first  it  was  a  signal  of  dis- 
tress, but  in  a  few  moments  I  learned  that  it  was  the  steamer  for 
Hamburg  from  London  which  we  were  meeting,  and  these  rockets 
and  blue  lights  were  to  prevent  us  from  running  foul  of  each  other. 
Edward  was  on  board  that  steamer,  and  thus  we  met,  without  see- 
ing each  other,  at  midnight  in  a  storm  in  the  midst  of  the  North 
Sea.     The  wind  was  fair  for  him,  and  he  probably  arrived  in  the 
morning  or  during  the  day  at  Cuxhaven,  and  passed  as  near  to  his 
friends  in  the  August  without  knowing  it.     We  arrived  in  Lon- 
don on  Monday,  and  I  carried  little  Axelina  to  her  aunt  Napier's. 
Mrs.  Napier  is  sister  of  Axelina's  father,  and  Mr.  Napier  is  the  cele- 
brated machinist  and  inventor  of  the  Napier  press,  and  a  very 
wealthy  and  distinguished  man.     I  mean  to  call  and  see  them  all 
before  I  leave  London.    Edward  had  been  there,  and  they  supposed 
he  was  still  in  London  ;  but  I  found,  as  soon  as  I  got  to  Brompton 
Square,  that  he  had  sailed  in  the  Neptune  steamer  for  Hamburg, 
which  was  the  one  we  met,  as  I  have  described. 

"  I  have  thought  of  you  a  great  deal,  my  dear  daughter,  and 


MR.  FLEISCHMANN   IN  VIENNA.  527 

how  disappointed  you  must  have  felt,  on  finding  us  all  gone  (when 
you  arrived  in  New  York).  I  really  could  have  cried,  myself,  to 
'think  of  your  disappointment ;  but  cheer  up,  dear  Susan,  I  hope  we 
shall  have  a  meeting  all  the  pleasanter  for  these  disappointments. 
We  live,  indeed,  in  a  changing  world ;  there  is  nothing  stable  or 
settled  here,  and  yet  we  look  to  being  settled  as  a  great  desidera- 
tum. I  do  hope  yet  to  have  a  home,  where  I  can  have  my  children 
visit  me,  and  have  the  comforts  of  home  around  them.  I  often  feel 
sad  to  think  of  my  privation  in  this  respect ;  but  I  have  so  much  to 
be  thankful  for,  that  I  would  repress  all  sad  feelings  of  this  sort, 
lest  they  savor  of  repining  and  unthankfulness. 

"  I  know  not  what  to  say  of  my  telegraphic  matters  here  yet. 
There  is  nothing  decided  upon,  and  I  have  many  obstacles  to  con- 
tend against,  particularly  the  opposition  of  the  proprietors  of  ex- 
isting telegraphs.  But  that  mine  is  the  best  system,  I  have  now 
no  doubt ;  all  that  I  have  seen,  while  they  are  ingenious,  are  more 
complicated,  more  expensive,  less  efficient,  and  easier  deranged.  It 
may  take  some  time  to  establish  the  superiority  of  mine  over  the 
others,  for  there  is  the  usual  array  of  prejudice  and  interest  against 
a  system  which  throws  others  out  of  use." 

The  Morse  Telegraph  was  becoming  well  known  on  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe,  through  the  agency  of  two  young  Americans, 
Charles  Robinson  and  Charles  L.  Chapin,  who  went  abroad  with 
the  hope  of  securing  its  introduction.  They  visited  Hamburg, 
St.  Petersburg,  and  Berlin.  After  two  years  they  returned  to 
America,  with  abundant  evidence  that  they  had  been  successful 
in  demonstrating  to  scientific  men  and  to  the  commercial  public 
the  decided  superiority  of  the  American  system. 

In  1845  Charles  T.  Fleischmann,  Esq.,  agent  of  the  United 
States  Patent-Office,  was  in  Europe,  and  Collecting  valuable  in- 
formation on  agriculture,  arts,  and  education.  He  took  with 
him  the  Telegraph  of  Professor  Morse,  the  fame  of  which  had 
preceded  him,  and  in  letters  to  his  family  he  gave  sketches  of 
the  effects  of  its  operation,  and  of  the  distinguished  persons  to 
whom  he  exhibited  the  instrument.     From  Vienna  he  wrote  : 

"  October  9,  1845. — I  was  told  I  must  see  Baron  Huegel,  coun- 
selor of  the  court,  and  friend  of  Prince  Metternich.  I  found  the 
baron  already  acquainted  with  my  arrival  in  Vienna,  and  my  object ; 
he  received  me  very  politely  and  requested  me  to  partake  of  his 


528  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

breakfast,  but  I  declined ;  and  he  then  invited  me  to  see  the  curios- 
ities of  his  rooms,  the  walls  of  which  are  literally  covered  with  old 
paintings,  and  of  collections  of  antiquities  of  great  interest  and  va- 
riety. After  he  was  dressed  he  ordered  his  carriage,  and  we  went 
to  see  Prince  Metternich,  at  his  villa  near  the  city.  We  arrived, 
and  I  waited  in  a  beautiful  room  adjoining  the  prince's  office ;  but, 
after  waiting  an  hour,  Baron  Huegel  returned  and  stated  that  the 
prince  could  not  now  see  me,  as  he  was  engaged  to  go  to  the  arch- 
duke, but  to-morrow  he  would  be  pleased  to  see  me.  The  princess 
also  went  to  town,  and  then  the  Baron  Huegel  took  me  over  the 
whole  house,  showing  me  all  the  different  departments.  Beautiful 
and  rare  statuary  was  everywhere  displayed.  We  went  into  the 
princess's  sitting-room,  a  large  apartment  tastily,  arranged.  Her 
writing-desk,  especially,  struck  me ;  it  was  surrounded  by  a  screen 
of  ivy,  which  made  a  kind  of  bower,  and  gave  the  whole  an  air  of 
enchantment.  The  prince's  office  is  likewise  tastily  arranged,  and 
no  one  would  suppose  that  in  that  room  the  deepest  and  most  im- 
portant diplomatic  schemes  are  projected  and  carried  out — schemes 
upon  which  the  destinies  of  nations  depend.  The  villa  is  one-story 
high,  and  the  wings  contain  the  saloons  for  receptions  on  great  oc- 
casions. The  family  live  in  a  house  adjoining.  The  grounds  which 
surround  this  charming  villa  are  extensive  and  delightful.  We 
returned  to  the  city,  and  the  baron  very  kindly  placed  me  at  my 
own  door,  inviting  me  to  see  him  to-morrow  to  make  another  at- 
tempt to  see  the  prince.  Baron  Huegel  is  the  brother  of  the  gen- 
tleman who  paid  his  addresses  to  the  princess  before  she  married 
the  Prince  Metternich,  and  he  has  great  influence  with  the  prince. 
He  advised  me  to  postpone  my  tour  into  Hungary,  and  attend  to 
the  matter  of  the  Telegraph,  as  it  is  just  now  before  the  Govern- 
ment, to  which  I  consented.  Thus  you  see  I  am  brought  in  contact 
with  the  most  influential  and  distinguished  men  in  Austria. 

"  Friday. — At  two  o'clock  I  went  to  the  palace  of  the  prince  in 
the  city.  I  sent  in  my  card  to  the  Baron  Huegel,  who  sent  me 
word  that  after  a  few  minutes  he  would  see  me  and  introduce  me 
to  the  prince.  I  was  with  several  gentlemen  who  were  also  wait- 
ing in  the  antechamber ;  every  thing  here  looked  well  kept,  distin- 
gue without  being  showy  or  extravagant.  After  waiting  an  hour, 
the  Baron  Huegel  came  to  me  and  announced  that  the  prince  was 
ready  to  receive  me.  I  passed  through  one  room,  and  entering  an- 
other I  found  the  prince  at  his  desk,  and  the  princess,  also,  who  was 
engaged  in  arranging  her  own  desk.     The  prince  rose,  and,  saying 


AUSTRIAN  STATESMEN.  529 

he  was  pleased  to  make  my  acquaintance,  alluded  to  the  letter 
which  I  brought  him  from  Count  Uoyna,  ambassador  at  Brussels. 
I  told  him  I  had  the  honor  of  showing  to  Count  Uoyna  the  Tele- 
graph, and  that  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  it  that  he  recom- 
mended me  to  show  it  to  the  prince.  We  conversed  on  the  merits 
of  the  different  systems  of  Telegraphs.  I  explained  to  him  the  su- 
periority of  Morse's,  and  said  I  should  be  happy  to  show  him  the 
instrument,  and  make  an  experiment  with  it  before  him.  He  said, 
'  Have  you  an  instrument  w$th  you  ? '  I  told  him  that  I  had 
brought  a  full  apparatus  with  me,  and  was  ready  at  any  time  to  ex- 
hibit it  at  his  command,  and  asked  if  he  would  allow  me  to  put  it 
up  somewhere ;  and  when  I  told  him  I  could  put  it  up  in  his  palace, 
he  was  exceedingly  pleased,  and  immediately  ordered  that  every 
facility  should  be  given  me.  He  said  it  was  highly  interesting  just 
at  this  moment  to  see  the  American  Telegraph,  since  his  Majesty 
has  given  orders  that  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraphs  should  be  put 
up  along  the  railroads,  and,  if  the  American  Telegraph  should  prove 
to  be  what  it  was  reported  to  be,  it  should  be  applied.  After  sev- 
eral other  questions  in  regard  to  its  construction,  its  practicability, 
etc.,  I  took  my  leave.  He  followed  me  to  the  antechamber,  where 
he  asked  me  if  this  was  my  only  object  of  coming  here.  I  told  him 
that  I  was  sent  by  our  Government  to  examine  into  agriculture, 
etc.,  and  we  had  some  conversation  about  locomotives,  and  then  I 
left  the  prince  and  his  lady.  The  prince  is  a  noble-looking,  highly- 
intelligent,  elderly  gentleman ;  his  conversation  is  precise,  like  that 
of  a  great  diplomatist ;  every  word  has  its  bearing,  not  more  and 
not  less.  His  lady  is  young,  about  thirty-eight,  and  handsome. 
She  was  very  busily  engaged  with  papers,  and  I  had  only  once  or 
twice  a  chance  to  see  her  face.  The  prince  told  me  that  he  had 
spoken  to  the  High  Kammer,  President  Baron  Kucbeck,  about  me, 
and  I  shall  go  and  see  him,  and  I  was  informed  that  next  Thursday 
at  three  o'clock  he  would  see  me.  Vbildf  my  first  interview  with 
great  statesmen.  Next  week  I  put  the  Telegraph  in  operation, 
which  will  excite  great  euriosity,  as  I  have  begun  at  the  head  of 
society,  and  shall  have  everybody  of  distinction  to  see  it.  To- 
morrow I  have  an  interview  with  Baron  Huegel  about  the  place  in 
the  palace,  and  the  necessary  battery.  The  baron  is  very  friendly 
toward  me. 

"  Thursday. — At  three  o'clock  I  went  to  see  Baron  Kucbeck, 
the  Minister  of  Finance,  the  next  highest  officer  to  the  Prince  Met- 
ternich.     I  found  the  antechamber  full  of  gentlemen,  waiting  for 
34 


530  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

audience,  many  with  great  parade,  and  all  sorts  of  uniforms,  among 
which  the  Hungarian  magnate  was  the  most  conspicuous.  I  gave 
my  name  to  the  usher,  and  made  up  my  mind  to  wait  until  five 
o'clock,  till  my  turn  should  come.  After  a  few  minutes  the  bell 
rang,  the  usher  went  in  with  his  long  list,  and  soon  the  door  opened 
and  my  name  was  called  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  the  whole  city. 
I  was  quite  flattered,  and  every  one  looked  at  me,  especially  the 
■uniformed  gentlemen,  already  fixing  their  swords  to  be  in  readiness 
when  their  names  should  be  called.  I  went  in,  found  the  Baron 
Kucbeck  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  room.  He  received  me 
very  politely,  and,  after  exchanging  the  usual  '  How  do  you  do's  ? ' 
he  said  he  was  glad  to  see  me,  and  especially  at  the  moment  wThen 
the  subject  of  the  construction  of  the  Telegraphs  was  before  him. 
He  offered  me  a  chair,  and  we  went  from  A  to  Z  about  telegraphs, 
America,  etc.  He  requested  me  to  show  him  the  experiments,  and 
if  the  American  Telegraph  showed  advantages  over  others  he  would 
be  happy  to  see  it  go  into  operation.  He  requested  me  to  come 
and  see  him  again. 

"  Saturday. — Prince  Metternich  is  moving  into  the  city,  and 
next  week  I  shall  make  the  experiments  with  the  Telegraph  before 
his  highness.  I  saw  Baron  Huegel  this  morning,  who  told  me  that 
Baron  Kucbeck  wished  to  see  me  about  the  experiments,  and  that 
he  would  like  to  show  me  the  greenhouses  of  his  brother  at  Heilzing, 
and  he  invited  me  to  ride  out  with  him  to  that  place  to-morrow,  to 
which  I  consented.  I  accordingly  went.  His  brother  has  in  his 
greenhouses  forty  thousand  specimens  of  plants,  and  in  his  whole 
garden  over  three  hundred  thousand  plants.  It  is  said  it  is  the 
greatest  collection  of  plants  on  the  Continent.  His  apartments  are 
beautifully  furnished,  and  stored  with  Indian  and  Chinese  curiosi- 
ties which  he  collected  when  in  those  countries.  The  greenhouses 
extend  from  the  dwelling,  and  are  beautifully  arranged,  and  en- 
livened with  birds  and  fountains. 

"  October  27,  1845. — At  length,  yesterday,  I  exhibited  the  Tele- 
graph before  the  Minister  of  Finance,  a  most  admirable  and  accom- 
plished statesman.  He  seemed  to  be  pleased  with  it,  and  requested 
me  to  show  it  as  soon  as  possible  to  Prince  Metternich.  To-day  I 
was  called  upon  and  informed  that  the  prince  was  ready  to  see  the 
experiments.  The  carriage  was  announced  which  was  to  take  me 
to  the  palace  of  the  prince.  I  had  to  wait  two  hours  before  the 
council  was  over.  At  last  the  prince,  appeared  with  his  counsel- 
ors.    I   explained  the  Telegraph  to  them,  pointing  out  the  differ- 


AT   THE   EMPEROR'S  PALACE.  531 

ence  of  Morse's  system  from  that  of  others,  and  its  advantages  over 
every  other.  The  prince  listened  with  great  interest.  He  sent  for 
the  princess  and  his '  family  to  look  at  this  wonderful  instrument. 
My  experiments  went  off  well.  The  prince  exhibited  great  satis- 
faction. He  expressed  several  times  his  astonishment  at  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  instrument,  and  thanked  me  very  politely  for  the  oppor- 
tunity I  had  given  him  to  see  the  '  beautiful  Telegraph,'  and  wished 
that  I  would  be  so  kind  as  to  show  it  to  the  brother  of  the  emperor, 
and  to  the  emperor  himself,  saying  that  he  should  tell  them  of  it, 
and  he  would  send  me  word  at  what  time  I  could  exhibit  it  to  them. 

"  Monday ',  November  3d. — I  hoped  by  this  time  to  give  you 
some  account  of  my  interview  with  the  emperor ;  but  such  great 
personages  are  not  easy  to  approach.  Count  Colobrant,  the  Minis- 
ter of  the  Interior,  sent  to  inquire  if  I  would  be  so  kind  as  to  show 
him  the  Telegraph.    I  assented,  but  I  know  not  when  he  expects  me. 

"  November  5th. — I  received  an  invitation  this  morning  to  be  at 
one  o'clock  at  the  emperor's  palace,  to  show  the  Telegraph  to  the 
uncle  of  the  emperor,  the  Archduke  Louis,  and  Count  Colobrant,  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior.  I  had  scarcely  put  the  apparatus  in  mo- 
tion when  his  imperial  highness  was  announced,  an  elderly  gentle- 
man, dressed  as  plainly  as  a  bourgeois  could  be,  having  the  real  feat- 
ures of  the  imperial  family.  He  requested  me  to  explain  the  Tele- 
grajm  to  him,  so  I  explained  it,  having  some  difficulty  in  bringing 
out  of  my  mouth  his  long  titles.  He  was  very  much  interested,  and 
he  was  a  long  time  with  me.  I  told  him  there  was  nothing  like  it 
in  the  world.  He  observed  that  he  had  been  very  curious  to  see  it, 
and  that  he  was  exceedingly  pleased  with  its  simplicity  and  prac- 
ticability. I  gave  him  a  regular  lecture  on  electricity  and  magnet- 
ism, etc.  The  Count  Colobrant  was  exceedingly  polite,  and  thanked 
me  for  my  interesting  explanations. 

"  I  had  almost  given  up  the  idea  that  I  should  see  the  emperor, 
but  it  seems  that  the  whole  court  is  anxious  to  see  this  wonder  from 
America,  and  to-day  I  am  requested  to  appear  to-morrow  at  one 
o'clock  at  the  palace,  as  his  Majesty  and  his  family  have  expressed 
a  desire  to  see  the  Telegraph.  I  had  an  interview  with  the  gen- 
tleman who  has  the  business  in  his  hands  to  report  on  the  subject, 
and  he  told  me  that  he  proposed  two  telegraphs,  Morse's,  of  Amer- 
ica, and  Bain's,  of  England — Morse's  for  the  principal  stations,  and 
Bain's  for  the  intermediate  places.  There  is,  in  fact,  a  great  deal 
of  interest  shown  just  now  in  the  Telegraph,  and  in  what  the  court 
takes  an  interest  the  whole  country  does. 


532  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.    MORSE. 

"  November  8th. — According  to  my  promise,  I  give  you  a  de- 
scription of  my  interview  with  the  imperial  family.  Prince  Metter- 
nich found  the  Telegraph  so  exceedingly  interesting  that  he  men- 
tioned it  to  the  whole  court,  which  opened  all  doors  to  me.  I  con- 
sequently had  interviews  with  Barcn  Kucbeck,  Minister  of  Finance, 
Count  Colobrant,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  his  imperial  highness 
Archduke  Louis,  who  all  agreed  in  Prince  Metternich's  account,  and 
the  imperial  family  invited  me  to  bring  the  instrument  to  the  court. 
I  went  there  at  one  o'clock  to  set  it  up.  I  passed  through  the 
guards.  The  page  in  waiting  opened  the  door  leading  into  the 
great  reception-room  of  Maria  Theresa.  The  chamberlain  in  wait- 
ing ordered  the  servants  to  bring  me  tables,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  apparatus  was  ready.  Prince  Metternich  passed  through  with 
the  Archduke  Louis  and  his  aide-de-camp.  Soon  after  the  emperor 
and  empress  were  announced,  followed  by  Prince  Metternich,  the 
Archduke  Louis,  and  many  others.  Prince  Metternich  explained 
the  Telegraph  to  the  empress  in  Italian,  as  she  does  not  speak  the 
German  language,  and  I  explained  it  to  the  emperor.  After  the 
empress  had  examined  and  admired  it,  she  withdrew,  followed  by 
the  whole  party ;  but  in  a  moment  the  emperor  returned  with  his 
suite,  and  I  showed  him  again  the  method  of  writing,  etc.  He  was 
very  much  pleased,  and  he  understood  it  very  well.  He  is  good- 
natured  and  polite,  and  thanked  me  repeatedly  for  the  opportunity 
I  had  afforded  him  to  see  an  instrument  of  which  he  had  heard  so 
much.  Prince  Metternich  repeated  to  him  the  advantages  it  had 
over  all  others,  and,  after  I  had  written  for  each  one  some  words, 
they  took  the  strips  of  paper  with  them  and  retired.  The  emperor, 
in  retiring,  bowed  many  times,  repeating  his  thanks,  and  wishing 
me  good  success. 

"  I  have  thus  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  great  Emperor 
of  Austria.  He  is  a  small  man,  delicate,  but  apj)arently  enjoying 
good  health.  His  head  is  the  most  remarkable  part  about  him  ;  it 
is  very  large,  and  the  forehead  of  uncommon  shape  and  circumfer- 
ence. His  eyes  are  hid  under  heavy  eyebrows,  and  when  he  looks 
at  a  person  he  turns  up  his  eyes  without  lifting  up  his  head,  which 
gives  him  a  peculiar  expression.  His  lips  are  large,  a  family  feature 
of  the  imperial  family.  His  voice  is  sharp  and  feeble ;  he  moves 
very  quick,  and  seems  somewhat  nervous.  He  was  dressed  in  a 
blue  dress-coat,  and  had  the  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece  in  his  but- 
ton-hole. I  forgot  to  mention  that  the  Duchess  de  Berri  came  in 
while  the  empress  was  present.     The  empress  is  tall  and  thin,  of 


IMPERIAL  PALACE;  533 

about  forty  years  of  age.  She  seems  very  amiable,  and  is  very 
kind  to  the  poor. 

"  The  chamberlain  requested  me  to  wait  a  few  moments  longer 
for  his  highness  the  Archduke  Charles,  the  hero  of  Austria,  who 
faced  Napoleon's  armies,  and  who  is  distinguished  both  as  a  warrior 
and  a  diplomatist.  He  soon  appeared  with  his  son's  daughter  on 
his  arm,  and  with  two  sons  of  his.  Then  came  the  Archduke 
Francis  Charles,  brother  of  the  present  emperor,  and  the  heir  to  the 
crown ;  his  son,  a  young  man  of  twenty-five  years,  with  his  wife,  a 
Bavarian  princess,  a  charming  woman ;  and  then  a  whole  set  of 
dames  (Fhonneitr.  They  all  seemed  to  be  interested,  and  I  gave 
them  a  full  lecture  on  subjects  connected  with  the  Telegraph.  They 
then  retired.  I  am  told  that  very  few  persons  have  had  such  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  whole  imperial  family  as  I  have  had,  and 
that  I  should  consider  it  a  great  honor. 

"  The  Imperial  Palace  is  an  old  building,  but  exceedingly  com- 
fortable. The  room  in  which  I  exhibited  the  Telegraph  was  the 
room  of  Maria  Theresa,  and  her  morning  reception-room  was  next 
to  it,  in  which  every  thing  is  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  that  great 
woman.  The  walls  are  of  red  velvet,  embroidered  with  gold.  In 
the  centre  stands  a  large  bed  of  red  velvet,  and  heavily  embroidered 
with  gold  and  pearl.  This  is  only  a  show-bed.  Several  busts  of 
her  children  are  placed  round  the  room.  Near  the  bed  stands  a 
kind  of  altar  for  devotion,  which  consists  of  bass-reliefs  in  marble, 
representing  Christ  leaning  on  Mary,  from  the  chisel  of  an  Italian 
artist.  Instead  of  bureaus,  there  are  large  trunks  of  wood,  or  boxes, 
highly  ornamented.  The  room  was  not  used  as  a  bedchamber,  but 
as  a  reception-room  for  favored  persons  and  friends  of  Maria  Theresa. 
It  was  at  that  time  considered  a  great  honor  and  distinction  to  have 
an  audience  in  the  bedchamber,  where  the  empress  received  in  her 
neglige.  One  thing  reminded  me  of  America  amid  this  gorgeous 
display  of  royalty.  It  was  a  large  fireplace,  in  which  a  real  WestT 
era  country  fire  was  made  up.  A  large  pile  of  wood  was  placed  on 
each  side,  which  had  more  the  appearance  of  a  genuine  Kentucky 
fireplace  than  an  imperial  mode  of  heating  their  apartments. 

"  I  passed  through  muskets,  drawn  swords,  and  servants,  to  my 
carriage,  and  in  a  few  moments  I  was  in  my  room  to  give  you  an 
account  of  what  had  happened. 

"  I  must  wait  now  to  know  what  the  commission  will  determine 
about  the  Telegraph.  If  they  should  adopt  Morse's,  much  must  not 
be  expected,  since  they  could  adopt  another  plan,  which  is  not  so 


534  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

good,  but  which  would  answer  their  purpose.  I  shall,  therefore, 
leave  it  to  their  generosity.  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  Morse  have  the 
honor  to  have  his  system  employed  in  a  country  which  abounds  with 
scientific  men." 

"Vienna,  November  20,  1845. 

"  In  my  last  letter  I  stated  that  the  emperor  and  family,  etc., 
had  seen  the  Telegraph,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  Morse's  system 
will  be  adopted,  since  it  has  excited  universal  admiration  among  all 
who  have  witnessed  its  operation.  Ten  days  ago  I  exhibited  it  be- 
fore all  the  foreign  diplomatists  present  at  Vienna,  among  whom 
was  the  ambassador  of  the  pope.  I  was  requested  to  write  all  the 
names  of  the  crowned  heads  with  telegraphic  signs,  which  these 
gentlemen  sent  to  their  sovereigns  as  a  curiosity.  Many  of  their 
ladies  and  friends  were  also  present,  and  I  gave  a  regular  lecture 
on  telegraphs,  and  made  Morse's  name  sound  from  one  corner  of 
Europe  to  the  other. 

"  This  morning  I  received  a  note,  requesting  me  to  bring  the 
Telegraph  once  more  to  the  palace  of  the  Archduke  Stephen,  Gov- 
ernor of  Bohemia,  the  young  prince  who  is  to  marry  the  daughter 
of  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  He  is  very  anxious  to  see  it  during  his 
stay  in  Vienna,  since  it  is  proposed  to  establish  the  Telegraph  be- 
tween Prague,  which  is  his  residence,  and  Vienna.  At  the  appoint- 
ed hour  I  went  to  the  palace,  and  arranged  the  instrument  in  one 
of  the  apartments  for  the  prince's  inspection.  He  was  not  in,  but 
his  chamberlain  was  expecting  him  every  moment  to  return  from 
Prince  Metternich,  with  whom  he  had  probably  some  interview  rela- 
tive to  his  marriage — for  Metternich  is  not  only  the  great  diplomat, 
but  also  the  great  match-maker  for  the  European  monarch s.  The 
Princess  Olga  has  twice  refused  Archduke  Stephen  on  account  of  a 
condition  of  the  house  of  Austria  that  every  princess  must  be  a  Ro- 
man Catholic ;  as  she  is  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church  (which  is 
the  religion  of  the  Russian  court),  the  proposed  marriage  could  not 
take  place  unless  one  of  the  parties  yielded  to  the  other  in  religious 
views.  But,  of  late,  the  Emperor  of  Russia  seems  desirous  that  his 
daughter  should  marry  the  prince,  and  she  has  consented  to  join 
the  Catholic  Church.  Having  waited  his  return  for  some  time  in 
vain,  I  left,  promising  to  call  again  at  half-past  five,  at  which  time 
T  was  told  he  would  be  at  leisure.  I  did  so,  and  was  soon  ushered 
through  several  apartments  to  the  audience-room,  where  the  prince 
received  me  with  much  courtesy,  expressing  his  regret  that  he  had 
troubled  me  to  come  a  second  time,  and  then  requested  me  to  ex- 


LABOES  OF  METTERNIOH.  535 

plain  to  him  the  Telegraph  and  its  operation.  This  was  all  done 
with  so  much  politeness  and  frankness,  such  freedom  from  all  hau- 
teur,  that  I  felt  quite  at  ease.  He  is  about  six  feet  in  height,  rath- 
er a  slender  figure  ;  his  features  are  not  handsome,  but  pleasing  ; 
his  eyes  are  dark,  very  expressive,  and  full  of  vivacity ;  his  voice  is 
agreeable,  and  he  expresses  himself  with  facility,  and,  what  is  best 
of  all,  he  is  very  intelligent,  and,  unlike  many  of  the  Austrian 
princes,  he  is  active.  He  took  great  interest  in  Morse's  invention, 
expressed  many  times  his  gratification  at  having  seen  it  and  his 
admiration  of  its  simplicity  and  beautiful  contrivance.  He  asked 
me  if  Mr.  Morse  was  a  professor  of  a  university ;  and  when  I  told 
him  he  had  no  public  employment  until  lately,  and  that  this  was 
only  a  temporary  office,  he  expressed  his  astonishment  that  such 
ingenious  men  were  not  provided  for  by  our  Government.  He  was 
really  delighted  with  the  Telegraph  :  he  said  that  such  an  invention 
was  more  interesting  to  him  than  all  other  machinery,  where  mat- 
ter alone  is  made  to  produce  matter ;  but  here  was  an  element  sub- 
dued to  the  will  of  man,  and  made  the  medium  of  transmitting  his 
thoughts  over  land  and  sea. 

"  The  prince  informed  me  that  Baron  Kucbeck,  the  Minister  of 
Finance,  who  has  this  matter  to  decide,  is  quite  in  favor  of  Morse's 
system,  and  he  has  promised  that  all  his  own  influence  shall  be  ex- 
erted in  my  behalf  to  have  it  adopted. 

"  Prince  Metternich's  power  and  influence  are  undiminished  ;  his 
decisions  require  only  the  signed  envelope  of  the  emperor.  His 
antechamber  is  a  proof  of  his  power :  there  j-ou  find  the  ambassa- 
dors and  charges  of  all  nations ;  the  clerical  savants  of  the  pope,  in 
all  their  different-colored  robes ;  the  veteran  generals  of  the  army ; 
the  mantled  and  mustached  Hungarian  magnates  ;  the  highest 
functionaries  of  the  state ;  the  speculative  banker,  whose  fortune 
depends  on  a  single  mark  of  his  pen ;  the  enterprising  manufact- 
urer ;  the  artist,  exhibiting  his  productions  of  brush  or  chisel  to 
his  inspection ;  Asiatics,  Africans,  and  Americans,  all  are  assem- 
bled, to  wait  patiently  until  their  names  are  called  out,  to  be  admit- 
ted before  him.  But  this  continual  care  and  responsibility  have 
worn  down  his  constitution,  and  in  a  few  more  years  his  course  will 
be  run,  and  Austria  will  lose  its  preserver." 

These  letters  give  us  a  vivid  idea  of  the  interest  already  ex- 
cited in  the  heart  of  Europe  by  the  Morse  Telegraph,  so  early 
as  the  year  1845.  Professor  Morse  continues  the  history  of  his 
own  operations,  writing  to  Mr.  Tail : 


536  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"London,  October  8,  1845. 
"  I  have  just  reached  here  on  my  return  from  the  North  of  Eu- 
rope. I  went  no  farther  than  Hamburg,  finding  that  if  I  visited 
St.  Petersburg  I  should  probably  be  belated  in  my  return  to  the 
United  States.  I  was  also  influenced  in  my  determination  to  go  no 
farther  by  the  improbability,  under  all  circumstances,  of  accomplish- 
ing any  thing  with  Russia ;  and  the  probability  that  in  England  I 
should  be  able  to  do  something.  I  know  not  what  the  issue  of  the 
present  negotiations  here  may  be,  but  I  will  say,  in  brief,  that  there 
is  a  '  General  Telegraph  Commercial  Company '  forming  here,  with 
a  capital  of  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling.  They  are  anx- 
ious to  make  arrangements  with  me.  I  have  offered  them  liberal 
terms.  One  thousand  pounds  down  in  cash,  and  a  percentage  on 
the  profits,  or,  rather,  one-fourth  part  of  the  savings  to  the  company 
from  the  use  of  mine  over  Wheatstone's :  that  is,  if  Wheatstone  uses 
four  wires  and  I  use  but  one,  one-fourth  of  the  savings  thus  made 
shall  be  mine.  If  Wheatstone  gives  but  twenty-four  letters  per  min- 
ute with  four  wires,  and  I  can  give  sixty  per  minute  with  one,  one- 
fourth  of  the  savings  thus  made  is  mine,  and  so  on.  Should  they 
accept  these  terms,  the  result  will  be  favorable  to  us  in  many  ways. 
I  have  stipulated  that  the}'"  take  out  the  patent  in  their  own  name ; 
so  that  I  am  at  no  risk.  If  one  Telegraph  can  once  be  successfully 
established  on  a  line  in  England,  we  command  the  Continent  also, 
where  electric  telegraphs  have  been  established  on  Wheatstone's 
principle,  for  the  best  riiust  succeed.  Whether  we  shall  derive  any 
benefit  direct  from  their  establishment  on  the  Continent  is,  perhaps, 
a  question,  since  publicity  must  be  so  far  given  to  our  method  that 
it  will  be  seized  without  acknowledgment  or  reward.  There  is  no 
mistake  about  the  superiorit3r  of  my  system.  I  saw  a  line  of  Wheat- 
stone's electric  telegraph  between  Haarlem  and  Amsterdam,  ten 
miles.  It  is  a  single  wire,  and  he  uses  his  ratchet-wheel  plan.  The 
ratchet-wheel  is  urged  forward  by  the  power  of  the  magnet,  thus 
adopting  the  basis  of  my  system  as  the  basis  of  his  improvement. 
He  could  not  use  his  improvement  in  the  United  States,  as  it  would 
conflict  with  our  prior  right.  I  believe  I  told  you  in  my  former  let- 
ter that  the  number  of  signals  which  Wheatstone  can  give,  and 
which  Mr.  Fleischmann  says  in  his  letter  was  fifty  or  sixty,  are  not 
letters,  but  parts  of  a  letter.  I  timed  his  improved  method  at  Am- 
sterdam, the  other  day.  The  utmost  number  he  could  possibly  give 
was  twenty  four  letters  in  a  minute,  but  ordinarily  only  fifteen. 
Cooke  and  Wheatstone  are  aware  that  I  am  here,  and  the  latter,  I 


LETTER  TO  ARAGO.  537 

learn,  is  quite  busy  denouncing  my  system  as  inferior  to  theirs — as, 
indeed,  impracticable  and  absurd!  Is  not  this  truly  laugh- 
able ?  I  shall  see  what  I  can  do  here ;  then  take  a  hasty  run  to 
Paris,  and  be  back  in  season  to  take  one  of  the  steamers  of  Novem- 
ber home." 

Before  lie  went  to  Paris,  Professor  Morse  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing letter  to  M.  Arago,  then  the  Astronomer  Royal : 

"London,  October  20,  1845. 
"  Dear  Sir  :  In  Galignani's  Messenger,  of  the  18th  instant,  I 
perceive  that  the  subject  of  electric  telegraphs  is  before  the  com- 
mission of  the  French  Government,  who  are  to  decide  on  the  best 
system  of  electric  telegraphs  for  France.  You  will,  doubtless,  re- 
member my  visit  to  you  in  Paris,  in  the  autumn  of  1838,  with  my 
telegraphic  system  ;  and  I  shall  not  myself  forget  the  kindness  with 
which  you  explained  its  action  at  the  seance  of  the  Academy  on 
September  10th  of  that  year.  You  are,  doubtless,  aware  that  my 
system  is  since  in  successful  operation  in  the  United  States;  but 
you  may  not  be  aware  of  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  projected, 
and  which  is  in  process  of  construction.  My  time  has  neces- 
sarily been  directed  to  the  operations  for  its  extension  in  the 
United  States,  where  a  line  of  over  thirteen  hundred  English 
miles  are  under  contract,"  the  greater  part  of  which  is  expected  to 
be  completed  before  the  1st  of  January  of  the  coming  year.  I 
should  be  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  showing  to  the  commission  my 
improved  instruments,  and  hope  to  be  in  Paris  within  a  fortnight 
from  date.  I  am  fully  persuaded,  from  a  personal  examination 
of  the  English  system  in  use  here,  that  my  system  is  much  more 
simple  in  its  apparatus,  and  far  more  efficient,  as  well  as  less  exjoen- 
sive.  Of  this,  however,  I  am  willing  that  those  naturally  less 
biased  should  be  the  judge.  In  a  note  to  my  friend  Mr.  Walsh, 
United  States  consul  in  Paris,  I  have  requested  him  to  send  you  a 
copy  of  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  transmitted  by 
him  to  Congress,  at  the  last  session,  containing  some  facts  in  rela- 
tion to  the  operation  of  the  telegraphic  line  belonging  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  under  my  superintendence." 

In  Paris  Professor  Morse  was  kindly  received  by  Arago,  to 
whom  he  was  so  largely  indebted  in  the  year  1838,  when  he 
was,  in  the  same  city,  a  stranger  and  foreigner,  seeking  to  intro- 
duce a  new  invention.     Now  he  came  with  all  the  prestige  of 


538  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

victory.  His  Telegraph,  had  been  tried  on  a  line  of  forty  miles 
in  length,  and  had  demonstrated  its  almost  miraculous  powers. 
It  was  not  now  begging  the  favor  of  governments,  but  was  com- 
manding the  admiration  of  the  world.  Arago  introduced  the 
inventor  and  the  invention  to  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
and  in  its  presence  Professor  Morse  exhibited  his  Telegraph, 
November  10,  1845.  It  received  the  loudest  encomiums  of  the 
Chamber  and  of  the  press,  as  its  superiority  over  all  other  sys- 
tems was  easily  demonstrated.  But  there  was  no  other  induce- 
ment than  a  sense  of  iustice  to  grant  a  patent  to  an  American 
citizen,  whose  invention  the  European  nations  were  at  liberty 
to  employ  at  their  own  pleasure,  and  the  disappointed  Professor 
was  obliged  to  return  to  his  own  country,  loaded  with  honor,  and 
nothing  else. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

1846-1847. 

EXTENSION   OF   PATENT — THE   INVENTOE's   CLAIM — NEW  LINES  ESTABLISHED — 
SIDNEY  E.  MOESE'S  PEEDIOTIONS — EEPOET  TO  THE  POSTMASTEE-GENEEAL — 

AETISTS'  PETITION LINE   BETWEEN   BALTIMOEE,  PHILADELPHIA,  AND   NEW 

TOEK — EEENOH   CHAMBEES   DEBATE — LETTEE   TO   AEAGO — EIEST   FEETTS — 

SMITHSONIAN    INSTITUTION — PEOFESSOE  HENEY   APPOINTED   SEOEETAEY 

PEINTLNG-TELEGBAPH — LETTEE  TO  DANIEL  LOED — PIEATIOAL  INVASIONS — 
OOEAN-TELEGEAPH. 

THE  year  1846  was  signalized  by  the  reissue  of  Morse's  pat- 
ent, in  which  he  defined  with  great  exactness  the  nature 
of  his  claim.     He  said  in  his  statement : 

"  Having  fully  described  my  invention,  I  wish  it  to  be  under- 
stood that  I  do  not  claim  the  use  of  the  galvanic  current  or  cur- 
rents of  electricity  for  the  purpose  of  telegraphic  communication ; 
but  what  I  specially  claim  as  my  invention  and  improvement  is, 
making  use  of  the  motive  power  of  magnetism  when  developed  by 
the  action  of  such  current  or  currents,  as  a  means  of  operating  or 
giving  motion  to  machinery,  which  may  be  used  to  imprint  signals 
upon  paper  or  other  suitable  material,  or  to  produce  sounds  in  any 
desired  manner  for  the  purpose  of  telegraphic  communication. 

"  The  only  way  in  which  the  galvanic  current  has  heretofore 
been  proposed  to  be  used  is  by  decomposition,  and  the  action  or 
exercise  of  the  deflective  force  of  a  current  upon  a  magnetized  bar 
or  needle ;  and  the  decompositions  and  deflections  thus  produced 
were  the  subject  of  inspection,  and  had  no  power  of  recording  the 
communication.  I  therefore  characterize  my  invention  as  the  first 
recording  or  printing  Telegraph,  by  means  of  electro-magnetism. 

"  There  are  various  known  modes  of  producing  motions  by  elec- 
tro-magnetism, but  none  of  these  have  hitherto  been  applied  to  ac- 


540  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

tuate  or  give  motion  to  printing  or  recording  machinery,  which  is 
the  chief  point  of  my  invention  and  improvement. 

"  I  also  claim  the  system  of  signs,  consisting  of  dots  and  lines, 
substantially  as  herein  set  forth,  and  illustrated  in  combination  with 
telegraph  for  recording  signals. 

"  I  also  claim  the  types  and  rule  in  combination  with  the  signal 
levers,  as  herein  described,  for  the  purpose  of  connecting  and  break- 
ing the  current  of  galvanism  and  electricity. 

"  I  also  claim,  in  combination  with  an  electro-magnet  used  for 
telegraphic  purposes,  the  train  of  clock-work  actuated  by  a  weight 
or  spring,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  material  on  which  the 
record  is  to  be  made,  under  the  registering  pen,  substantially  in  the 
manner  specified. 

"  I  also  claim  the  combination  of  two  or  more  circuits  of  gal- 
vanism or  electricity,  generated  by  independent  batteries  by  means 
of  electro-magnets,  as  above  described. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,"  etc. 

Professor  Morse  was  now  watching  the  progress  of  new 
lines  of  telegraph,  gradually  extending  from  city  to  city.  Mr. 
Cornell  was  putting  up  the  wires  between  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia. The  great  problem,  as  it  was  then  regarded,  of  cross- 
ing the  Hudson  River,  was  not  satisfactorily  solved.  On  the 
10th  of  January  Professor  Morse  wrote  to  Mr.  Cornell : 

"  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Vail,  who  is  desirous  of 
having  us  communicate  with  him  from  Newark ;  but  I  shall  write 
him  by  to-day's  mail  that  we  will  try  through  to  Fort  Lee,  and  if 
possible  to  New  York.  I  have  written  him  the  following  regula- 
tions :  At  twelve  o'clock  on  Monday,  and  the  same  on  Tuesday  at 

ten  o'clock,  strike  the  letter  P successively  for 

five  minutes,  then  rest  five  minutes,  and  thus  alternately  till  four 
o'clock,  unless  the  desired  result  is  realized.    I  will  strike  the  letter 

Y from  New  York  in  the  same  way,  if  all  is  clear 

for  that  purpose  at  Fort  Lee — if  not,  you  will  strike  the  letter  . — . 
F  in  the  same  way  from  Fort  Lee  to  Philadelphia,  and  also  to  me 
at  New  York.  It  will  thus  be  known  at  each  station  whence  the 
communication  comes.  If  at  either  station  the  signals  are  recog- 
nized, then  add  .  .  .  s  after  each,  for  example  :  if  at  Fort  Lee  you 
get  from  Philadelphia,  p.  p.,  etc,  then  return  f.  s — f.  s.,  until  it  is 
recognized. 


"THE  NATION'S  IDOL."  541 

((  R  , ,     .      j  Platinum  plate,  and  ground  at  Philadelphia. 
(  Zinc  plate,  and  ground  at  New  York." 

Thus  he  was  feeling  his  way  along,  step  by  step,  with  firm 
confidence  that  no  insuperable  difficulties  remained.  His  friends 
the  Ellsworths,  whose  sympathy  and  aid  in  Washington  during 
his  struggles  with  Congress  had  been  so  precious,  were  now  re- 
siding in  Indiana.  Mrs.  Ellsworth  wrote  to  the  Professor : 
"  Oh,  might  we  think  you  would  ever  come  out  into  this  West- 
ern world,  how  delighted  we  should  be  !  We  talk  daily  of  you 
and  the  Telegraph,  and  rejoice  with  something  of  a  personal 
pride  in  its  success.  You,  my  dear  friend,  stand  on  a  high  and 
enviable  round  of  the  ladder — you  are  just  now  the  nation's 
idol ;  but  I  have  no  fear  of  the  blighting  influence  of  such  fame 
on  you  ;  therefore,  I  pray  you  be  happy  in  this  good  that  God 
permits  to  you." 

"  The  nation's  idol !  "  This  was  the  language  of  warm  per- 
sonal friendship,  but  it  expresses  the  sentiment  of  admiration 
with  which  the  inventor  was  at  this  moment  regarded.  New 
lines  of  his  Telegraph  were  established  from  month  to  month. 
Each  city,  on  its  first  enjoyment  of  instantaneous  communica- 
tion with  the  metropolis,  was  thrilled  with  joy,  and  raised  its 
voice  in  honor  of  the  genius  that  had  conferred  the  boon. 

The  details  of  business  being  now  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ken- 
dall, the  Professor  continued  his  labors  as  superintendent  of  the 
United  States  Telegraph.  His  brother,  Sidney  E.  Morse,  being 
in  Europe,  wrote  to  him  respecting  its  progress,  and,  true  to  the 
genius  of  the  family,  foreshadowed  other  inventions,  venturing 
a  prediction  to  be  fulfilled  within  fifty  years.  More  than  half 
the  time  has  passed  away,  and  the  vision  is  yet  unrealized  : 

"  London,  March  3,  1846. 
"  Your  letter  of  January  30th,  with  the  information  of  the  rapid 
progress  of  the  Telegraph  in  the  United  States,  and  the  prospect 
that  it  would  be  profitable  property,  gave  us  all  much  pleasure.  It 
is  of  the  first  importance  to  you  to  perfect  the  plan  of  writing  with 
the  utmost  rapidity ',  which  occupied  so  much  of  our  thought  and 
conversation  last  summer  in  New  York.  You  then  told  me,  you 
recollect,  that,  while  still  using  only  one  wire,  variety  might  be  given 
to  the  written  character  by  using  two  or  more  pens  to  be  acted  up- 
on by  batteries  and  magnets  of  different  strength,  the  character  of 


542  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

course  being  in  two  or  more  lines  instead  of  in  one  line,  as  at  pres- 
ent. I  have  thought  much  of  this  since,  and,  in  connection  with 
your  saw-teeth  type  moving  in  grooves,  I  am  satisfied  that  you  can 
at  least  double,  and  perhaps  treble  or  quadruple,  the  number  of  let- 
ters you  now  write  in  any  given  time.  Perfect  and  patent  this  mode 
by  all  means.  I  can  see  clearly  how  the  rapidity  can  be  doubled 
by  this  method,  but,  when  it  comes  to  trebling  and  quadrupling 
by  means  of  three  or  four  varieties  in  the  strength  of  the  magnets 
and  batteries,  I  see  some  difficulties.  Therefore,  to  make  sure  of 
the  utmost  possible  rapidity,  I  should  patent  the  use  of  four  wires 
with  four  pens  (one  to  each  wire),  marking  upon  the  same  paper  in 
four  different  parallel  lines.  With  these  you  can  unquestionably 
make  three  hundred  and  twenty  letters  in  a  minute,  or  more,  if  you 
can  make  your  lever-pen  vibrate  and  distinctly  dot  upon  the  paper 
more  than  three  hundred  and  twenty  times  in  a  minute.  Perhaps, 
in  practice,  two  wires  and  two  varieties  of  strength  in  the  mag- 
net or  battery  will  be  found  best.  I  write  in  haste,  and  cannot 
explain. 

"  When  we  get  through  with  telegraphy  and  cerography,  I 
think,  among  other  matters,  we  may  turn  our  thoughts  to  the  per- 
fection of  submarine  navigation.  I  have  some  thoughts  on  this 
subject,  and  will  venture  to  prophesy,  that  in  less  than  fifty  years 
submarine  voyages  will  be  made  across  the  Atlantic,  and  that  im- 
provements in  submarine  navigation  will  revolutionize  the  military 
and  commercial  policy  of  all  maritime  powers.  This  is  an  American 
invention — Bushnell,  of  Connecticut,  being,  I  believe,  the  first  who 
experimented  to  any  effect  in  this  way." 

In  a  communication  to  the  Postmaster-General,  the  Professor 
now  gave  some  facts  to  show  the  claims  which  the  Telegraph 
had  upon  the  Government,  and  the  satisfactory  results  thus  far 
secured : 

"  In  paying  over  to  the  Department  the  receipts  of  the  Tele- 
graph-offices at  Washington  and  Baltimore  for  the  last  quarter 
(which  were  only  1203.43),  ending  31st  of  March,  1846, 1  have  the 
honor  of  presenting  to  the  Department  a  few  considerations  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Telegraph  generally. 

"  The  line  now  belonging  to  the  Government  is  but  the  experi- 
mental line  authorized  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  3,  1843,  the 
principal  design  of  which  was  to  test  the  '  practicability  and  utility ' 
of  my  system  of  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraphs.     The  first  quality,  its 


INCREASE   OF  BUSINESS.  543 

*  practicability,'  was  proved  when  the  first  communication  was  made 
by  means  of  its  conductors,  from  Washington  to  Baltimore.  Its 
'  utility '  required  a  longer  probationary  period,  and  circumstances 
have  arisen  which  I  think  will  require  yet  further  time  satisfactorily 
to  test  this  point  in  the  experiment.  Already,  indeed,  numerous 
cases  have  almost  daily  occurred,  which  have  demonstrated  this 
quality  within  the  limited  extent  of  forty  miles,  perhaps  enough,  in 
the  minds  of  the  thinking,  to  foreshadow  its  vast  increase  as  the 
lines  become  more  and  more  extended.  The  revenue  to  be  derived 
from  the  use  of  the  Telegraph  is  by  no  means  the  only  criterion  to 
judge  of  its  utility.  From  the  character  of  many  of  the  thousands  of 
messages  already  transmitted,  when  the  rapidity  of  transmitting  in- 
telligence has  been  essential  often  to  the  security  of  property  of  great 
amounts,  directly  and  indirectly,  and  to  the  convenience  of  business 
of  all  kinds,  can  be  derived  a  powerful  argument  for  its  public  util- 
ity, when  more  extensively  established.  It  will  be  gratifying,  how- 
ever, to  know  that,  merely  in  point  of  revenue,  the  receipts  of  the 
last  quarter  have  been  one  fourth  greater  than  those  of  the  previous 
quarter,  and  I  am  sanguine  in  the  belief  that  when  the  great  lines 
(now  nearly  completed  by  private  companies),  extending  from  the 
lakes  to  Boston,  and  from  Boston  to  this  city,  shall  be  connected  at 
Baltimore  with  the  Government  line,  the  increase  of  telegraph  busi- 
ness thus  brought  to  Baltimore  will  increase  the  revenue  far  beyond 
the  expenses  necessary  to  sustain  it. 

"  By  a  reference  to  the  statement  of  the  total  receipts  for  the 
year  ending  31st  of  March,  1846,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  has 
been  a  regular  increase  of  the  business  of  the  office  from  the  first  to 
the  last  quarter,  and  the  last  month  has  produced  the  largest  amount 
of  any  month  in  the  year.  If  there  is  this  regular  increase  without 
any  influence  from  lines  beyond  Baltimore,  is  it  not  reasonable  to 
expect  a  vastly  greater  increase  when  the  business  of  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  and  Boston,  shall  be  brought  to  Baltimore  ?  At  anj^ 
rate,  v/ould  it  be  policy,  in  this  stage  of  the  progress  of  the  Tele- 
graph, to  stop  the  Government  Telegraph  at  the  moment  when 
these  other  lines  are  about  to  be  connected  with  it  ? 

"  The  experience  we  have  had  upon  the  Utica  and  Albany  line, 
and  the  Philadelphia  and  New  York  line,  with  all  the  temporary 
disadvantages  of  comparatively  inexperienced  operators  (who  are, 
however,  daily  becoming  more  expert),  and  some  physical  obstacles 
temporarily  encountered,  shows  that,  in  point  of  revenue,  the  Tele- 
graph will  undoubtedly  realize  the  expectations  of  those  who  have 


544  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

engaged  in  the  enterprise.  The  receipts  of  a  single  day  have 
amounted  to  $38.85  on  the  latter  line,  and  this  while  laboring  under 
the  disadvantages  of  crossing  the  Hudson  River  with  the  messages 
in  boats. 

"  In  regard  to  the  state  of  the  telegraph-line,  an  inspection  of 
the  daily  receipts  for  the  last  three  quarters  (nine  months)  shows 
that  not  a  minute  during  that  time  has  the  line  been  so  out  of 
repair  as  to  prevent  its  use  for  correspondence.  It  has  been  in 
working  order  at  any  moment,  showing,  among  other  things,  that 
the  danger  which  many  have  apprehended  of  wanton  or  other  injury 
to  the  conducting  wires,  is  unfounded  ;  and,  in  this  connection,  I 
would  beg  leave  to  correct,  once  for  all,  most  of  the  erroneous  state- 
ments of  some  of  the  newspapers,  in  attributing  the  breaking  of  the 
conductors  on  the  new  lines  to  design.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten 
the  breaks  are  attributable  to  defective  wire,  and  to  unforeseen,  or 
rather  unprovided-for,  effects  of  frost  and  sleet  upon  the  conductors. 
As  far  as  my  observation  goes,  the  telegraphic  conductors  are  pro- 
tected by  the  favorable  feelings  of  the  people ;  for  one  instance, 
where  any  local  cause  of  unfriendly  feeling  has  resulted  in  in- 
jury to  the  line,  there  are  five  where  accident  has  been  kindly  rem- 
edied by  casual  passers-by,  and  information  given  in  the  proper 
quarter  of  the  place  and  nature  of  the  injury. 

"  During  the  last  year,  I  made  a  rapid  tour  in  England,  Holland, 
and  France,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  personally  ascertaining 
whether  airv  system  of  Electric  Telegraphs,  recently  adopted  there, 
possessed  any  advantages  over  mine.  I  think  I  may  say,  without 
a  boast,  that  mine  is  palpably  superior  to  any  as  yet  devised.  The 
recent  adoption  of  my  system  by  the  Austrian  Government,  and, 
after  a  careful  examination  of  all  the  European  systems,  may  be 
cited  as  corroborative  of  my  opinion.  For  a  detailed  description  of 
the  differences  between  mine  and  the  English  and  French  systems, 
I  beg  to  refer  to  my  letter  to  the  Commissioner  of  Patents,  in  his 
forthcoming  report,  printing  by  order  of  Congress. 

"  Should  Congress  deem  it  expedient  to  sustain  for  another  year 
the  telegraph-line  between  Baltimore  and  Washington,  I  would 
suggest  the  expediency  of  increasing  the  number  of  messengers  at 
the  Washington  terminus,  and  imposing  a  small  additional  charge 
for  the  delivery  of  messages  within  certain  limits.  I  would  also 
suggest  that  the  Telegraph  be  made  available  at  all  times,  day  and 
night,  and  that  a  relief  of  two  or  more  operators  should  be  em- 
ployed to  give  a  constant  attendance  in  the  offices.     I  have  reason 


PETITION   OF   THE   ARTISTS.  -  545 

to  believe  that  the  increase  of  revenue  consequent  on  such  an  ar- 
rangement will  more  than  defray  the  additional  expense." 

His  old  friends  the  artists,  determined  to  win  him  back 
from  his  wires  to  his  studio  and  pencil,  rallied  in  force  and  laid 
before  Congress  a  petition  that  Professor  Morse  be  employed  to 
execute  the  painting  to  fill  the  panel  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Cap- 
itol assigned  to  Mr.  Inman,  who  had  been  removed  by  death. 
The  memorial  was  signed  by  A.  B.  Durand,  President  National 
Academy  of  Design,  Thomas  S.  Cummings,  Jno.  G.  Chapman, 
Jno.  L.  Morton,  F.  W.  Edmonds,  G.  C.  Yerplanck,  J.  F.  E. 
Prudhomme,  Jona.  Goodhue,  P.  Perit,  Philip  Hone,  Frederick 
P..  Spencer,  Alfred  Jones,  James  Harper,  Chas.  C.  Ingham,  Y. 
P.  N.  A.,  S.  DeWitt  Bloodgood,  R.  Watts,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  Professor 
of  Anatomy,  Regis  Giejewus,  Jasper  F.  Cropsey,  Chas.  L.  Elliott, 
Jas.  J.  Mapes,  Jas.  Renwick,  Clinton  Roosevelt,  Geo.  P.  Morris, 
and  Henry  C.  Shumway.  But  it  came  to  nothing.  "  There's 
a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,"  and  Morse  was  never  to  take 
his  brush  in  hand  again. 

The  first  money  that  he  received,  in  any  way,  as  the  avails  of 
his  invention  of  the  Telegraph,  was  the  sum  of  forty-five  dollars, 
being  his  share  of  the  amount  paid  for  the  right  to  use  his  patent 
on  a  short  line  from  the  Post-Office  in  "Washington  City  to  the 
National  Observatory.  The  use  he  made  of  this  money  was 
characteristic  of  the  man.  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sprole,  then  a  pastor 
in  Washington,  and  afterward  chaplain  of  the  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point,  he  sent  fifty  dollars,  requesting  him  to  apply  it 
to  the  benefit  of  the  church.  Dr.  Sprole  says  that  he  added  fifty 
dollars  as  a  personal  gift  to  himself. 

June  8,  1846,  Professor  Morse  received  from  the  Controller 
of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  J.  W.  M.  Cullough,  a 
letter  stating  that  his  accounts  were  adjusted.  This  letter  is  in- 
dorsed "final  adjustment  closing  the  books  of  the  Treasury, 
and  settling  all  my  accounts  with  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States,  in  relation  to  the  thirty  thousand  dollars  appropriation 
for  testing  the  Telegraph." 

Early  in  June,  the  line  from  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia  was 
in  operation,  Philadelphia  and  New  York  being  already  united 
by  the  same  tie.  Mr.  Henry  O'Rielly,  to  whose  indefatigable 
35 


546  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.    B.   MORSE. 

energy  and  enterprise  the  public  was  largely  indebted  for  the 
success  of  the  undertaking,  sent  the  following  dispatch  to  Pro- 
fessor Morse  in  Washington : 

"Philadelphia,  June  5, 1846, 10  a.m. — Mr.  H.  O'Rielly  congrat- 
ulates Professor  Morse  on  the  completion  of  the  Telegraph,  and  on 
the  connection  of  the  Hudson  and  Potomac  by  links  of  lightning." 

In  five  minutes  after,  the  following  was  received  in  Phila- 
delphia : 

"  Washington,  June  5,  1846,  a.  m. — Professor  Morse  congrat- 
ulates Mr.  O'Rielly  on  the  success  of  his  labors." 

Communications  were  sent  backward  and  forward.  After  a 
full  test  had  been  made  between  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia, 
the  wires  were  connected  with  the  Washington  line,  and  a  num- 
ber of  uninterrupted  communications  made  directly  with  the 
same  impulse  between  those  two  cities. 

While  these  extensions  were  going  on  with  great  rapidity, 
Professor  Morse's  time  was  largely  occupied  by  correspondence 
with  those  who  made  inquiries  respecting  his  invention,  or 
sought  his  aid  in  perfecting  their  own.  The  number  of  men 
was  great  who  desired  his  personal  examination  of  their  inven- 
tions, and  his  commendation,  that  they  might,  under  the  auspices 
of  so  successful  an  inventor,  secure  public  attention.  To  the  end 
of  his  life,  this  was  one  of  the  most  irksome  offices  which  were 
thrust  upon  him.  His  natural  kindness  and  intense  dislike  of 
giving  pain  to  others,  inclined  him  to  permit  these  applications  to 
be  made,  and  to  yield  to  them  as  much  consideration  as  he  could 
with  any  propriety  afford.  Some  of  these  schemes  were,  on  their 
face,  absurd,  and  some  of  them  ridiculous,  but  perhaps  no  one  of 
them  would  appear  more  preposterous  than  his  own  when  first 
proposed.  As  he  remembered,  with  a  chill,  the  coldness  and  un- 
belief with  which  his  own  scheme  was  received,  he  was  the  more 
disposed  to  listen  favorably  to  the  conceptions  of  others.  One 
man  requests  him  to  examine  a  writing-machine,  another  a  fly- 
ing-machine ;  another  begs  his  attention  to  a  caloric-engine,  a 
steam-boiler  improvement,  or  a  cable-stopper.  Some  propose 
Telegraphs  to  supersede  his  own,  and  kindly  offer  him  an  inter- 
est in  their  inventions.     To  them  all  he  had  a  kind  word,  but 


OTHER  TELEGRAPHS.  547 

few  of  them  are  known  to  have  been  successful.     One  of  these 
letters  reads : 

"Boston,  March  18,  1846. 
"  I  too  have  invented  a  Telegraph,  so  far  as  to  have  an  idea  of 
it ;  and,  though  I  have  made  no  experiments,  I  am  very  confident  of 
its  practicability.  To  put  it  in  operation  I  want  none  of  your  light- 
ning, and  can  do  very  well  without  your  apparatus  for  writing,  but 
not  so  well  as  with  it.  Its  operation,  I  think,  cannot  be  quite  so  rapid 
as  yours ;  but  the  difference  will  be  too  small  to  be  very  important. 
In  some  situations  yours  will  be  decidedly  the  best ;  in  most,  it  will 
be  at  least  as  good  ;  and  in  some,  I  think  mine  will  have  the  advan- 
tage. I  can  go  through  the  air,  but  shall  usually  prefer  to  go  under- 
ground ;  and,  except  some  additional  expense  of  construction,  I  care 
nothing  for  swamps  and  rivers.  In  the  expense  of  first  construction, 
there  will  probably  be  no  very  great  difference,  though  I  have  made 
no  estimates.  The  expense  of  working  mine  will  probably  be  less 
than  yours.  If  mine  should  ever  go  into  operation,  it  ought  to  be 
in  connection  with  yours,  as  parts  of  one  sj^stem,  using  for  each 
line  and  part  of  a  line  the  plan  best  adapted  to  that  particular 
locality." 

Nothing  ever  came  of  the  proposition,  but  almost  at  the 
same  time  a  learned  professor  of  one  of  the  colleges  of  New 
England  wrote  to  Professor  Morse  of  an  invention  for  carrying 
the  lines  of  telegraph-wire  across  rivers.  His  plan  was  in  all 
respects  worthy  of  a  man  of  science,  and  received  the  attention 
it  merited.     He  wrote  to  Professor  Morse  : 

"  The  principle  of  it  is  as  simple  as  A,  B,  C.  This  is  ordinarily 
deemed  a  recommendation.  However,  it  is  very  possible  that  in  the 
multitude  of  your  thoughts  and  experiments  you  may  find  something 
closely  resembling  my  idea — I  do  not  know  that  you  will — for 
nothing  is  more  common  than  for  one  man  to  run  close  to  an  idea 
which,  after  all,  does  not  come  out  till  years  afterward  in  the  original 
conceptions  of  some  other  man." 

To  this  letter  Professor  Morse  replied,  and  in  answer  received 
a  very  extended  communication,  with  drawings,  which  he  care- 
fully examined  and  reported  upon,  as  if  he  had  nothing  else 
to  do. 

Abroad  the  system  was  working  its  way  steadily  into  gen- 
eral favor.     Prejudice  yielded  gradually  to  the  resistless  power 


548  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

of  self-interest.  The  cheapest  and  best  mode  was  sure  to  secure 
the  palm.  In  the  month  of  June,  1846,  in  the  French  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies,  upon  a  proposed  appropriation  for  an  Electrical 
Telegraph,  the  eminent  statesman,  M.  Berryer,  opposed  it,  on 
the  ground  that  the  experiment  of  the  new  system  was  not  com- 
plete. The  French  Government  were  then  trying  experiments 
with  Electrical  Telegraphs  (not  Morse's),  but  were  not  success- 
ful. Two  years  after  Morse's  Telegraph  was  successfully  estab- 
lished and  in  daily  use  in  this  country,  there  was  no  reliable 
Electric  Telegraph  in  France.  This  opposition  of  M.  Berry er 
was  met  by  M.  Arago,  who  rose  and  said : 

"  The  experiment  is  consummated.  In  the  United  States  the 
matter  is  settled.  I  received  three  days  ago  the  Sun  of  Baltimore, 
accompanying  a  letter  from  Mr.  Morse,  one  of  the  most  honorable 
men  of  his  country ;  and  here  is  the  President's  message  printed 
from  the  Telegraph  in  two  or  three  hours.  The  message  would 
fill  four  columns  of  the  Moniteur.  It  could  not  have  been  copied 
by  the  most  rapid  penman  in  a  shorter  time  than  it  was  trans- 
mitted." 

The  appropriation  of  nearly  half  a  million  francs  was  passed 
with  but  few  dissentient  voices.  "While  the  French  Govern- 
ment was  introducing  and  employing  the  Morse  system,  an  in- 
genious Frenchman,  M.  Brequet,  was  very  innocently  proposing 
to  make  use  of  Morse's  mechanism  to  operate  a  telegraph  which 
he  hoped  to  call  his  own.  M.  Brequet  had  taken  a  deep  interest 
in  the  Morse  Telegraph,  and  had  been  using  it  on  the  line  be- 
tween Paris  and  Rouen.  He  was  in  correspondence  with  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  and  to  him  the  Professor  was  in  the  habit  of  com- 
municating freely  the  progress  of  his  system.  April  20,  1846, 
Professor  Morse  wrote  to  him : 

"  I  know  not  if  you  get  information  through  the  American  papers 
of  the  progress  of  my  Telegraph.  I  have  every  reason  to  be  grati- 
fied with  its  success.  A  few  weeks  more,  and  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Washington,  will  be  connected,  428 
miles,  and  also  New  York,  Albany,  and  Buffalo,  433  miles ;  these 
main  lines  extend  861  miles.  There  are  beside  these  main  lines 
many  branch  lines  of  30  or  40  miles  each.  I  have  not  much  of  im- 
portance to  communicate  in  relation  to  the  action  of  the  Telegraph ; 


MORSE   TO   ARAGO.  549 

I  have  always  preferred  to  underrate  rather  than  overrate  its  effi- 
ciency ;  I  have  already  shown  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences  a  tele- 
graphic communication  in  which  50  characters  or  signs  were  given  in 
one  minute.  I  inclose  you  one  written  in  the  same  time,  of  85  char- 
acters, and  I  have  several  operators  who  perform  at  that  rate.  I 
have  one  in  which  94  characters  are  distinctly  written  in  one 
minute.  The  power  of  battery  which  I  require  is  very  small.  I 
tried  in  one  instance  a  battery  of  two  elements  (two  cups  of  my  ar- 
rangement such  as  are  described  in  the  book  I  sent  you),  and 
operated  the  Telegraph  a  distance  of  130  miles  with  perfect  suc- 
cess. One  pair  has  operated  well  40  miles,  and  with  a  plate  of  zinc 
in  the  ground  at  one  extremity,  and  a  plate  of  copper  in  the  ground 
at  the  other,  I  have  operated  the  Telegraph  well.  I  shall  be  much 
obliged  to  you  for  any  drawings  and  specifications  illustrative  of  the 
system  you  have  in  operation  between  Paris  and  Rouen,  and  for  any 
information  on  the  general  subject  of  Telegraphs  which  you  may 
think  of  interest  to  me." 

Upon  the  receipt  of  M.  Brequet's  answer.  Professor  Morse 
wrote  to  Arago : 

"  Mx  deau  Sie  :  By  the  English  steamer  Caledonia,  which  takes 
this,  I  also  send  a  small  packet  containing  cuttings  from  newspa- 
pers, to  illustrate  the  practical  effect  as  well  as  efficiency  of  my  sys- 
tem of  Magnetic  Telegraphs.  You  will  perceive  the  same  date  and 
the  same  news  in  all  these  extracts,  from  newspapers  published  in 
cities  at  the  distance  of  hundreds  of  miles  from  each  other.  By 
reference  to  a  map,  the  place  at  which  each  journal  is  published 
will  be  easily  recognized.  The  Cambria  steamer  arrives  in  Boston 
on  September  18th.  Her  news,  in  the  minutest  details,  is  at  once 
transmitted  along  the  telegraphic  lines,  ready  for  publication  the 
next  morning  (the  19th)  in  the  next  papers  that  are  issued  in 
the  various  cities.  I  thought  I  could  not  give  you  a  better  tangible 
proof  of  the  success  of  my  system.  I  received  from  the  ingenious 
M.  Brequet  a  letter  by  the  last  steamer,  in  which  he  relates  to  me 
his  manner  of  overcoming  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  magnetic  force 
at  a  distance  sufficient  to  impress  paper. 

"  The  method  he  proposes  is  precisely  the  method  I  have  always 
had  in  operatic^,  and  which  was  devised  and  ready  for  use  from 
the  earliest  stages  of  my  invention,  and  by  which  I  have  accom- 
plished all  my  results.  I  allude  to  the  use  of  my  first  battery  and 
magnet,  to  break  and  close  the  circuit  of  a  second  magnet,  where 


550  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  first  magnet,  in  consequence  of  the  length  of  the  circuit  connect- 
ing it  with  the  distant  battery,  has  but  a  feeble  magnetism,  yet  is 
sufficient  to  produce  a  feeble  motion.  Power  can  be  obtained  to 
any  extent  by  means  of  the  size  of  the  magnet  and  battery. 

"  This  mode,  as  I  have  said,  was  early  devised  to  obviate  a  sup- 
posed and  anticipated  difficulty,  long  before  experiments  demon- 
strated its  necessity. 

"In  my  ' Brevet  c?' "Invention ,'  dated  Paris,  August  18,1838, 
which  is  of  course  recorded  in  Paris,  this  mode  of  interposing  a  sec- 
ond battery  and  magnet  for  the  purpose  of  obviating  the  difficulty 
which  might  arise  from  the  enfeebling  of  the  magnetism  at  a  dis- 
tance, is  fully  set  forth  with  a  diagram.     It  has  been  practically 
applied  by  me  from  the  commencement  of  my  telegraphic  opera- 
tions, and  I  have  always  considered  it  essential  to  the  effective  re- 
sult of  my  system.     I  give  to  the  magnet,  which  is  operated  from  a 
distance,  the  name  of  receiving  magnet,  because  it  receives  its  im- 
pulse from  the  main  battery,  and  it  is  used  to  break  and  close  what 
I  call  the  local  battery,  which  battery  operates  the  magnet  of  the 
register.     In  the  hope  that  a  decision  in  favor  of  my  system  would 
soon  be  given  by  the  commissioners  of  the  Academy  of  Science  and 
•  Chambers,'  and  a  more  complete  detail  of  my  arrangements  called 
for,  I  took  with  me  to  Paris,  when  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you, 
one  of  these  receiving  magnets.     I  deposited  it  in  the  consulate  of 
the  United  States,  in  Paris,  that  it  might  be  ready  when  called  for. 
It  is  still  there,  and  I  have  requested  my  friend,  R.  "Walsh,  Esq., 
the  consul,  to  unseal  it  and  show  it  whenever  desired.     The  mag- 
net in  his  possession   is  a  modification,  by  Professor  Page,  of  my 
original  one,  which,  though   efficient,  was  too  cumbersome  to  suit 
my  taste.     I  have  it  now  reduced  to  a  very  small  size,  and  I  may 
here  remark  that,  although  the  wire  of  the  helices  of  these  receiv- 
ing magnets  is  so  much  smaller  than  the  wire  of  the  main  conduct- 
ors (No.  15),  and  although  a  magnet  with  two  helices  of  this  kind 
is  interposed  at  each  of  the  following  eleven  places  along  the  line, 
to  wit,  New  York,  Poughkeepsie,  Troy,  Albany,  Schenectady,  Uti- 
ca,  Rome,  Syracuse,  Auburn,  Rochester,  Buffalo,  yet  the  magnetic 
power  of  the  electrical  current  seems  not  to  be  diminished ;  each 
and  all  act  simultaneously,  and  act  efficiently.     I  still  look  with 
anxiety  for  the  decision  of  the  question,  '  Whose  system  will  be 
adopted  by  the  French  Government  ? '     The  practical  results  of  the 
Telegraph  in  this  country  have  realized  my  most  sanguine  expecta- 
tions, and  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  next  session  of 


SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION.  551 

our  Congress  will  not  pass  by  without  some  decision  on  the  subject. 
"  With  the  highest  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

PROFESSOR   HENRY. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  at  Washington  was  founded  on 
the  acceptance  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  a  do- 
nation by  a  gentleman  in  England,  whose  name,  Smithson,  was 
perpetuated  in  the  name  of  the  institution.  The  trustees,  ap- 
pointed by  Congress,  well  knowing  that  its  success  and  useful- 
ness would  depend  mainly  upon  the  man  whom  they  should 
select  as  the  secretary,  who  was  also  to  be  their  presiding  officer, 
adopted  the  following  resolution  : 

"  Hesolved,  That  it  is  essential  for  the  advancement  of  the 
proper  interests  of  the  trust  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  be  a  man  possessing  weight  of  character  and  a  high 
grade  of  talent ;  and  that  it  is  further  desirable  that  he  possess  emi- 
nent scientific  and  general  acquirements ;  that  he  be  a  man  capable 
of  advancing  science  and  promoting  letters  by  original  research  and 
effort,  well  qualified  to  act  as  a  respectable  channel  of  communica- 
tion between  the  Institution  and  scientific  and  literary  individuals 
and  societies  in  this  and  foreign  countries  ;  and,  in  a  word,  a  man 
worthy  to  represent,  before  the  world  of  science  and  of  letters,  the 
Institution  over  which  this  Board  presides." 

Professor  Morse,  being  in  Washington  at  the  time  of  the 
election,  communicated  the  result  to  the  New  York  Observer, 
in  the  following  letter : 

"  Washington,  December  3,  1846. 
"  As  there  is  a  well-founded  anxiety  in  regard  to  the  character 
which  the  new  national  institution — the  Smithsonian — is  to  as- 
sume, I  am  sure  it  will  gratify  you,  as  well  as  the  friends  of  science 
throughout  the  country,  to  learn  that  this  day  the  trustees  have 
unanimously  elected  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  of  Nassau  Hall,  as 
the  Secretary  of  the  Institution.  By  this  choice  to  the  most 
responsible,  and,  I  may  say,  the  highest,  scientific  post  in  the 
country,  the  trustees  have  but  given  utterance  to  the  universal 
voice  of  the  scientific  world.  The  trustees  deserve  the  thanks 
of  the  community  for  their  impartiality,  and  the  judiciousness  of 
their  selection.     I  fear  not  the  arousing  of  any  jealousy  in  his  con- 


552  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

temporaries,  when  I  assert  that  no  man  in  the  country  has  all  the 
qualifications  for  this  high  trust  in  a  greater  degree  than  Professor 
Henry.  The  fear  has  been  expressed  that  he  may  not  accept  the 
office,  for  there  have  been  no  seekings  on  his  part;  it  has  been  an 
election  where  merit  has  shown  forth  preeminently  above  all  the 
common  and  much-abused  forms  of  recommendation,  and  asserted 
its  own  inherent  right  to  preferment ;  it  is  a  case  where  native  no- 
bility of  mind  has  commanded  the  willing  homage  of  kindred  minds. 
I  trust  that  Professor  Henry  will  accept  the  office.  M." 

More  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  elapsed  since  the  ap- 
pointment thus  announced  by  Professor  Morse  was  made.  The 
result  has  justified  the  wisdom  of  the  trustees  and  Professor 
Morse's  opinion  expressed  in  this  letter.  For  his  own  personal 
contributions  to  useful  knowledge;  for  patient,  persevering, 
and  successful  pursuit  of  science  by  experiment,  research,  and 
original  thought ;  for  the  power  of  analysis,  and  of  reducing  to 
order  and  available  use  the  contributions  which  he  has  called 
forth  from  others,  in  wielding  the  resources  and  instrumental- 
ities of  the  Institution  of  which  he  has  been  the  chief,  Professor 
Henry  has  won  the  appreciating  homage  of  the  world  of  science. 
Professor  Morse  well  said  twenty-eight  years  ago  that  the  choice 
of  Professor  Henry  was  "  the  voice  of  the  scientific  world,"  and 
it  is  still  the  same. 

THE   PRINTING-TELEGRAPH. 

Professor  Morse  was  now  quietly  pursuing  his  work  of  super- 
intending and  improving  his  invention.  He  mentions  in  a 
letter  (December  15,  1846)  his  views  upon  printing-telegraphs  : 

"  I  noticed  an  announcement  in  the  papers,  that  I  had  recently 
made  '  some  improvements  in  my  Telegraph  for  which  I  had  entered 
a  caveat  at  the  Patent-Office.'  It  is  true  that  I  am  taking  measures 
to  secure  by  patent  some  recent  modifications  'of  my  telegraphic 
apparatus,  simplifying  the  printing  of  my  telegraphic  alphabet; 
my  experiments  on  that  point  have  been  satisfactory.  It  is  true, 
also,  that  I  have  applied  a  fact  in  electro-magnetism  (never  to  my 
knowledge  before  applied)  in  the  construction  of  an  apparatus  for 
printing  the  common  letter  of  the  alphabet,  and  I  have  devised  an 
apparatus  of  the  greatest  simplicity. 

"  But,  simple  as  it  is,  incomparably  more  so  than  any  contrivance 


MOUSE'S  PRINTING-TELEGRAPH.  553 

for  that  purpose  as  yet  published,  I  really  do  not  attach  any  great 
importance  to  it,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  mathematically  demon- 
strable that,  from  the  very  nature  of  such  a  contrivance,  it  cannot 
successfully  compete  in  the  rapidity  of  recording  intelligence  with 
the  simple  mode  I  have  in  use,  and  which  is  a  consequence  mainly 
of  the  intention  of  my  telegraphic  alphabet.  For  example,  the 
President's  message,  entire,  on  the  subject  of  the  war  with  Mexico, 
was  transmitted  with  perfect  accuracy  [exclusively  for  and  at  the 
expense  of  the  Baltimore  Suti\  at  the  rate  of  99  letters  per  minute. 
My  skillful  operators  in  Washington  and  Baltimore  have  printed 
these  characters  at  the  rate  of  98,  101,  111,  and  one  of  them  act- 
ually printed  117  letters  per  minute,  and  I  have  little  doubt  that 
the  accomplished  operators  in  the  Philadelphia  office  could  easily 
show  similar  results.  He  must  be  an  expert  penman  who  can  write 
legibly  more  than  100  letters  per  minute ;  consequently,  my  mode 
of  communication  equals,  or  nearly  equals,  the  most  expeditious 
mode  known  of  recording  thought. 

"  A  Rochester  paper  recently  contained  a  paragraph,  which  has 
been  extensively  copied,  to  the  effect  that  there  was  a  new  inven- 
tion about  to  appear,  which  was  to  '  impress  every  letter  perfectly 
distinct  on  paper,'  and, '  of  course,''  do  away  with  the  characters  to 
represent  the  alphabet.  This  effect  of  any  such  invention  is  by  no 
means  such  a  matter  of  course  as  the  writer  supposes.  Allow  me 
a  word  on  that  point. 

"My  very  earliest  conception  of  the  Telegraph  embodied  this 
idea,  to  wit :  '  The  marking,  in  a  permanent  manner,  of  a  charac- 
ter, to  denote  the  intelligence  transmitted.'  It  was  certainly  very 
natural,  then,  that  the  marking  of  the  common  letter  of  the  alpha- 
bet should  be  suggested  to  my  mind,  and  I  of  course  expended  suf- 
cient  thought  upon  the  subject  to  perceive  that  it  was  practicable 
in  several  ways,  but  also  that  any  way  (at  that  time)  was  necessa- 
rily complicated.  I  was  intent  on  simplicity,  and  adopted  my  pres- 
ent system  because  of  its  simplicity  and  greater  efficiency. 

"  My  friend  and  co-proprietor  in  the  Telegraph,  Mr.  Vail,  some 
time  in  the  spring  of  1837,  was  intent  on  producing  an  instrument 
of  this  kind,  and  gave  the  project  much  thought.  I  uniformly  dis- 
couraged him,  however,  on  the  ground,  not  that  such  a  plan  was 
impracticable,  but,  in  comparison  with  the  method  I  had  devised, 
worthless,  since,  were  such  a  mode  perfectly  accomplished  and  in 
actual  use,  my  more  simple  mode  would  inevitably  supersede  the 
more   complicated   mode.      Mr.  Vail,  in   his    work   entitled  'The 


554  EIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,'  discusses  the  whole  matter 
from  pages  157  to  171.  Experience  has  proved  that  when  my  sys- 
tem has  been  put  to  the  test  in  competition  with  the  common  letter- 
printing  telegraphs  in  Europe,  mine  has  been  proved  superior.  In 
Vienna,  for  example,  Mr.  Bain's  letter-printing  telegraph  (the  most 
ingenious  as  yet  published)  was  examined  with  mine  publicly  be- 
fore one  of  the  largest  and  most  learned  assemblies  ever  convened 
in  that  capital,  comprising  the  court  and  notables  of  Austria,  and 
the  American  Telegraph  carried  the  day  by  acclamation,  and  is 
now  adopted  by  that  Government. 

"  I  wish  it  distinctly  understood,  therefore,  that  my  recent  in- 
vention of  an  apparatus  for  printing  the  common  Roman  letter  was 
not  induced  by  any  expectation  that  it  will  supersede  my  present 
plan,  but  solely  to  give  the  choice  to  any  (if  there  are  any)  who, 
after  all  the  evidence  which  has  long  been  published  of  the  intrin- 
sic unimportance  of  such  a  result,  may  be  desirous  of  seeing  the 
common  Roman  letter  printed,  instead  of  my  simple  character  sig- 
nifying the  same  thing.  I  accomplish  this  result  by  means  of  an 
apparatus  very  far  less  complicated  than  any  yet  published  here  or 
in  Europe." 

This  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  trials  that  disturbed  his 
peace,  and  made  many  subsequent  years  of  his  life  almost  in- 
cessant war.  Attempts  to  use  his  invention  in  whole  or  in 
part,  by  rival  and  opposing  parties,  to  deprive  him  of  the  honor 
and  the  profit  which  were  justly  his,  and  to  destroy  his  property 
and  his  good  name,  were  powerful,  persistent,  and  often  malig- 
nant. Whatever  could  be  done  was  done  by  the  use  of  wealth, 
in  the  employment  of  legal  talent  and  learning  of  the  highest 
order,  and  of  scientific  experts,  to  invalidate  his  claims  to  origi- 
nality in  the  invention  and  construction  of  the  Electro-Magnetic 
Telegraph.  The  annals  of  litigation  furnish  no  example  of 
greater  energy,  perseverance,  and  failure  of  effort  to  wrest  from 
the  hands  of  a  deserving,  modest,  and  successful  inventor  the 
fruits  of  a  work  that  had  cost  him  long  years  of  toil,  and  had 
at  last  conferred  unspeakable  blessings  upon  the  world. 

His  brother,  Sidney  E.  Morse,  being  in  London,  wrote  to  the 
Professor,  February  3,  1847 :  "  In  a  little  time  your  Telegraph 
will  be  introduced  here,  but  the  people  will  be  made  to  believe 
that  it  is  an  English  invention,  and  that  the  Americans  copied 


PIRATICAL  INVASIONS.  555 

it."  The  prediction  was  fulfilled.  England  is  the  last  of  the 
countries  to  admit  the  claims  of  Morse  and  America  to  the 
honor  of  the  invention.  And  to  this  day,  although  the  Morse 
system  has  gradually  been  adopted  from  the  manifested  evi- 
dences of  its  superiority,  the  power  of  prejudice  is  so  great  that 
on  many  lines  the  Wheatstone  Telegraph  is  employed.  But  the 
verdict  of  the  world  has  long  since  been  pronounced,  and  the 
Morse  system  is  without  a  formidable  rival. 

Not  a  month  passed  without  an  attempt  being  made  in  some 
way  to  turn  the  new  invention  to  account  for  the  advantage  of 
others,  and  the  injury  of  the  inventor.  To  one  who  had  actually 
gone  into  the  business  of  manufacturing  the  instrument,  Pro- 
fessor Morse  wrote  this  very  gentle  but  decided  remonstrance 
and  warning : 

"  I  have  just  seen  an  instrument  of  my  patent  made  by  you  and 
numbered  15,  with  your  name  upon  it,  in  the  hands  of  one  who  in- 
formed me  that  he  purchased  it  of  you.  Are  you  not  aware  that 
you  are  infringing  on  my  patent  ?  1  have  learned  also  that  you  are 
making  some  other  instruments  for  other  persons.  I  regret  exceed- 
ingly this  state  of  things,  but  you  must  see  that,  if  continued,  you 
are  incurring  a  very  heavy  responsibility,  for  the  patentees  (if  the 
others  become  acquainted  with  these  facts)  will  most  assuredly  pro- 
ceed against  you.  I  am  personally  disposed  to  be  lenient  to  unin- 
tentional errors  in  this  respect,  and  now  write  to  learn  from  you 
the  true  state  of  matters,  that  if  possible  any  evil  consequences  to 
yourself  may  be  averted.  A  moment's  reflection  will  convince  you 
of  the  irregularity  of  your  proceeding,  if  you  are  making  them  with- 
out authority  of  the  patentees.  If  you  desire  to  make  the  tele- 
graphic instruments,  you  must  have  some  understanding  with  the 
patentees." 

Such  violations  of  his  rights  were  only  the  beginning  of 
troubles.  More  formidable  enemies  rose  to  meet  him.  To 
Daniel  Lord,  Esq.,  his  legal  counsel,  Professor  Morse  gave  ex- 
pression to  his  private  griefs  over  the  persecutions  to  which  he 
and  his  invention  were  subjected  : 

"  The  plot  thickens  all  around  me ;  I  think  a  d&notiment  not 
far  off.  I  remember  your  consoling  me  under  these  attacks  with 
bidding  me  think  that  I  had  invented  something  worth  contending 
for.    Alas  !  my  dear  sir,  what  encouragement  is  there  to  an  inventor, 


556  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

if,  after  years  of  toil  and  anxiety,  he  has  only  purchased  for  himself 
the  pleasure  of  being  a  target  for  every  vile  fellow  to  shoot  at,  and 
in  proportion  as  his  invention  is  of  public  utility  so  much  the  greater 
effort  is  to  be  made  to  defame,  that  the  robbery  may  excite  the  less 
sympathy  ?  I  know,  however,  that  beyond  all  this  there  is  a  clear 
sky,  but  the  clouds  may  not  break  away  till  I  am  no  longer  personally 
interested  whether  it  be  foul  or  fair.  I  wish  not  to  complain,  but  I 
have  feelings,  and  cannot  play  the  stoic  if  I  would." 

THE   0CEAJ5T-TELEGKAPH. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  year  Professor  Morse  revived  in  con- 
versation his  early  idea  of  an  ocean-Telegraph  to  connect  the 
Old  World  with  the  New.  B.  F.  Hall,  Esq.,  of  Auburn,  1ST.  T., 
wrote  to  him  to  say  that  "  Captain  George  B.  Chase,  of  Auburn, 
who  has  navigated  the  ocean  for  many  years,  has  hit  upon  a 
plan  that  appears  to  be,  and  which  he  and  others  who  know 
what  it  is  are  confident  is,  feasible  ;  that  it  will  protect  the  wire 
from  vessels,  icebergs,  and  other  obstructions,  and  at  the  same 
time  be  permanent  and  cheap.  If  yon  will  confer  with  him,  it 
is  believed  that  his  nautical  information  and  experience  will 
enable  him  to  be  of  service  to  you  in  the  stupendous  plan  of 
tying  together  the  continents."  Professor  Morse  replied  that 
he  was  not  at  present  engaging  in  the  project,  but  had  it  before 
him  for  future  action,  and  would  be  glad  to  see  Captain  Chase 
on  the  subject.  As  the  conception  of  the  ocean-line  was  Pro- 
fessor Morse's,  and  was  suggested  by  him  in  his  early  letters  on 
the  subject  of  the  Telegraph,  he  never  lost  sight  of  it,  and  lived 
to  see  it  successfully  accomplished. 


CHAPTEE   XIY. 

RIVAL    CLAIMS    AND    LAWSUITS. 

INVASION  OP  PATENT -EIGHT  —  o'EIELLY  CONTE  ACT  —  INJUNCTION — LAWSUIT 
IN  DISTKIOT  COUET  OP  KENTUCKY — DECISION — MOESE  PATENT  SUSTAINED 
— INCIDENTS  OP  THE  TEIAL — DISTINGUISHED  MEN  ENGAGED — JUDGE  PIE- 
TLE'S  EPIGEAM — THE  CASE  APPEALED — SUPEEME  COUET  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  SUSTAINS  THE  MOESE  PATENT — OPINION — FBENCH  AND  EOGEIiS 
CASE — JUDGE  kane's  OPINION — SUSTAINS  MOESE  patent — house's  and 
BAIN'S  INSTEUMENTS — DE.  JACKSON'S  PEETENSIONS — INPEOVEMENTS  IN 
THE  TELEGEAPHIO    INSTEUMENT — EXTENT  AND  VALUE  OF  THE    TELEGEAPH 

BUSINESS MOESE       INSTEUMENTS      COMPAEED      WITH      OTHEES WESTEBN 

UNION    TELEGEAPH   COMPANY — WILLIAM    OBTON — GEOEGE   B.    PEESOOTT — 
THE   WOELD'S  VEEDIOT — ONLY   ONE   SYSTEM,    THAT   OF   MOESE. 

THE  most  painful  chapter  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Morse  is  the 
history  of  the  lawsuits  in  which  he  was  involved  in  defense 
of  his  rights.  Having  intrusted  his  business  interests  to  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Kendall,  he  would  gladly  have  left  the  details, 
with  the  burdens  of  anxiety  and  responsibility,  to  his  agent  and 
attorney.  But  this  was  not  in  human  nature.  No  one  could 
relieve  him  of  the  care  caused  by  assaults  upon  his  reputation 
as  well  as  his  property.  Exceedingly  sensitive  to  these  attacks 
upon  his  good  name  and  his  rights,  the  lawsuits  that  followed 
the  success  of  his  Telegraph  cost  him  inexpressible  distress.  It 
was  some  compensation  for  his  sufferings  that  he  was  tri- 
umphant. His  rights  were  established  by  the  most  learned  and 
impartial  legal  tribunals  to  which  they  could  be  submitted,  and 
by  the  higher  test  of  practical  adoption  and  use  throughout  the 
world ! 

The  first  lawsuit  had  this  origin.     Professor  Morse  and  his 
partners  made  a  contract,  June  13,  1845,  with  Henry  O'Eielly, 


558  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

under  which,  the  latter  was  to  construct  a  line  of  Telegraph,  to 
he  operated  with  the  Morse  instrument,  from  Philadelphia  to 
St.  Louis,  and  to  the  chief  towns  on  the  great  Western  lakes. 
[Nothing  in  the  contract  permitted  the  use  of  the  Morse  patent 
on  any  other  line  than  those  mentioned.  The  line  was  com- 
pleted to  St.  Louis  in  December,  1847.  The  Morse  owners  then 
contracted  with  Colonel  T.  P.  Shaffner.  and  "William  Tanner  to 
construct  a  line  of  Telegraph  from  Louisville,  Kentucky,  to 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  to  be  a  section  of  a  line  to  New  Orleans. 
O'Rielly  commenced  and  pushed  on  a  line  in  the  same  direction, 
without  authority  in  his  contract.  Immediately  a  struggle  be- 
gan between  the  Shaffner  Company  and  O'Rielly  in  a  race  for 
New  Orleans.  The  O'Rielly,  called  the  People's  Line,  was  com- 
pleted to  Nashville  in  February,  1848.  A  telegraphic  instru- 
ment, named  the  Columbian  Telegraph,  and  claimed  to  be  another 
instrument  than  Morse's,  was  adopted  by  the  O'Rielly  Company. 
The  equivalent  for  the  relay-magnet  of  Morse  was  a  series  of 
electro-magnetic  multipliers,  each  being  composed  of  a  magnetic 
needle  delicately  suspended,  and  placed  within  a  longitudinal 
coil  of  copper  wire,  covered  with  silk  thread.  In  this  arrange- 
ment, the  needle  is  extremely  sensitive  to  the  least  current  trans- 
mitted through  the  coil.  The  wire,  passing  many  times  above 
and  below  the  needle,  tends  to  move  its  poles  with  the  united 
influence  of  the  whole,  and  in  the  same  direction ;  so  that  the 
effect  of  a  single  wire  becomes  multiplied  in  nearly  the  propor- 
tion of  the  number  of  times  the  coil  passes  above  and  below  the 
needle.  A  needle  thus  circumstanced,  with  a  divided  circle  to 
measure  the  angle  of  deviation,  constitutes  an  instrument  termed 
a  galvanometer,  or,  as  it  was  first  termed,  electro-magnetic  mul- 
tiplier. Faraday,  by  means  of  a  delicate  instrument  of  this 
kind,  succeeded  in  identifying  common  and  voltaic  electricity 
as  a  source  of  electro-magnetic  action.  The  application  of  this 
instrument  as  a  part  of  the  Columbian  proved  defective.  The 
mutator  was  then  introduced  in  its  place,  to  perform  the  func- 
tions of  a  relay-magnet. 

The  public  mind  was  excited  with  apprehension  that  the 
Morse  Company  was  to  be  a  gigantic  monopoly,  oppressive  and 
dangerous,  and  the  cry  was  raised  that  the  People's  Line  was  to 
be  the  protection  of  the  people's  rights.     Then  it  was  alleged 


DR.  PAGE'S  DISCLAIMER.  559 

that  the  Telegraph  itself  was  not  Morse's,  but  the  invention  of 
Steinheil,  of  Bavaria,  and  Page,  of  the  Patent-Office,  at  "Wash- 
ington. The  former  had  employed  the  electro-magnet ;  and  it 
was  asserted  that  Dr.  Page  invented  the  receiving-magnet,  es- 
sential to  the  success  of  Morse's  instrument.  Hon.  Amos  Ken- 
dall addressed  a  letter  of  inquiry  to  Dr.  Page  on  this  point,  and 
received  the  following  answer,  which  refutes  the  assertion  re- 
specting the  claims  of  Dr.  Page.1 

"Washington,  D.  C,  February  22,  1848. 
"  Son.  Amos  Kendall — 

"  Sib  :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  if  I  laid  any  claim  to  the  inven- 
tion of  the  receiving-magnet  used  in  Morse's  Telegraph,  I  will  state 
briefly  that  I  have  never  claimed  that  invention  publicly  or  pri- 
vately, directly  or  indirectly.     Yours  respectfully, 

"  Charles  G.  Page." 

As  the  attempt  had  been  persistently  made  to  attribute  to 
another  the  merit  of  this  vital  part  of  the  Morse  Telegraph,  the 
letter  of  Dr.  Page,  the  original  of  which  is  preserved,  put  the 
question  at  rest  during  his  lifetime.  His  important  contribu- 
tions to  the  art  and  science  of  magneto-electricity  are  set  forth 
in  his  work,  "  The  American  Claim  to  the  Induction-coil  and  its 
Electro-static  Developments."  In  1843  he  applied  to  Congress 
for  leave  to  take  out  a  patent  for  his  improvements,  but  he  was 
debarred  by  law,  being  an  officer  in  the  Patent-Office.  After 
his  death  a  law  securing  his  claims  by  patent  to  his  heirs  was 
passed.  But  this  attack  upon  Morse's  rights,  which  was  made 
in  the  Western  newspapers,  though  speedily  answered  by  publi- 
cation of  the  facts,  was  now  followed  by  the  actual  construction 
of  a  line  of  Telegraph  in  defiance  of  the  patent  secured.  Argu- 
ment, evidence,  appeals  to  the  public  sense  of  justice,  had  no 
effect.  Morse's  patent  was  denounced  as  a  "  remorseless  monop- 
oly "  which  must  be  put  down  by  the  popular  will.  Nothing 
was  left  to  the  owners  but  an  appeal  to  the  courts  of  law.  With 
great  reluctance,  they  applied  for  an  injunction  against  the 
O'Pielly  line.  This  brought  to  judicial  inquiry  the  claim  of 
Professor  Morse  to  be  the  original  inventor  of  the  Electro-Mag- 
netic Telegraph,  and  also  the  question  whether  the  Columbian 

1  Por  a  similar  disclaimer  by  Steinheil,  see  page  687. 


** 


560  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Telegraph  was  an  infringement  of  the  Morse  patent.  The  trial 
commenced  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  August  24,  1848,  and  con- 
tinued sixteen  days.  The  preparation  for  this  trial  involved  the 
most  expensive  and  protracted  labor.  Men,  eminent  in  science, 
in  distant  parts  of  the  country,  were  examined  at  great  length, 
and  their  testimony,  filling  large  volumes,  is  on  record  and  easily 
accessible  to  those  who  desire  to  make  themselves  acquainted 
with  it.1  All  systems  of  telegraphy  employed  in  Europe  pre- 
vious to  Morse's  were  investigated  by  those  competent  to  form 
an  intelligent  opinion.  The  ingenuity  of  the  most  learned 
counsel  was  exhausted  in  the  effort  to  show  that  the  Morse  in- 
strument was  not  original  with  its  inventor. 

The  parties  present  were,  Hon.  Thomas  B.  Monroe,  presid- 
ing judge ;  Professor  Morse,  Amos  Kendall ;  for  counsel,  Pres- 
ton S.  Loughborough,  of  Louisville,  ex- Judge  Benjamin  Mon- 
roe, of  Frankfort  (brother  of  the  judge  on  the  bench),  ex-Judge 
Woolley,  of  Lexington,  and  Colonel  Shaffner,  on  the  Morse 
side.  On  the  other  were  H.  O'Rielly,  ex-Judge  Henry  Pirtle, 
of  Louisville,  Madison  C.  Johnson,  of  Lexington,  and  D.  Y. 
Gholson,  of  Cincinnati.  O'Rielly  had,  as  experts,  E.  F.  Barnes 
and  Anson  Stager.  Colonel  Shaffner  afterward  became  dis- 
tinguished for  his  gigantic  enterprises  in  the  extension  of  the 
telegraphic  system  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  and  is  the 
author  of  the  most  valuable  works  which  are  used  in  the  study 
of  the  art  and  science  of  telegraphy.  He  has  related  to  the 
writer  the  incidents  of  this  great  Kentucky  trial : 

"  All  the  parties  not  residing  in  Frankfort  stopped  at  the  Wei- 
siger  House.  They  mingled  at  all  times  as  at  a  social  meeting. 
After  adjournment  of  the  court,  the  counsel  and  others  generally 
met  in  front  of  the  hotel,  and,  sitting  beneath  the  shade-trees,  gave 
reciprocal  intellectual  entertainments.  Jefferson  Davis  was  visiting 
his  friends  in  Kentucky,  and,  fresh  from  the  Mexican  War,  he  enter- 
tained the  company  much  of  the  time,  in  his  turn,  with  the  most 
exciting  descriptions  of  the  incidents  of  the  war.     "Woolley  was  a 

1  Mr.  Henry  O'Rielly  has  deposited  in  the  Library  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  more  than  one  hundred  volumes,  containing  a  complete  history  of  tele- 
graphic litigation  in  the  United  States.  These  records  are  at  all  times  accessible  to 
any  persons  who  wish  to  investigate  the  claims  and  rights  of  individuals  or  compa- 
nies. The  testimony  alone  in  the  various  suits  fills  several  volumes,  each  as  larger 
as  this. 


REMINISCENCES.  561 

scholar  of  rare  merits,  and  his  fluency  in  conversation  seemed  en- 
chanting. Loughborough,  one  of  the  oldest  lawyers  in  Kentucky, 
was  mathematical,  and  often  proposed  problems  for  solution.  Ken- 
dall gave  incidents  of  the  Kitchen  Cabinet  of  Jackson,  and  the  part 
he  occasionally  performed.  One  of  them  had  reference  to  Duane, 
of  the  cabinet.  Jackson  wanted  Taney  to  be  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  but  was  not  sure  of  his  opinions.  Kendall  was  author- 
ized to  ascertain,  and  he  reported  that  they  were  in  accord  with  the 
President's.  Kendall  was  then  sent  to  request  Taney  to  accept  of 
the  secretaryship  of  the  Treasury,  and  in  answer  he  said  to  Mr.  Ken- 
dall :  '  You  can  say  to  the  President  that  I  will  accept  of  the  po- 
sition, but,  in  doing  so,  I  sacrifice  and  abandon  the  ambition  of  my 
life,  and  that  is  to  be  on  the  Supreme  Court  bench.'  The  new  po- 
sition placed  him  in  political  line,  and  off  from  the  legal,  as  then 
considered.  Marshall  subsequently  died,  and  Taney  was  appointed 
by  Jackson  in  his  place,  which  exceeded  his  expectations  and  am- 
bition. Taney  told  me  of  the  circumstance  in  J853.  Pirtle  gener- 
ally indulged  in  references  to  the  early  settlement  of  Kentucky. 
He  was  the  senior  of  all,  and  knew  in  his  early  days  its  founders. 
Johnson  was  familiar  with  the  judicial  history  of  the  State,  and 
well  acquainted  with  many  of  the  early  statesmen.  Gholson  was 
a  young  man  and  very  quiet — a  Virginian  of  Cincinnati  associa- 
tion, and  not  so  open  as  Kentuckians.  He  measured  his  words. 
Morse  engaged  their  attention  in  the  early  invention  of  the  Tel- 
egraph, his  meeting  with  Arago,  Humboldt,  and  his  acquaintance 
with  West  (the  artist),  and  his  invention  of  the  use  of  colors  to 
represent  temperature. 

"  As  for  myself,  I  was  a  silent  listener,  capable  only  of  studying 
the  pending  suit,  and  listening  to  the  conversations  of  those  great 
men.  Besides  the  above,  Governor  Charles  S.  Morehead,  John  J. 
Crittenden,  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckenridge,  'Tom'  Marshall,  Hon. 
W.  J.  Graves  (of  the  Cilley  duel),  ex-Governor  Metcalf,  ex-Governor 
Letcher,  and  many  others,  from  time  to  time  joined  the  sidewalk 
sociables. 

"  The  Morse  line  alone  connected  Louisville  and  Frankfort,  and 
I  gave  directions  to  the  officers  to  transmit  free  all  dispatches 
handed  in  by  O'Rielly  and  his  friends,  and  I  requested  him  to  use 
the  lines  to  any  extent  that  he  desired,  which  he  did.  From  10 
A.  m.,  until  3  p.  m.,  the  judge  occupied  his  seat  in  the  court-room, 
hearing  the  case  in  chambers.  The  case  was  conducted  with  tke- 
most  respectful  consideration  to  all  parties,  and  on  all  issues. 
36 


X 


562  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

None  of  the  lawyers  had  ever  had  a  patent  case  before,  and,  hav- 
ing had  considerable  experience  in  patent  suits  since  then,  I  am 
surprised  to  see  at  this  date  how  correctly  the  case  was  then  con- 
ducted. After  the  court  adjourned  each  day,  the  counsel  and  the 
parties  on  each  side,  respectively,  met  in  their  accustomed  rooms 
and  discussed  the  proceedings  to  be  observed  the  next  day.  Supper 
was  at  6  p.m.,  and  after  that  all  met  as  before  described,  and  held 
intellectual  entertainments. 

"Mrs.  Morse  (then  a  bride)  was  the  centre  of  attraction,  and  re- 
ceived the  polite  attentions  of  all ;  counsel  and  friends  on  both  sides 
endeavored  to  make  the  time  agreeable  to  her. 

"Of  these  men,  "Woolley  died  in  1849,  of  cholera;  Loughbor- 
ough became  demented  and  committed  suicide  by  hanging  himself, 
in  a  stable,  in  the  interior  of  Missouri;  Ben  Monroe  died  about 
1860 ;  Kendall  died  some  few  years  since ;  Morse  in  1872.  I  am 
the  only  one  alive  that  took  an  active  part  in  the  suit  on  the  side 
of  Morse." 

It  was  during  one  of  these  pleasant  and  social  hours  that 
Judge  Pirtle,  of  the  counsel  for  O'Kielly,  wrote  upon  a  sheet  of 
paper  this  sentence  in  Latin,  and  passed  it  across  the  table  to 
Mrs.  Morse,  in  compliment  to  her  husband : 

"  Et  non  '  eripuit  ceelo  fulmen ' 
Fulguri  mentem  fudit,  et  orbem  hmiine  cinxit." 

"Though  he  did  not  'snatch  the  thunder  from  heaven,'  he 
gave  the  electric  current  thought,  and  bound  the  earth  in  light." 

After  the  case  had  been  argued  with  consummate  ability  on 
both  sides,  Judge  Monroe  gave  his  opinion  sustaining  the  Morse 
patent,  and  granting  an  injunction  against  the  O'Bielly  line. 
The  parties  thus  enjoined  sought  to  evade  its  force  by  receiving 
intelligence  by  sound.  This  was  one  of  the  original  modes  of 
telegraphy  secured  to  Morse  as  its  inventor,  and  the  use  of  it 
by  the  O'Eielly  line  was  pronounced  by  the  court  to  be  a  mere 
evasion  of  the  injunction.  It  is  now  the  plan  almost  universally 
in  use  in  this  country.  The  parties  were  then  arrested  and 
placed  under  bonds  for  contempt.  A  second  attempt  at  evasion 
was  made  by  removing  the  instruments  outside  the  district  of 
Kentucky  to  Jeflersonville,  Indiana,  while  the  posts  and  wires 
continued  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  Ohio  as  before.     The  line 


AMOS   KENDALL'S   STATEMENT.  563 

operators  were  arrested,  a  fine  imposed,  and  they  were  placed 
under  bonds  again.  The  marshal  of  the  district  was  directed  to 
take  possession  of  the  posts  and  wires,  to  break  the  circuit  of 
electricity,  and  prevent  the  defendants  from  further  operations 
upon  their  Telegraph.  An  appeal  was  taken  from  the  decision 
of  the  District  Court  of  Kentucky  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

We  now  approach  the  great  trial  by  which  the  right  and  title 
of  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  to  the  invention  of  the  Electro-Magnetic 
Recording  Telegraph  were  settled,  so  for  as  human  knowledge 
can  determine  any  question.  The  opinion  of  the  Supreme  .Court 
of  the  United  States  in  full  is  here  recited,  because  the  case  in 
all  its  relations  and  bearings  is  set  forth  with  such  clearness  that 
the  general  reader,  as  well  as  scientific,  will  readily  receive  and 
appreciate  the  justice  and  intelligence  of  the  decision.  With 
great  force  and  propriety  did  Mr.  Kendall  say  in  his  argument 
submitted  to  the  Supreme  Court : 

"  Seldom,  if  ever,  has  a  more  important  case  been  brought  be- 
fore the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  for  its  decision.  It  is  . 
important  on  account  of  the  pecuniary  interests  involved  in  it ;  it 
is  important  as  involving  the  fame  of  a  distinguished  citizen,  and 
through  him,  to  some  extent,  the  fame  of  our  common  country.  It 
is  transcendently  important  in  the  principles  of  patent-law  which 
it  presents  for  final  decision  by  this  tribunal.  It  is  now  to  be  test- 
ed whether  Professor  Morse  is  to  share  the  fate  of  so  many  distin- 
guished inventors  who  have  gone  before  him  ;  whether  individuals 
or  the  public,  eager  to  possess  the  fruits  of  his  mental  labor  before 
they  rightfully  become  public  property,  shall  be  permitted  to  grat- 
ify their  cupidity ;  whether  Professor  Morse,  like  the  inventor  of  the 
cotton-gin,  is  to  lose  the  profits  of  his  invention,  while  thousands 
of  his  instruments,  the  originality  of  which  no  man  doubts,  resound 
throughout  the  land,  almost  in  the  presence  of  the  tribunal  which 
must  decide  upon  his  patents.  It  is  now  to  be  tested  whether 
American  courts  are  hereafter  to  consider  patent  privileges  as  the 
price  paid  by  the  Government  for  the  fruits  of  mental  labor,  to  be 
held  as  sacred  from  piracy,  theft,  or  trespass,  as  any  other  species 
of  private  property ;  or  whether,  like  the  English  courts  for  a  long 
period,  now  happily  at  an  end,  they  are  still  to  confound  them  with 
odious  monopolies  of  what,  before  the  issue  of  the  special  grants, 
had  become  the  property  of  the  public." 


564  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

The  case  was  argued  by  General  H.  II.  Gillett  and  Hon. 
Salmon  P.  Chase  in  favor  of  O'Eielly,  and  George  Harding, 
St.  George  T.  Campbell,  and  George  Gilford,  Esqrs.,  for  the 
Morse  partners.  Mr.  Chase  afterward  became  Chief- Justice  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  decision  which  he  rendered,  not  on  the 
bench,  but  at  the  dinner-table,  will  be  found  in  the  subsequent 
pages  of  this  volume,  where  he  is  to  be  seen  presiding  at  a  ban- 
quet given  to  Professor  Morse,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  is 
quite  as  decisive  as  the  following,  rendered  by  his  immediate 
predecessor.  The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  unani- 
mous on  all  the  points  involving  the  right  of  Professor  Morse  to 
the  claim  of  being  the  original  inventor  of  the  Electro-Magnetic 
[Recording  Telegraph.  A  minority  of  the  court  went  still  fur- 
ther, and  gave  him  the  right  to  the  motive  power  of  magnet- 
ism as  a  means  of  operating  machinery  to  imprint  signals  or  to 
produce  sounds  for  telegraphic  purposes. 

The  testimony  of  experts  in  science  and  art  is  not  introduced, 
because  it  was  thoroughly  weighed  and  sifted  by  intelligent  and 
impartial  men,  whose  judgment  must  be  accepted  as  final  and 
sufficient.  The  justice  of  the  decision  has  never  been  impugned. 
Each  succeeding  year  has  confirmed  it  with  accumulating  evi- 
dence. One  point  was  decided  against  the  Morse  patent,  and  it 
is  worthy  of  being  noticed  that  this  decision  which  denied  to 
Morse  the  right  to  the  exclusive  use  of  electro-magnetism  for 
recording  telegraphs  has  never  been  of  injury  to  his  instrument, 
because  no  other  inventor  has  devised  an  instrument  to  super- 
sede his.  The  court  decided  that  the  Electro-Magnetic  Tele- 
graph was  the  sole  and  exclusive  invention  of  Samuel  F.  B. 
Morse.  If  others  could  make  better  instruments  for  the  same 
purpose,  they  were  at  liberty  to  use  electro-magnetism.  Twenty 
years  have  elapsed  since  this  decision  was  rendered,  the  Morse 
patent  has  expired  by  limitation  of  time,  but  it  is  still  without 
a  rival  in  any  part  of  the  world. 


DECISION  OF  SUPREME  COURT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  vs.  Henry  O'Rielly. 

Appeal  from  the  District  Court  of  Kentucky,  wherein  Morse  was  granted  an 
Injunction  against  CSielly,  for  an  Infringement  of  the  Morse  Patents, 
by  the  Use  of  the  Columbian  Telegraph.  The  Supreme  Court  perpetuates 
that  Injunction. 

Counsel  for  Morse. — George  Gifford,  St.  George  T.  Campbell,  George 
Harding. 

Counsel  for  CBielly.— Salmon  P.  Chase,  E.  H.  Gillett. 

DECISION"  RENDERED  JANUARY  30,  1854. 

December  Term,  1853. — Henry  O'Rielly,  Eugene  L.  Whitman,  and  W.  F.  B. 
Hastings,  Appellants,  vs.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  Alfred  Vail,  and  Francis 
O.  J.  Smith,  Appellees. 

Appeal  from  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of 

Kentucky. 

Chief-Justice  Taney  delivered  the  opinion,  which  was  concurred 
in  by  Justices  Daniel,  Catron,  and  McLean. 

"  In  proceeding  to  pronounce  judgment  in  this  case,  the  court  is  sensi- 
ble, not  only  of  its  importance,  but  of  the  difficulties  in  some  of  the  ques- 
tions which  it  presents  for  decision.  The  case  was  argued  at  the  last  term, 
and  continued  over  by  the  court  for  the  purpose  of  giving  it  a  more  delib- 
erate examination.  And  since  the  continuance,  we  have  received  from  the 
counsel  on  both  sides  printed  arguments,  in  which  all  of  the  questions  raised 
on  the  trial  have  been  fully  and  elaborately  discussed. 

"  The  appellants  take  three  grounds  of  defense :  In  the  first  place,  they 
deny  that  Professor  Morse  was  the  first  and  original  inventor  of  the  Electro- 
Magnetic  Telegraph,  described  in  his  two  reissued  patents  of  1848.  Sec- 
ondly, they  insist  that,  if  he  was  the  original  inventor,  the  patents  under 
•which  he  claims  have  not  been  issued  conformably  to  the  acts  of  Congress, 
and  do  not  confer  on  him  the  right  to  the  exclusive  use.  And,  thirdly,  if 
these  two  propositions  are  decided  against  them,  they  insist  that  the  Tele- 
graph of  O'Rielly  is  substantially  different  from  that  of  Professor  Morse, 
and  the  use  of  it,  therefore,  no  infringement  of  his  rights. 

"  In  determining  these  questions,  we  shall,  in  the  first  instance,  confine 
our  attention  to  the  patent  which  Professor  Morse  obtained  in  1840,  and 
which  was  reissued  in  1848.  The  main  dispute  between  the  parties  is 
upon  the  validity  of  this  patent ;  and  the  decision  upon  it  will  dispose  of 
the  chief  points  in  controversy  in  the  other. 


566  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  In  relation  to  the  first  point  (the  originality  of  the  invention),  many 
witnesses  have  been  examined  on  both  sides. 

"  It  is  obvious  that,  for  some  years  before  Professor  Morse  made  his  in- 
vention, scientific  men  in  different  parts  of  Europe  were'  earnestly  engaged 
in  the  same  pursuit.  Electro-Magnetism  itself  was  a  recent  discovery,  and 
opened  to  them  a  new  and  unexplored  field  for  their  labors,  and  minds  of 
a  high  order  were  engaged  in  developing  its  power,  and  the  purposes  to 
which  it  might  be  applied. 

''Professor  Henry,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  states  in  his  testimony 
that,  prior  to  the  winter  of  1819-20,  an  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph — that 
is  to  say,  a  Telegraph  operating  by  the  combined  influence  of  electricity 
and  magnetism — was  not  possible ;  that  the  scientific  principles  on  which 
it  is  founded  were  until  then  unknown ;  and  that  the  first  fact  af  Electro- 
Magnetism  was  discovered  by  Oersted,  of  Copenhagen,  in  that  winter,  and 
was  widely  published,  and  the  account  everywhere  received  with  interest. 

"  He  also  gives  an  account  of  the  various  discoveries  subsequently  made 
from  time  to  time,  by  different  persons  in  different  places,  developing  its 
properties  and  powers ;  and  among  them  his  own.  He  commenced  his  re- 
searches in  1828,  and  pursued  them  with  ardor  and  success  from  that  time 
until  the  Telegraph  of  Professor  Morse  was  established  and  in  actual  opera- 
tion. And  it  is  due  to  him  to  say  that  no  one  has  contributed  more  to  en- 
large the  knowledge  of  Electro-Magnetism,  and  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  the  great  invention  of  which  we  are  speaking,  than  the  professor 
himself. 

"  It  is  unnecessary,  however,  to  give  in  detail  the  discoveries  enumer- 
ated by  him — either  his  own  or  those  of  others.  But  it  appears  from  his 
testimony  that,  very  soon  after  the  discovery  made  by  Oersted,  it  was  be- 
lieved by  men  of  science  that  this  newly-discovered  power  might  be  used 
to  communicate  intelligence  to  distant  places.  And,  before  the  year  1823, 
Ampere,  of  Paris,  one  of  the  most  successful  cultivators  of  physical  science, 
proposed  to  the  French  Academy  a  plan  for  that  purpose.  But  his  project 
was  never  reduced  to  practice.  And.  the  discovery  made  by  Barlow,  of  the 
Royal  Military  Academy  at  Woolwich,  England,  in  1825,  that  the  galvanic 
current  greatly  diminished  in  power  as  the  distance  increased,  pu-t  at  rest 
for  a  time  all  attempts  to  construct  an  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph.  Sub- 
sequent discoveries,  however,  revived  the  hope ;  and  in  the  year  1832,  when 
Professor  Morse  appears  to  have  devoted  himself  to  the  subject,  the  convic- 
tion was  general,  among  men  of  science  everywhere,  that  the  object  could 
and,  sooner  or  later,  would  be  accomplished. 

"  The  great  difficulty  in  their  way  was  the  fact  that  the  galvanic  cur- 
rent, however  strong  in  the  beginning,  became  gradually  weaker  as  it  ad- 
vanced on  the  wire ;  and  was  not  strong  enough  to  produce  a  mechanical 
effect  after  a  certain  distance  had  been  traversed.  But  encouraged  by  the 
discoveries  which  were  made  from  time  to  time,  and  strong  in  the  belief 
that  an  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  was  practicable,  many  eminent  and 
scientific  men  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  this  country,  became  deeply  engaged 
in  endeavoring  to  surmount  what  a]Dpeared  to  be  the  chief  obstacle  to  its 
success.  And,  in  this  state  of  things,  it  ought  not  to  be  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise that  four  different  Magnetic  Telegraphs,  purporting  to  have  over- 
come the  difficulty,  should  be  invented,  and  made  public  so  nearly  at  the 
same  time  that  each  has  claimed  a  priority,  and  that  a  close  and  careful 
scrutiny  of  the  facts  in  each  case  is  necessary  to  decide  between  them.  The 
inventions  were  so  nearly  simultaneous,  that  neither  inventor  can  be  justly 
accused  of  having  derived  any  aid  from  the  discoveries  of  the  other. 

"  One  of  these  inventors,  Doctor  Steinheil,  of  Munich,  in  Germany, 
communicated  his  discovery  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in  Paris,  on  the 


MORSE   DECLARED   THE   INVENTOR.  567 

19th  of  July,  1838,  and  states  in  his  communication  that  it  had  been  in 
operation  more  than  a  year. 

"  Another  of  the  European  inventors,  Professor  Wheatstone,  of  London, 
in  the  month  of  April,  1837,  explained  to  Professors  Henry  and  Bache, 
who  were  then  in  London,  his  plan  of  an  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  and 
exhibited  to  them  his  method  of  bringing  into  action  a  second  galvanic 
circuit  in  order  to  provide  a  remedy  for  the  diminution  of  force  in  a  long 
circuit ;  but  it  appears  by  the  testimony  of  Professor  Gale  that  the  patent 
to  Wheatstone  &  Cooke  was  not  sealed  until  January  21,  1840,  and  their 
specification  was  not  filed  until  the  21st  of  July,  in  the  same  year ;  and 
there  is  no  evidence  that  any  description  of  it  was  published  before  1839. 

"  The  remaining  European  patent  is  that  of  Edward  Davy.  His  patent, 
it  appears,  was  sealed  on  the  4th  of  July,  1838,  but  his  specification  was 
not  filed  until  January  4,  1839  ;  and  when  these  two  English  patents  are 
brought  into  competition  with  that  of  Morse,  they  must  take  date  from 
the  time  of  filing  their  respective  specifications.  For  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that,  as  the  law  then  stood  in  England,  the  inventor  was  allowed  six 
months  to  file  the  description  of  his  invention  after  his  patent  was  sealed, 
while,  in  this  country,  the  filing  of  the  specification  is  simultaneous  with 
the  application  for  patents. 

"  The  defendants  contend  that  all,  or  at  least  some  one  of  these  European 
Telegraphs,  were  invented  and  made  public  before  the  discovery  claimed 
by  Morse  ;  and  that  the  process  and  method  by  which  he  conveys  intelli- 
gence to  a  distance  is  substantially  the  same,  with  the  exception  only  of 
its  capacity  for  impressing  upon  paper  the  marks  or  signs  described  in  the 
alphabet  he  invented. 

•  "  Waiving,  for  the  present,  any  remarks  upon  the  identity  or  similitude 
of  these  inventions,  the  court  is  of  opinion  that  the  first  branch  of  the 
objection  cannot  be  maintained,  and  that  Morse  was  the  first  and  original 
inventor  of  the  Telegraph  described  in  his  specification,  and  preceded  the 
three  European  inventions  relied  on  by  the  defendants. 

"  The  evidence  is  full  and  clear  that,  when  he  was  returning  from  a  visit 
to  Europe  in  1832,  he  was  deeply  engaged  upon  this  subject  during  the 
voyage ;  and  that  the  process  and  means  were  so  far  developed  and  ar- 
ranged in  his  own  mind  that  he  was  confident  of  ultimate  success.  It  is 
in  proof  that  he  pursued  these  investigations  with  unremitting  ardor  and 
industry,  interrupted  occasionally  by  pecuniary  embarrassments ;  and  we 
think  that  it  is  established,  by  the  testimony  of  Professor  Gale  and  others, 
that  early  in  the  spring  of  183*7  Morse  had  invented  his  plan  for  combining 
two  or  more  electric  or  galvanic  circuits,  with  independent  batteries,  for 
the  purpose  of  overcoming  the  diminished  force  of  electro-magnetism  in 
long  circuits,  although  it  was  not  disclosed  to  the  witness  until  afterward ; 
and  that  there  is  reasonable  ground  for  believing  that  he  had  so  far  com- 
pleted his  invention,  that  the  whole  process,  combination,  powers,  and 
machinery,  were  arranged  in  his  mind,  and  that  the  delay  in  bringing  it 
out  arose  from  his  want  of  means ;  for  it  required  the  highest  order  of 
mechanical  skill  to  execute  and  adjust  the  nice  and  delicate  work  neces- 
sary to  put  the  Telegraph  into  operation,  and  the  slightest  error  or  defect 
would  have  been  fatal  to  its  success.  He  had  not  the  means  at  that  time 
to  procure  the  services  of  workmen  of  that  character;  and  without  their 
aid  no  model  could  be  prepared  which  would  do  justice  to  his  invention ; 
and  it,  moreover,  required  a  large  sum  of  money  to  procure  proper  materials 
for  the  work.  He,  however,  filed  his  caveat  on  the  6th  of  October,  1837, 
and  on  the  7th  of  April,  1838.  applied  for  his  patent,  accompanying  his 
application  with  a  specification  of  his  invention,  and  describing  the  pro- 
cess and  means  used  to  produce  the  effect.     It  is  true  that  O'Rielly  in  his 


568  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

answer  alleges  that  the  plan  by  which  he  now  combines  two  or  more  gal- 
vanic or  electric  currents,  with  independent  batteries,  was  not  contained  in 
that  specification,  but  discovered  and  interpolated  afterward  ;  but  there  is 
no  evidence  whatever  to  support  this  charge.  And  we  are  satisfied  from 
the  testimony  that  the  plan,  as  it  now  appears  in  his  specification,  had 
then  been  invented,  and  was  actually  intended  to  be  described. 

"  With  this  evidence  before  us,  we  think  it  is  evident  that  the  inven- 
tion of  Morse  was  prior  to  that  of  Steinheil,  Wheatstone,  or  Davy.  The 
discovery  of  Steinheil,  taking  the  time  which  he  himself  gave  to  the 
French  Academy  of  Sciences,  cannot  be  understood  as  carrying  it  back 
beyond  the  months  of  May  or  June,  1837 ;  and  that  of  Wheatstone,  as 
exhibited  to  Professors  Henry  and  Bache,  goes  back  only  to  April  in  that 
year.  And  there  is  nothing  in  the  evidence  to  carry  back  the  invention 
of  Davy  beyond  the  4th  of  January,  1839,  when  his  specification  was  filed, 
except  a  publication  said  to  have  been  made  in  the  London  Mechanics' 
Magazine,  January  20,  1838  ;  and  the  invention  of  Morse  is  justly  entitled 
to  take  date  from  early  in  the  spring  of  1837.  And  in  the  description  of 
Davy's  invention,  as  given  in  the  publication  of  January  20,  1838,  there  is 
nothing  sj)ecified  which  Morse  could  have  borrowed ;  and  we  have  no 
evidence  to  show  that  his  invention  ever  was  or  could  be  carried  into 
successful  operation. 

"In  relation  to  Wheatstone,  there  would  seem  to  be  some  discrepancy 
in  the  testimony.  According  to  Professor  Gale's  testimony,  as  before 
mentioned,  the  specification  of  Wheatstone  and  Cooke  was  not  filed  until 
July  21,  1840,  and  his  information  is  derived  from  the  London  Journal  of 
Arts  and  Sciences.  But  it  appears  by  the  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Barnes 
that  this  Telegraph  was  in  actual  operation  in  1839.  And  in  the  case  of 
the  Electric  Telegraph  Company  vs.  Brett  &  Little,  10  Common  Pleas 
Reports,  by  Scott,  his  specification  is  said  to  have  been  filed  December  12, 
1837.  But  if  the  last-mentioned  date  is  taken  as  the  true  one,  it  would 
not  make  his  invention  prior  to  that  of  Morse.  And  even  if  it  would,  yet 
this  case  must  be  decided  by  the  testimony  in  the  record,  and  we  cannot 
go  out  of  it,  and  take  into  consideration  a  fact  stated  in  a  book  of  reports. 
Moreover,  we  have  noticed  this  case  merely  because  it  has  beeu  pressed 
into  the  argument.  The  appellants  do  not  mention  it  in  their  answer,  nor 
put  their  defense  on  it.  And  if  the  evidence  of  its  priority  was  conclusive, 
it  would  not  avail  them  in  this  suit.  For  they  caunot  be  allowed  to  sur- 
prise the  patentee  by  evidence  of  a  prior  invention  of  which  they  gave 
him  no  notice. 

"  But  if  the  priority  of  Morse's  invention  was  more  doubtful,  and  it 
was  conceded  that  in  fact  some  one  of  the  European  inventors  had  pre- 
ceded him  a  few  months  or  a  few  weeks,  it  would  not  invalidate  his 
patent.  The  act  of  Congress  provides  that  when  the  patentee  believes 
himself  to  be  the  first  inventor,  a  previous  discovery  in  a  foreign  country 
shall  not  render  his  patent  void,  unless  such  discovery  or  some  substantial 
part  of  it  had  been  before  patented  or  described  in  a  printed  publication. 

"Now  we  suppose  no  one  will  doubt  that  Morse  believed  himself  to 
be  the  original  inventor  when  he  applied  for  his  patent  in  April,  1838. 
Steinheil's  discovery  does  not  appear  to  have  been  eveV  patented,  nor  to 
have  been  described  in  any  printed  publication  until  July  of  that  year. 
And  neither  of  the  English  inventions  is  shown  by  the  testimony  to  have 
been  patented  until  after  Morse's  application  for  a  patent,  nor  to  have 
been  so  described  in  any  previous  publication  as  to  embrace  any  substan- 
tial part  of  his  invention.  And  if  his  application  for  a  patent  was  made 
under  such  circumstances,  the  patent  is  good,  even  if,  in  point  of  fact,  he 
was  not  the  first  inventor. 


OBJECTIONS  EXAMINED.  569 

"In  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  unnecessary  to  compare  the  Tele- 
graph of  Morse  with  these  European  inventions,  to  ascertain  whether  they 
are  substantially  the  same  or  not.  If  they  were  the  same  in  every  partic- 
ular, it  would  not  impair  his  rights.  But  it  is  impossible  to  examine 
them,  and  look  at  the  process  and  the  machinery  and  results  of  each,  so 
far  as  the  facts  are  before  us,  without  perceiving  at  once  the  substantial 
and  essential  difference  between  them,  and  the  decided  superiority  of  the 
one  invented  by  Professor  Morse. 

"  Neither  can  the  inquiries  he  made,  nor  the  information  or  advice  he 
received  from  men  of  science,  in  the  course  of  his  researches,  impair  his 
right  to  the  character  of  an  inventor.  No  invention  can  possibly  be  made, 
consisting  of  a  combination  of  different  elements  of  power,  without  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  each  of  them,  and  the  mode  in 
which  they  operate  on  each  other.  And  it  can  make  no  difference  in  this 
respect  whether  he  derives  his  information  from  books,  or  from  conversa- 
tion with  men  skilled  in  the  science.  If  it  were  otherwise,  no  patent  in 
which  a  combination  of  different  elements  is  used  could  ever  be  obtained. 
For  no  man  ever  made  such  an  invention  without  having  first  obtained  this 
information,  unless  it  was  discovered  by  some  fortunate  accident.  And  it 
is  evident  that  such  an  invention  as  the  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  could 
never  have  been  brought  into  action  without  it.  For  a  very  high  degree 
of  scientific  knowledge,  and  the  nicest  skill  in  the  mechanic  arts,  are 
combined  in  it,  and  were  both  necessary  to  bring  it  into  suscessful  opera- 
tion. And  the  fact  that  Morse  sought  and  obtained  the  necessary  infor- 
mation and  counsel  from  the  best  sources,  and  acted  upon  it,  neither  im- 
pairs his  rights  as  an  inventor,  nor  detracts  from  his  merits. 

"  Regarding  Professor  Morse  as  the  first  and  original  inventor  of  the 
Telegraph,  we  come  to  the  objections  which  have  been  made  to  the  valid- 
ity of  his  patent. 

"We  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  objections  taken 
to  the  proceedings  upon  which  the  first  patent  was  issued,  or  to  the  addi- 
tional specifications  in  the  reissued  patent  of  1848.  In  relation  to  the  first, 
if  there  was  any  alteration,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  commissioner,  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  in  a  matter  of  form  rather  than  of  substance  ;  and,  as 
regards  the  second,  there  is  nothing  in  the  proof,  or  on  the  face  of  the 
reissued  patent,  to  show  that  the  invention  therein  described  is  not  the 
same  with  the  one  intended  to  be  secured  by  the  original  patent.  It  was 
reissued  by  the  proper  authority,  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Patents  to  see  that  it  did  not  cover  more  than  the  original  invention. 
It  must  be  presumed,  therefore,  that  it  does  not,  until  the  contrary  ap- 
pears. Variations  from  the  description  given  in  the  former  specification 
do  not  necessarily  imply  that  it  is  for  a  different  discovery.  The  right  to 
surrender  the  old  patent,  and  receive  another  in  its  place,  was  given  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  patentee  to  give  a  more  perfect  description  of 
his  invention,  when  any  mistake  or  oversight  was  committed  in  his  first. 
It  necessarily,  therefore,  varies  from  it.  And  we  see  nothing  in  the  re- 
issued patent  that  may  not,  without  proof  to  the  contrary,  be  regarded  as 
a  more  careful  description  than  the  former  one,  explaining  more  fully  the 
nice  and  delicate  manner  hi  which  the  different  elements  of  power  are 
arranged  and  combined  together  and  act  upon  one  another,  in  order  to 
produce  the  effect  described  in  the  specification.  Nor  is  it  void  because  it 
does  not  bear  the  same  date  with  his  French  patent.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  inquire  whether  the  application  of  Professor  Morse  to  the  Patent-Office, 
in  1838,  before  he  went  to  France,  does  or  does  not  exempt  his  patent  from 
the  operation  of  the  act  of  Congress  upon  this  subject.  For,  if  it  should 
be  decided  that  it  does  not  exempt  it,  the  only  effect  of  that  decision 


570  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

would  be  to  limit  the  monopoly  to  fourteen  years  from  the  date  of  the 
foreign  patent.  And  in  either  case  the  patent  was  in  full  force  at  the  time 
the  injunction  was  granted  by  the  Circuit  Court,  and  when  the  present  ap- 
peal stood  regularly  for  hearing  in  this  court. 

"  And  this  brings  us  to  the  exceptions  taken  to  the  specification  and 
claims  of  the  patentee  in  the  reissued  patent  of  1848. 

"  We  perceive  no  well-founded  objection  to  the  description  which  is 
given  of  the  whole  invention  and  its  separate  parts,  nor  to  his  right  to 
a  patent  for  the  first  seven  inventions  set  forth  in  the  specification  of  his 
claims.     The  difficulty  arises  on  the  eighth. 

"  It  is  in  the  following  words  : 

"  '  Eighth.  I  do  not  propose  to  limit  myself  to  the  specific  machinery 
or  parts  of  machinery  described  in  the  foregoing  specification  and  claims ; 
the  essence  of  my  invention  being  the  use  of  the  motive  power  of  the 
electric  or  galvanic  current,  which  I  call  Electro-Magnetism,  however  de- 
veloped, for  marking  or  printing  intelligible  characters,  signs,  or  letters, 
at  any  distances,  being  a  new  application  of  that  power  of  which  I  claim 
to  be  the  first  inventor  or  discoverer.' 

"  It  is  impossible  to  misunderstand  the  extent  of  this  claim.  He 
claims  the  exclusive  right  to  every  improvement  where  the  motive  power 
is  the  electric  or  galvanic  current,  and  the  result  is  the  marking  or  print- 
ing intelligible  characters,  signs,  or  letters,  at  a  distance. 

"  If  this  claim  can  be  maintained,  it  matters  not  by  what  process  or 
machinery  the  result  is  accomplished.  For  aught  that  we  now  know, 
some  future  inventor  in  the  onward  march  of  science  may  discover  a  mode 
of  writing  or  printing  at  a  distance,  by  means  of  the  electric  or  galvanic 
current,  without  using  any  part  of  the  process  or  combination  set  forth  in 
the  plaintiff's  specification.  His  invention  may  be  less  complicated — less 
liable  to  get  out  of  order — less  expensive  in  construction  and  in  its  opera- 
tion. But  yet,  if  it  is  covered  by  this  patent,  the  inventor  could  not  use 
it,  nor  the  public  have  the  benefit  of  it,  without  the  permission  of  this 
patentee. 

"  Nor  is  this  all.  While  he  shuts  the  door  against  inventions  of  other 
persons,  the  patentee  would  be  able  to  avail  himself  of  new  discoveries  in 
the  properties  and  powers  of  electro-magnetism  which  scientific  men  might 
bring  to  light.  For  he  says  he  does  not  confine  his  claims  to  the  machin- 
ery or  parts  of  machinery  which  he  specifies :  but  claims  for  himself  a 
monopoly  in  its  use,  however  developed,  for  the  purpose  of  printiug  at  a 
distance.  New  discoveries  in  physical  science  may  enable  him  to  combine 
it  with  new  agents  and  new  elements,  and  by  that  means  attain  the  object 
in  a  manner  superior  to  the  present  process,  and  altogether  different  from 
it.  And  if  he  can  secure  the  exclusive  use,  by  his  present  patent,  he  may 
vary  it  with  every  new  discovery  and  development  of  the  science,  and 
need  place  no  description  of  the  new  manner,  processs,  or  machinery, 
upon  the  records  of  the  Patent-Office.  And  when  his  patent  expires,  the 
public  must  apply  to  him  to  learn  what  it  is.  In  fine,  he  claims  an  exclu- 
sive right  to  use  a  manner  and  process  which  he  has  not  described,  and  in- 
deed had  not  invented,  and  therefore  could  not  describe  when  he  obtained 
his  patent.  The  court  is  of  opinion  that  the  claim  is  too  broad,  and  not 
warranted  by  law. 

"  No  one,  we  suppose,  will  maintain  that  Fulton  could  have  taken  out 
a  patent  for  his  invention  of  propelling  vessels  by  steam,  describing  the 
process  and  machinery  he  used,  and  claimed  under  it  the  exclusive  right 
to  use  the  motive  power  of  steam,  however  developed,  for  the  purpose  of 
propelling  vessels.  It  can  hardly  be  suposed  that  under  such  a  patent  he 
could  have  prevented  the  use  of  the  improved  machinery  which  science 


NO  EXCLUSIVE  RIGHT   TO   THE   POWER.  571 

has  since  introduced,  although  the  motive  power  is  stearn,  and  the  result 
is  the  propulsion  of  vessels.  Neither  could  the  man  who  first  discovered 
that  steam  might,  by  a  proper  arrangement  of  machinery,  be  used  as  a 
motive  power  to  grind  corn  or  spin  cotton,  claim  the  right  to  the  exclu- 
sive use  of  steam,  as  a  motive  power,  for  the  purpose  of  producing  such 
effects. 

"  Again,  the  use  of  steam,  as  a  motive  power  in  printing-presses,  is 
comparatively  a  modern  discovery.  Was  the  first  inventor  of  a  machine 
or  process  of  this  kind  entitled  to  a  patent,  giving  him  the  exclusive  right 
to  use  steam  as  a  motive  power,  however  developed,  for  the  purpose  of 
marking  or  printing  intelligible  characters  ?  Could  he  have  prevented 
the  use  of  any  other  press  subsequently  invented,  where  steam  was  used  ? 
Yet,  so  far  as  patentable  rights  are  concerned,  both  improvements  must 
stand  on  the  same  principles.  Both  use  a  known  motive  power  to  print 
intelligible  marks  or  letters  ;  and  it  can  make  no  difference,  in  their  legal 
rights  under  the  pateut  laws,  whether  the  printing  is  done  near  at  hand 
or  at  a  distance.  Both  depend  for  success  not  merely  upon  the  motive 
jjower,  but  upon  the  machinery  with  which  it  is  combined.  And  it  has 
never,  we  believe,  been  supposed  by  any  one  that  the  first  inventor  of  a 
steam  printing-press  was  entitled  to  the  exclusive  use  of  steam,  as  a  mo- 
tive power,  however  developed,  for  marking  or  printing  intelligible  char- 
acters. 

"  Indeed,  the  acts  of  the  patentee  himself  are  inconsistent  with  the 
claim  made  in  his  behalf.  For  in  1846  he  took  out  a  patent  for  his  new 
improvement  of  local  circuits,  by  means  of  which  intelligence  could  be 
printed  at  intermediate  places  along  the  main  line  of  the  Telegraph ;  and 
he  obtained  a  reissued  patent  for  this  invention  in  1848.  Yet  in  this  new 
invention  the  electric  or  galvanic  current  was  the  motive  power,  and  writ- 
ing at  a  distance  the  effect.  The  power  was  undoubtedly  developed  by 
new  machinery  and  new  combinations.  But  if  his  eighth  claim  could  be 
sustained,  this  improvement  would  be  embraced  by  his  first  patent.  And 
if  it  was  so  embraced,  his  patent  for  the  local  circuits  would  be  illegal 
and  void.  For  he  could  not  take  out  a  subsequent  patent  for  a  portion 
of  his  first  invention,  and  thereby  extend  his  monopoly  beyond  the  period 
limited  by  law. 

"  Many  cases  have  been  referred  to  in  the  argument,  which  have  been 
decided  upon  this  subject,  in  the  English  and  American  courts.  We  shall 
speak  of  those  only  which  seem  to  be  considered  as  leading  ones.  And 
those  most  relied  on,  and  pressed  upon  the  court,  in  behalf  of  the  paten- 
tee, are  the  cases  which  arose  in  England  upon  Neilson's  patent  for  the 
introduction  of  heated  air  between  the  blowing  apparatus  and  the  furnace 
in  the  manufacture  of  iron. 

"  The  leading  case  upon  this  patent  is  that  of  Neilson  and  others  vs. 
Harford  and  others,  in  the  English  Court  of  Exchequer.  It  was  elabo- 
rately argued,  and  appears  to  have  been  carefully  considered  by  the  court. 
The  case  was  this  :  , 

"  Neilson  in  his  specification  described  his  invention  as  one  for  the  im- 
proved application  of  air  to  produce  heat  in  fires,  forges,  and  furnaces, 
where  a  blowing-apparatus  is  required.  And  it  was  to  be  applied  as  fol- 
lows :  The  blast  or  current  of  air  produced  by  the  blowing-apparatus  was 
to  be  passed  from  it  into  an  air-vessel  or  receptacle  made  sufficiently 
strong  to  endure  the  blast ;  and  through  or  from  that  vessel  or  receptacle, 
by  means  of  a  tube,  pipe,  or  aperture,  into  the  fire :  the  receptacle  to  be 
kept  artificially  heated  to  a  considerable  temperature  by  heat  externally  ap- 
plied. He  then  described  in  rather  general  terms  the  manner  in  which  the 
receptacle  might  be  constructed  and  heated,  and  the  air  conducted  through 


572  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

it  to  the  fire  :  stating  that  the  form  of  the  receptacle  was  not  material,  nor 
the  manner  of  applying  heat  to  it.  In  the  action  above  mentioned  for  the 
infringement  of  this  patent,  the  defendant,  among  other  defenses,  insisted 
that  the  machinery  for  heating  the  air  and  throwing  it  hot  into  the  furnace 
was  not  sufficiently  described  in  the  specification,  and  the  patent  void  on 
that  account ;  and  also,  that  a  patent  for  throwing  hot  air  into  the  fur- 
nace, instead  of  cold,  and  thereby  increasing  the  intensity  of  the  heat,  is 
a  patent  for  a  principle,  and  that  a  principle  was  not  patentable. 

"  Upon  the  first  of  these  defenses  the  jury  found  that  a  man  of  ordi- 
nary skill  and  knowledge  of  the  subject,  looking  at  the  specification  alone, 
could  construct  such  an  apparatus  as  would  be  productive  of  a  beneficial 
result  sufficient  to  make  it  worth  while  to  adapt  it  to  the  machinery  in  all 
cases  of  forges,  cupolas,  and  furnaces,  where  the  blast  is  used. 

''  And  upon  the  second  ground  of  defense,  Baron  Parke,  who  deliv- 
ered the  opinion  of  the  court,  said  :    ■ 

"  '  It  is  very  difficult  to  distinguish  it  from  the  specification  of  a  patent 
for  a  principle,  and  this  at  first  created  in  the  minds  of  the  court  much 
difficulty;  but,  after  full  consideration,  we  think  that  the  plaintiff  does 
not  merely  claim  a  principle,  but  a  machine  embodying  a  principle,  and  a 
very  valuable  one.  We  think  the  case  must  be  considered  as  if,  the  prin- 
ciple being  well  known,  the  plaintiff*  had  first  invented  a  mode  of  apply- 
ing it  by  a  mechanical  apparatus  to  furnaces ;  and  his  invention  then  con- 
sists in  this  :  by  interposing  a  receptacle  for  heated  air  between  the  blow- 
ing-apparatus and  the  furnace.  In  this  receptacle  he  directs  the  air  to  be 
heated  by  the  application  of  heat  externally  to  the  receptacle,  and  thus 
he  accomplishes  the  object  of  applying  the  blast,  which  was  before  cold 
air,  in  a  heated  state  to  the  furnace.' 

"  We  see  nothing  in  this  opinion  differing  in  any  degree  from  the  fa- 
miliar principles  of  law  applicable  to  patent  cases.  Neilson  claimed  no 
particular  mode  of  constructing  the  receptacle,  or  of  heating  it.  He 
pointed  out  the  manner  in  which  it  might  be  done ;  but  admitted  that 
it  might  also  be  done  in  a  variety  of  ways ;  and  at  a  higher  or  lower 
temperature  ;  and  that  all  of  them  would  produce  the  effect  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  provided  the  air  was  heated  by  passing  through  a  heated 
receptacle.  And  hence  it  seems  that  the  court  first  doubted  whether 
it  was  a  patent  for  any  thing  more  than  the  discovery  that  hot  air  would 
promote  the  ignition  of  fuel  better  than  cold.  And  if  this  had  been  the 
construction,  the  court,  it  appears,  would  have  held  his  patent  to  be  void ; 
because  the  discovery  of  a  principle  in  natural  philosophy  or  physical  sci- 
ence is  not  patentable. 

"  But  after  much  consideration,  it  was  finally  decided  that  this  prin- 
ciple must  be  regarded  as  well  known,  and  that  the  jfiaintiff  had  invented 
a  mechanical  mode  of  applying  it  to  furnaces  ;  and  that  his  invention  con- 
sisted in  interposing  a  heated  receptacle  between  the  blower  and  the  fur- 
nace, and  by  this  means  heating  the  air  after  it  left  the  blower,  and  before 
it  was  thrown  into  the  fire.  Whoever,  therefore,  used  this  method  of 
throwing  hot  air  into  the  furnace,  used  the  process  he  had  invented,  and 
thereby  infringed  his  patent,  although  the  form  of  the  receptacle  or  the 
mechanical  arrangements  for  heating  it  might  be  different  from  those  de- 
scribed by  the  patentee.  For  whatever  form  was  adopted  for  the  recep- 
tacle, or  whatever  mechanical  arrangements  were  made  for  heating  it,  the 
effect  would  be  produced  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  if  the  heated  recep- 
tacle was  placed  between  the  blower  and  the  furnace,  and  the  current  of 
air  passed  through  it. 

"  Undoubtedly  the  principle  that  hot  air  will  promote  the  ignition  of 
fuel  better  than  cold,  was  embodied  in  this  machine.     But  the  patent  was 


NEILSON'S  PATENT.  5 73 

not  supported  because  this  principle  was  embodied  in  it.  He  would  have 
been  equally  entitled  to  a  patent  if  he  had  invented  an  improvement  in 
the  mechanical  arrangements  of  the  blowing-apparatus,  or  in  the  furnace, 
while  a  cold  current  of  ah-  was  still  used.  But  his  patent  was  supported, 
because  he  had  invented  a  mechanical  apparatus  by  which  a  current  of 
hot  air  instead  of  cold  could  be  thrown  in.  And  this  new  method  was 
protected  by  his  patent.  The  interposition  of  a  heated  receptacle  in  any 
form  was  the  novelty  he  invented. 

"  We  do  not  perceive  how  the  claim,  in  the  case  before  us,  can  derive 
any  countenance  from  this  decision.  If  the  Court  of  Exchequer  had  said 
that  Neilson's  patent  was  for  the  discovery  that  hot  air  would  promote 
ignition  better  than  cold,  and  that  he  had  an  exclusive  right  to  use  it  for 
that  purpose,  there  might,  perhaps,  have  been  some  reason  to  rely  upon  it. 
But  the  court  emphatically  denied  his  right  to  such  a  patent ;  and  his 
claim,  as  the  patent  was  construed  and  supported  by  the  court,  is  alto- 
gether unlike  that  of  the  patentee  before  us. 

"  For  Neilson  discovered  that  by  interposing  a  heated  receptacle  be- 
tween the  blower  and  the  furnace,  and  conducting  the  current  of  air 
through  it,  the  heat  in  the  furnace  was  increased.  And  this  effect  was 
always  produced,  whatever  might  be  the  form  of  the  receptacle,  or  the 
mechanical  contrivances  for  heating  it,  or  for  passing  the  current  of  air 
through  it,  and  into  the  furnace. 

"  But  Professor  Morse  has  not  discovered  that  the  electric  or  galvanic 
current  will  always  print  at  a  distance,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  form  of 
the  machinery  or  mechanical  contrivances  through  which  it  passes.  You 
may  use  electro-magnetism  as  a  motive  power,  and  yet  not  produce  the 
described  effect — that  is,  print  at  a  distance  intelligible  marks  or  signs.  To 
produce  that  effect  it  must  be  combined  with  and  passed  through  and  op- 
erate upon  certain  complicated  and  delicate  machinery  adjusted  and  ar- 
ranged upon  philosophical  principles,  and  prepared  by  the  highest  me- 
chanical skill.  And  it  is  the  high  praise  of  Professor  Morse,  that  he  has  been 
able  by  a  new  combination  of  known  powers,  of  which  electro-magnetism 
is  one,  to  discover  a  method  by  which  intelligible  marks  or  signs  may  be 
printed  at  a  distance.  And  for  the  method  or  process  thus  discovered  he  is 
entitled  to  a  patent.  But  he  has  not  discovered  that  the  electro-magnetic 
current,  used  as  a  motive  power,  in  any  other  method,  and  with  any  other 
combination,  will  do  as  well. 

"  We  have  commented  on  the  case  in  the  Court  of  Exchequer  more 
fully,  because  it  has  attracted  much  attention  in  the  courts  of  this  coun- 
try as  well  as  in  the  English  courts,  and  has  been  differently  understood. 
And  perhaps  a  mistaken  construction  of  that  decision  has  led  to  the  broad 
claim  in  the  patent  now  under  consideration. 

"  We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  remark  upon  the  other  English  de- 
cisions in  relation  to  Neilson's  patent,  nor  upon  the  other  cases  referred  to, 
which  stand  upon  similar  principles.  The  observations  we  have  made  on 
the  case  in  the  Court  of  Exchequer  will  equally  apply  to  all  of  them. 

"  We  proceed  to  the  American  decisions ;  and  the  principles  herein 
stated  were  fully  recognized  by  this  court  in  the  case  of  Leroy  et  al.  vs. 
Tatham  and  others,  decided  at  the  last  term,  14  How.,  156. 

"  It  appeared  in  that  case  that  the  patentee  had  discovered  that  lead, 
recently  set,  would,  under  heat  and  pressure  in  a  close  vessel,  reunite  per- 
fectly after  a  separation  of  its  parts,  so  as  to  make  wrought  instead  of  cast 
pipe.  And  the  court  held  that  he  was  not  entitled  to  a  patent  for  this 
newly-discovered  principle  or  quality  in  lead  ;  and  that  such  a  discovery 
was  not  patentable  ;  but  that  he  was  entitled  to  a  patent  for  the  new  pro- 
cess or  method  in  the  art  of  making  lead  pipe,  which  this  discovery  en- 


574  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

abled  hiui  to  invent  and  employ  ;  and  was  bound  to  describe  such  process 
or  method  fully  in  his  specification. 

"  Many  cases  have  also  been  referred  to  which  were  decided  in  the  Cir- 
cuit Courts.  It  will  be  found,  we  think,  upon  careful  examination,  that  all 
of  them,  previous  to  the  decision  on  Neilson's  patent,  maintain  the  princi- 
ples on  which  this  decision  is  made.  Since  that  case  was  reported,  it  is  ad- 
mitted that  decisions  have  been  made  which  would  seem  to  extend  patent- 
able rights  beyond  the  limits  here  marked  out.  As  we  have  already  said, 
we  see  nothing  in  that  opinion  which  would  sanction  the  introduction  of 
any  new  principle  in  the  law  of  patents ;  but  if  it  were  otherwise,  it  v/ould 
not  j  ustify  this  court  in  departing  from  what  we  consider  as  established 
principles  in  the  American  courts.  And  to  show  what  was  heretofore  the 
doctrine  upon  this  subject,  we  refer  to  the  annexed  cases.  We  do  not  stop 
to  comment  on  them,  because  such  an  examination  would  extend  this  opin- 
ion beyond  all  reasonable  bounds.  1  Stor.  Rep.  270,  285 ;  Wyeth  vs.  Stone, 
3  Sumn.  540 ;  Blanchard  vs.  Sprague.  The  first-mentioned  case  is  directly 
in  point. 

"  Indeed,  independently  of  judicial  authority,  we  do  not  think  that  the 
language  used  in  the  act  of  Congress  can  justly  be  expounded  otherwise. 

"  The  fifth  section  of  the  act  of  1836  declares  that  a  patent  shall  convey 
to  the  inventor,  for  a  term  not  exceeding  fourteen  years,  the  exclusive  right 
of  making,  using,  and  vending  to  others  to  be  used,  his  invention  or  dis- 
covery, referring  to  the  specification  for  the  particulars  thereof. 

"  The  sixth  section  directs  who  shall  be  entitled  to  a  patent,  and  the 
terms  and  conditions  on  which  it  may  be  obtained.  It  provides  that  any 
person  shall  be  entitled  to  a  patent  who  has  discovered  or  invented  a  new 
and  useful  art,  machine,  manufacture,  or  composition  of  matter,  or  a  new 
and  useful  improvement  on  any  previous  discovery  in  either  of  them.  But 
before  he  receives  a  patent  he  shall  deliver  a  written  description  of  his  in- 
vention or  discovery,  '  and  of*  the  manner  and  process  of  making,  construct- 
ing, using,  and  compounding  the  same,"1  in  such  exact  terms  as  to  enable  any 
person  skilled  in  the  art  or  science  to  which  it  appertains,  or  with  which 
it  is  most  nearly  connected,  to  make,  construct,  compound,  and  use  the  same. 

"  This  court  has  decided  that  the  specification  required  by  this  law  is  a 
part  of  the  patent,  and  that  the  patent  issues  for  the  invention  described 
in  the  specification. 

"  Now,  whether  the  Telegraph  is  regarded  as  an  art  or  machine,  the 
manner  and  process  of  making  or  using  it  must  be  set  forth  in  exact  terms. 
The  act  of  Congress  makes  no  difference  in  this  respect  between  an  art  and 
a  machine.  An  improvement  in  the  art  of  making  bar-iron  or  spinning  cot- 
ton must  be  so  described,  and  so  must  the  art  of  printing  by  the  motive 
power  of  steam.  And  in  all  of  these  cases  it  has  always  been  held  that 
the  patent  embraces  nothing  more  than  the  improvement  described  and 
claimed  as  new,  and  that  any  one  who  afterward  discovered  a  method  of 
accomplishing  the  same  object,  substantially  and  essentially  differing  from 
the  one  described,  had  a  right  to  use  it.  Can  there  be  any  good  reason 
why  the  art  of  printing  at  a  distance,  by  means  of  the  motive  power  of  the 
electric  or  galvanic  current,  should  stand  on  different  principles  ?  Is  there  any 
reason  why  the  inventor's  patent  should  cover  broader  ground  ?  It  would 
be  difficult  to  discover  any  thing  in  the  act  of  Congress  which  would  justify 
this  distinction.  The  specification  of  this  patentee  describes  his  invention 
or  discovery,  and  the  manner  and  process  of  constructing  and  using  it,  and 
his  patent,  like  inventions  in  the  other  arts  above  mentioned,  covers  noth- 
ing more. 

"  The  provisions  of  the  acts  of  Congress  in  relation  to  patents  may  be 
summed  up  in  a  few  words. 


THE  PATENT  GOOD.  575 

"Whoever  discovers  that  a  certain  useful  result  will  be  produced  in 
any  art,  machine,  manufacture  or  composition  of  matter,  by  the  use  of  cer- 
tain means,  is  entitled  to  a  patent  for  it ;  provided  he  specifies  the  meaus 
he  uses  in  a  manner  so  full  and  exact,  that  any  one  skilled  in  the  science 
to  which  it  appertains  can,  by  using  the  means  he  specifies,  without  any 
addition  to  or  subtraction  from  them,  produce  precisely  the  result  he  de- 
scribes. And  if  this  cannot  be  done  by  the  means  he  describes,  the  patent 
is  void.  And  if  it  can  be  done,  then  the  patent  confers  on  him  the  exclu- 
sive right  to  use  the  means  he  specifies  to  produce  the  result  or  effect  he 
describes,  and  nothing  more.  And  it  makes  no  difference  in  this  respect 
whether  the  effect  is  produced  by  chemical  agency  or  combination ;  or  by 
the  application  of  discoveries  or  principles  in  natural  philosophy,  known 
or  unknown  before  his  invention  ;  or  by  machinery  acting  altogether  upon 
mechanical  principles.  In  either  case,  he  must  describe  the  manner  and 
process  as  above  mentioned,  and  the  end  it  accomplishes.  And  any  one 
may  lawfully  accomplish  the  same  end  without  infringing  the  patent,  if  he 
uses  means  substantially  different  from  those  described. 

"Indeed,  if  the  eighth  claim  of  the  patentee  can  be  maintained,  there 
was  no  necessity  for  any  specification,  further  than  to  say  that  he  had  dis- 
covered that  by  using  the  motive  power  of  electro-magnetism  he  could 
print  intelligible  characters  at  any  distance.  We  presume  it  will  be  ad- 
mitted on  all  hands  that  no  patent  could  have  issued  on  such  a  specifica- 
tion. Yet  this  claim  can  derive  no  aid  from  the  specification  filed.  It  is 
outside  of  it,  and  the  patentee  claims  beyond  it.  And  if  it  stands,  it  must 
stand  simply  on  the  ground  that  the  broad  terms  above  mentioned  were  a 
sufficient  description,  and  entitled  him  to  a  patent  in  terms  equally  broad. 
In  our  judgment,  the  act  of  Congress  cannot  be  so  construed. 

"  The  patent  then  being  illegal  and  void,  so  far  as  respects  the  eighth 
claim,  the  question  arises  whether  the  whole  patent  is  void,  unless  this 
portion  of  it  is  disclaimed  in  a  reasonable  time  after  the  patent  issued. 

"  It  has  been  urged  on  the  part  of  the  complainants  that  there  is  no 
necessity  for  a  disclaimer  in  a  case  of  this  kind.  That  it  is  required  in 
those  cases  only  in  which  the  party  commits  an  error  in  fact,  in  claiming 
something  which  was  known  before,  and  of  which  he  was  not  the  first  dis- 
coverer ;  that  in  this  case  he  was  the  first  to  discover  that  the  motive  pow- 
er of  electro-magnetism  might  be  used  to  write  at  a  distance;  and  that  his 
error,  if  any,  was  a  mistake  in  law  in  supposing  his  invention,  as  described 
in  his  specification,  authorized  this  broad  claim  of  exclusive  privilege ;  and 
that  the  claim,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  a  nullity,  and  allowed  to 
stand  in  the  patent  without  a  disclaimer,  and  without  affecting  the  valid- 
ity of  the  patent. 

"  This  distinction  can  hardly  be  maintained.  The  act  of  Congress  above 
recited  requires  that  the  invention  shall  be  so  described,  that  a  person 
skilled  in  the  science  to  which  it  appertains,  or  with  which  it  is  most  near- 
ly connected,  shall  be  able  to  construct  the  improvement  from  the  descrip- 
tion given  by  the  inventor. 

"  Now,  in  this  case,  there  is  no  description  but  one  of  a  process  by  which 
signs  or  letters  may  be  printed  at  a  distance.  And  yet  he  claims  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  any  other  mode,  and  any  other  process,  although  not  de- 
scribed by  him,  by  which  the  end  can  be  accomplished,  if  electro-magnet- 
ism is  used  as  the  motive  power.  That  is  to  say,  he  claims  a  patent  for  an 
effect  produced  by  the  use  of  electro-magnetism,  distinct  from  the  process 
or  machinery  necessary  to  produce  it.  The  words  of  the  act  of  Congress, 
above  quoted,  show  that  no  patent  can  lawfully  issue  upon  such  a  claim. 
For  he  claims  what  he  has  not  described  in  the  manner  required  by  law. 
And  a  patent  for  such  a  claim  is  as  strongly  forbidden  by  the  act  of  Con- 
gress as  if  some  other  person  had  invented  it  before  him. 


576  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"Why,  therefore,  should  he  be  required  and  permitted  to  disclaim  in 
the  one  case  and  not  in  the  other  ?  The  evil  is  the  same  if  he  claims  more 
than  he  has  invented,  although  no  other  person  has  invented  it  before  him. 
He  prevents  others  from  attempting  to  improve  upon  the  manner  and  pro- 
cess which  he  has  described  in  his  specification,  and  may  deter  the  public 
from  using  it,  even  if  discovered.  He  can  lawfully  claim  only  what  he  has 
invented  and  described,  and  if  he  claims  more  his  patent  is  void.  And  the 
judgment  in  this  case  must  be  against  the  patentee,  unless  he  is  within  the 
act  of  Cougress  which  gives  the  right  to  disclaim. 

"The  law  which  requires  and  permits  him  to  disclaim  is  not  penal,  but 
remedial.  It  is  intended  for  the  protection  of  the  pateutee  as  well  as  the 
public,  and  ought  not,  therefore,  to  receive  a  construction  that  would  restrict 
its  operation  within  narrower  limits  than  its  words  fairly  import.  It  provides 
'  that  when  any  patentee  shall  have  in  his  specification  claimed  to  be 
the  first  and  original  inventor  or  discoverer  of  any  material  or  substantial 
part  of  the  thing  patented,  of  which  he  was  not  the  first  and  original  in- 
ventor, and  shall  have  no  legal  or  just  claim  to  the  same,'  he  must  disclaim 
in  order  to  protect  so  much  of  the  claim  as  is  legally  patented. 

"  Whether,  therefore,  the  patent  is  illegal  in  part,  because  he  claims 
more  than  he  has  sufficiently  described,  or  more  than  he  invented,  he  must 
in  either  case  disclaim,  in  order  to  save  the  portion  to  which  he  is  entitled ; 
and  he  is  allowed  to  do  so  when  the  error  was  committed  by  mistake. 

"A  different  construction  would  be  unjust  to  the  public,  as  well  as  to 
the  patentee,  and  defeat  the  manifest  object  of  the  law,  and  produce  the 
very  evil  against  which  it  is  intended  to  guard. 

"  It  appears  that  no  disclaimer  has  yet  been  entered  at  the  Patent-Office. 
But  the  delay  in  entering  it  is  not  unreasonable.  For  the  objectionable 
claim  was  sanctioned  by  the  head  of  the  office  ;  it  has  been  held  to  be  valid 
by  a  Circuit  Court,  and  differences  of  opinion  in  relation  to  it  are  found  to  ex- 
ist among  the  justices  of  this  court.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  patentee 
had  a  right  to  insist  upon  it,  and  not  disclaim  it  until  the  highest  court 
to  which  it  could  be  carried  had  pronounced  its  judgment.  The  omis- 
sion to  disclaim,  therefore,  does  not  render  the  patent  altogether  void,  and 
he  is  entitled  to  proceed  in  this  suit  for  an  infringement  of  that  part  of 
his  invention  which  is  legally  claimed  and  described.  But  as  no  disclaim- 
er was  entered  in  the  Patent-Office  before  this  suit  was  instituted,  he  can- 
not, under  the  act  of  Congress,  be  allowed  costs  against  the  wrong-doer, 
although  the  infringement  should  be  proved.  And  we  think  it  is  proved 
by  the  testimony.  But  as  the  question  of  infringement  embraces  both  of 
the  reissued  patents,  it  is  proper,  before  we  proceed  to  that  part  of  the 
case,  to  notice  the  objections  made  to  the  second  patent  for  the  local  cir- 
cuits, which  was  originally  obtained  in  1846,  and  reissued  in  1848. 

"  It  is  certainly  no  objection  to  this  patent,  that  the  improvement  is 
embraced  by  the  eighth  claim  in  the  former  one.  We  have  already  said 
that  this  claim  is  void,  and  that  the  former  patent  covers  nothing  but  the 
first  seven  inventions  specifically  mentioned. 

"  Nor  can  its  validity  be  impeached  upon  the  ground  that  it  is  an  im- 
provement upon  a  former  invention,  for  which  the  patentee  had  himself 
already  obtained  a  patent.  It  is  true  that,  under  the  act  of  1836,  sec.  3,  it 
was  in  the  power  of  Professor  Morse,  if  he  desired  it,  to  annex  this  im- 
provement to  his  former  specification,  so  as  to  make  it  from  that  time  a 
part  of  the  original  patent.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  act  that  forbids 
him  to  take  out  a  new  patent  for  the  improvement,  if  he  prefers  it.  Any 
other  inventor  might  do  so  ;  and  there  can  be  no  reason,  in  justice  or  in 
policy,  for  refusing  the  like  privilege  to  the  original  inventor.  And  when 
there  is  no  positive  law  to  the  contrary,  he  must  stand  on  the  same  footing 


THE   PATENT   ESTABLISHED.  577 

with  any  other  inventor  of  an  improvement  upon  a  previous  discovery. 
Nor  is  he  bound  in  his  new  patent  to  refer  specially  to  his  former  one.  All 
that  the  law  requires  of  him  is,  that  he  shall  not  claim  as  new  what  is 
covered  by  a  former  invention,  whether  made  by  himself  or  any  other 
person. 

"It  is  said,  however,  that  this  alleged  improvement  is  not  new,  and  is 
embraced  in  his  former  specification ;  and  that,  if  some  portion  of  it  is  new, 
it  is  not  so  described  as  to  distinguish  the  new  from  the  old. 

"  It  is  difficult,  perhaps  impossible,  to  discuss  this  part  of  the  case  so 
as  to  be  understood  by  any  one  who  has  not  a  model  before  him,  or  per- 
fectly familiar  with  the  machinery  and  operations  of  the  Telegraph.  We 
shall"  not,  therefore,  attempt  to  describe  minutely  the  machinery  or  its 
mode  of  operation.  So  far  as  this  can  be  done  intelligibly,  without  the  aid 
of  a  model  to  point  to,  it  has  been  fully  and  well  done,  in  the  opinion  de- 
livered by  the  learned  judge  who  decided  this  case  in  the  Circuit  Court. 
All  that  we  think  it  useful  or  necessary  to  say  is,  that,  after  a  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  patents,  we  think  the  objection  on  this  ground  is  not 
tenable.  The  force  of  the  objection  is  mainly  directed  upon  the  receiving- 
magnet,  which,  it  is  said,  is  a  part  of  the  machinery  of  the  first  patent, 
and  performs  the  same  office.  But  the  receiving-magnet  is  not  of  itself 
claimed  as  a  new  invention.  It  is  claimed  as  a  part  of  a  new  combination 
or  arrangement  to  produce  a  new  result.  And  this  combination  does  pro- 
duce a  new  and  useful  result.  For  by  this  new  combination,  and  the  ar- 
rangement and  position  of  the  receiving-magnet,  the  local  independent 
circuit  is  opened  by  the  electric  or  galvanic  current  as  it  passes  on  the  main 
line,  without  interrupting  it  in  its  course,  and  the  intelligence  it  conveys  is 
recorded  almost  at  the  same  moment  at  the  end  of  the  line  of  the  Tele- 
graph and  at  the  different  local  offices  on  its  way.  And  it  hardly  needs  a 
model  or  a  minute  examination  of  the  machinery  to  be  satisfied  that  a 
Telegraph  which  prints  the  intelligence  it  conveys,  at  different  places,  by 
means  of  the  current  as  it  passes  along  on  the  main  line,  must  necessarily 
require  a  different  combination  and  arrangement  of  powers  from  the  one 
that  prints  only  at  the  end.  The  elements  which  compose  it  may  all  have 
been  used  in  the  former  invention,  but  it  is  evident  that  their  arrange- 
ment and  combination  must  be  different  to  produce  this  new  effect. 
The  new  patent  for  the  local  circuits  was,  therefore,  properly  granted,  and 
we  perceive  no  well-founded  objection  to  the  specification  or  claim  con- 
tained in  the  reissued  patent  of  1848. 

"  The  two  reissued  patents  of  1848,  being  both  valid,  with  the  exception 
of  the  eighth  claim  in  the  first,  the  only  remaining  question  is,  whether  they, 
or  either  of  them,  have  been  infringed  by  the  defendants. 

"  The  same  difficulty  arises  in  this  part  of  the  case  which  we  have 
already  stated  in  speaking  of  the  specification  and  claims  in  the  patent  for 
the  local  circuits.  It  is  difficult  to  convey  a  clear  idea  of  the  similitude  or 
differences  in  the  two  Telegraphs  to  any  one  not  familiarly  acquainted 
with  the  machinery  of  both.  The  court  must  content  itself,  therefore,  with 
general  terms,  referring  to  the  patents  themselves  for  a  more  special  de- 
scription of  the  matters  in  controversy. 

"  It  is  a  well-settled  principle  of  law,  that  the  mere  change  in  the  form 
of  the  machinery  (unless  a  particular  form  is  specified  as  the  means  by 
which  the  effect  described  is  produced),  or  an  alteration  in  some  of  its 
unessential  parts,  or  in  the  use  of  known  equivalent  powers,  not  varying 
essentially  the  machine,  or  its  mode  of  operation  or  organization,  will  not 
make  the  new  machine  a  new  invention.  It  may  be  an  improvement  upon 
the  former,  but  that  will  not  justify  its  use  without  the  consent  of  the  first 
patentee. 

37 


578  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

"  The  Columlbian  (O'Rielly's)  Telegraph  does  not  profess  to  accomplish 
a  new  purpose  or  produce  a  new  result.  Its  object  and  effect  is  to  com- 
municate intelligence  at  a  distance,  at  the  end  of  the  main  line  and  at  the 
local  circuits  on  its  way.  And  this  is  done  by  means  of  signs  or  letters  im- 
pressed on  paper  or  other  material.  The  object  and  purpose  of  the  Tele- 
graph is  the  same  with  that  of  Professor  Morse. 

''  Does  he  use  the  same  means  ?  Substantially,  we  think  he  does,  both 
upon  the  main  line  and  in  the  local  circuits.  He  uses  upon  the  main  line 
the  combination  of  two  or  more  galvanic  or  electric  circuits,  with  inde- 
pendent batteries,  for  the  purpose  of  obviating  the  diminished  force  of  the 
galvanic  current,  and  in  a  manner  varying  very  little  in  form  from  the  in- 
vention of  Professor  Morse.  And  indeed  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  en- 
tire combination  set  forth  in  the  patentee's  third  claim.  For  O'Rielly's 
can  hardly  be  said  to  differ  substantially  and  essentially  from  it.  He  uses 
the  combination  which  composes  the  register,  with  no  material  change  in 
the  arrangement,  or  in  the  elements  of  which  it  consists ;  and  with  the  aid 
of  these  means  he  conveys  intelligence,  by  impressing  marks  or  signs  upon 
paper  ;  these  marks  or  signs  being  capable  of  being  read  and  understood 
by  means  of  an  alphabet,  or  signs  adapted  to  the  purpose.  And  as  re- 
gards the  second  patent  of  Professor  Morse,  for  the  local  circuits,  the  mu- 
tator of  the  defendant  does  not  vary  from  it  in  any  essential  particular. 
All  of  the  efficient  elements  of  the  combination  are  retained,  or  their 
places  supplied  by  well-known  equivalents.  Its  organization  is  essentially 
the  same. 

"Neither  is  the  substitution  of  marks  and  signs  differing  from  those  in- 
vented by  Professor  Morse  any  defense  to  this  action.  His  patent  is  not 
for  the  invention  of  a  new  alphabet,  but  for  a  combination  of  powers  com- 
posed of  tangible  and  intangible  elements,  described  in  his  specification, 
by  means  of  which  marks  or  signs  may  be  impressed  upon  paper  at  a  dis- 
tance, which  can  there  be  read  and  understood.  And  if  any  marks,  or 
signs,  or  letters,  are  impressed  in  that  manner,  by  means  of  a  process  sub- 
stantially the  same  with  his  invention,  or  with  any  particular  part  of  it 
covered  by  his  patent,  and  those  marks  or  signs  can  be  read,  and  thus 
comrnunicate  intelligence,  it  is  an  infringement  of  his  patent.  The  varia- 
tion in  the  character  of  the  marks  would  not  protect  it,  if  the  marks  could 
be  read  and  understood. 

"  We  deem  it  unnecessary  to  pursue  further  the  comparison  between 
the  machinery  of  the  patents.  The  invasion  of  the  plaintiff's  rights,  already 
stated,  authorized  the  injunction  granted  by  the  Circuit  Court,  and  so  much 
of  its  decree  must  be  affirmed.  But  for  the  reasons  hereinbefore  assigned, 
the  complainants  are  not  entitled  to  costs,  and  that  portion  of  the  decree 
must  be  reversed,  and  a  decree  passed  by  this  Court,  directing  each  party 
to  pay  his  own  costs  in  this  and  in  the  Circuit  Court." 

The  opinion  of  Justice  Grier,  concurred  in  by  Justices  Nelson 

and  Wayne,  contained  these  additional  points  : 

"  I  entirely  concur  with  the  majority  of  the  court  that  the  appellee  and 
complainant  below,  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  is  the  true  and  first  inventor  of 
the  recording  telegraph,  and  the  first  who  has  successfully  applied  the 
agent  or  element  of  Nature,  called  electro-magnetism,  to  printing  and  re- 
cording intelligible  characters  at  a  distance ;  and  that  his  patent  of  1840, 
finally  reissued  in  1848,  and  his  patent  for  his  improvements,  as  reissued  in 
the  same  year,  are  good  and  valid ;  and  that  the  appellants  have  infringed 
the  rights  secured  to  the  patentee  by  both  his  patents.  But,  as  I  do  not 
concur  in  the  views  of  the  majority  of  the  court,  in  regard  to  two  great 
points  of  the  case,  I  shall  proceed  to  express  my  own." 


THE   DECISION  FINAL.  579 

Having  given  bis  reasons  at  length,  Judge  Grier  says : 

"  It  is  not  a  composition  of  matter,  or  a  manufacture,  or  a  machine.  It 
is  the  application  of  a  known  element  or  power  of  Nature  to  a  new  and  use- 
ful purpose  by  means  of  various  processes,  instruments,  and  devices,  and, 
if  patentable  at  all,  it  must  come  within  the  category  of  '  a  new  and  useful 
art.'  It  is  as  much  entitled  to  this  denomination  as  the  original  art  of 
printing  itself.  The  name  given  to  it  in  the  patent  is  generally  the  act  of 
the  commissioner,  and  in  this,  as  in  many  other  cases,  a  wrong  one.  The 
true  nature  of  the  invention  must  be  sought  in  the  specification.  The  word 
telegraph  is  derived  from  the  Greek,  and  signifies  to  '  write  afar  off,  or  at 
a  distance.'  It  has  heretofore  been  applied  to  various  contrivances  or  de- 
vices to  communicate  intelligence  by  means  of  signals  or  semaphores  which 
speak  to  the  eye  for  a  moment ;  but  in  its  primary  and  literal  signification 
of  writing,  'printing,  or  recording  at  a  distance,  it  never  was  invented,  per- 
fected, or  put  into  practical  operation,  till  it  was  done  by  Morse.  He  jn*e- 
ceded  Steinheil,  Cooke,  Wheatstone,  and  Davy,  in  the  successful  application 
of  the  mysterious  power  or  element  of  electro-magnetism  to  this  purpose  ; 
and  his  invention  has  entirely  superseded  their  inefficient  contrivances.  It 
is  not  only  '  a  new  and  useful  art,'  if  that  term  means  any  thing,  but  a  most 
wonderful  and  astonishing  invention,  requiring  tenfold  more  ingenuity  and 
patient  experiment  to  perfect  it,  than  the  art  of  printing  with  types  and 
press,  as  originally  invented." 

This  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  established  the  rights  of 
Professor  Morse.  Subsequent  attempts  to  disturb  the  decision 
were  in  vain,  and  the  inventor  lived  to  know  that  this  judgment 
of  the  highest  legal  tribunal  to  which  his  claims  could  be  submit- 
ted, was  also  the  enlightened  verdict  of  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

ROGERS'S   MODIFICATION". 

In  the  }Tear  1848,  Henry  J.  Rogers,  Josiah  Lee,  and  Zenas 
Barnum,  contracted  with  Alexander  Bain,  for  the  right  and  privi- 
lege of  using  his  inventions  and  improvements,  then  made  and 
patented,  in  operating  a  line  of  Telegraphs  between  the  cities  of 
Washington,  Baltimore,  Wilmington,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York, 
and  did  construct  a  line  of  Telegraph  between  those  cities  ;  the  line 
was  finished  from  Washington  to  Baltimore  in  March,  1849 ;  from 
Baltimore  to  Wilmington  in  May,  1849  ;  thence  to  Philadelphia  in 
July,  1849  ;  and  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York  in  December,  1849. 
Mr.  Rogers  being  a  skillful  telegraphic  engineer,  and  not  find- 
ing the  telegraph  of  Mr.  Bain  to  work  satisfactorily,  he  so  modi- 
fied this  form  of  telegraph  as  to  make  it  operate  with  great  satis- 
faction. The  recording  was  effected  by  means  of  the  conjoined  in- 
fluence of  electro-chemical  and  chemical  composition  and  decompo- 
sition— the  electro-chemical  decomposition  arising  from  an  electrical 
current  being  transmitted  through  bibulous  paper,  satvirated  with  a 
solution  of  yellow  prussiate  of  potash,  a  small  quantity  of  dilute 


580  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

nitric  acid,  and  a  small  quantity  of  a  solution  of  cream-of-tartar. 
This  paper  was  placed  upon  the  recording  instrument,  consisting 
essentially  of  a  metallic  disk,  connected  with  clock-work,  capable 
of  rotation  on  its  axis,  and  a  mechanical  connection  with  one  of  the 
wires  of  the  branch  (or  local)  circuit  above  the  plate,  and  the  other 
wire  of  the  branch  circuit  beneath.  The  upper  wire  of  the  branch 
circuit,  consisting  principally  of  a  covered  copper  wire,  was  termi- 
nated by  a  very  fine  short  iron  wire,  acting  as  the  stylus,  at  the  end 
of  which,  in  contact  with  the  prepared  paper,  and  on  its  upper  sur- 
face, dark-blue  marks  were  made  as  the  battery  contacts  were  made 
or  broken  during  the  rotation  of  the  disk. 

The  foregoing  statement,  by  Professor  Rogers,  presents 
the  material  points  in  a  trial  which  occurred  in  Philadelphia, 
September,  1851,  involving  the  originality  of  the  invention 
claimed  by  Professor  Morse.  The  plaintiffs,  who  represented 
the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company  using  Morse's  patents,  al- 
leged that  the  defendants,  who  represented  the  "  Bain  Line " 
from  Washington  to  New  York,  had  violated  the  patents  grant- 
ed to  Morse.     The  counsel  on  both  sides  were  : 

For  Plaintiffs. — Hon.  Amos  Kendall,  of  "Washington ; 
St.  George  T.  Campbell,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia ;  George  Gilford, 
Esq.,  of  New  York ;  and  George  Harding,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia. 

For  Defendants. — Hon.  William  M.  Meredith,  of  Philadel- 
phia ;  Peter  McCall,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia ;  and  Hon.  R.  H. 
Gillett,  of  Washington. 

The  Judges  were  Hon.  P.  C.  Grier  and  Hon.  J.  K.  Kane. 
The  plaintiffs,  B.  B.  French  and  others,  represented  the  "  Mag- 
netic Company,"  and  claimed  damages  from  the  defendants, 
Henry  J.  Rogers  and  others,  who  represented  the  Bain  Line 
Telegraph  between  Washington  and  New  York,  for  alleged 
violations  by  them  of  the  several  patents  granted  to  Professor 
Morse,  whose  assignees  the  plaintiffs  claimed  to  be.  After  a 
protracted  trial,  in  which  voluminous  testimony  was  taken,  and 
the  ablest  counsel  heard,  on  the  3d  of  November  Judge  Kane 
delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court,  Judge  Grier  expressing  his 
concurrence  therein.  A  few  paragraphs  only  from  these  opin- 
ions will  be  cited  here  : 

"  That  he,  Mr.  Morse,  was  the  first  to  devise  and  practise  the  art  of  re- 
cording language,  at  telegraphic  distances,  by  the  dynamic  force  of  the 


JUDGE   KANE'S  DECISION.  581 

electro-magnet ;  or,  indeed,  by  any  agency  whatever,  is,  to  our  minds, 
plain  upon  all  the  evidence.  It  is  unnecessary  to  review  the  testimony  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  this.  His  application  for  a  patent,  in  April,  1838, 
was  preceded  by  a  series  of  experiments,  results,  illustrations,  and  proofs 
of  final  success,  which  leave  no  doubt  whatever  but  that  his  great  inven- 
tion was  consummated  before  the  early  spring  of  1837.  There  is  no  one 
person,  whose  invention  has  been  spoken  of  by  any  witness  or  referred  to 
in  any  book,  as  involving  the  principle  of  Mr.  Morse's  discovery,  but  must 
yield  precedence  of  date  to  this.  Neither  Steinheil,  nor  Cooke  and  Wheat- 
stone,  nor  Davy,  nor  Dyar,  nor  Henry,  had  at  this  time  made  a  recording 
telegraph  of  any  sort.  The  devices  then  known  were  merely  semaphores, 
that  spoke  to  the  eye  for  the  moment — bearing  about  the  same  relation  to 
the  great  discovery  now  before  us,  as  the  Abbe'  Sicard's  invention  of  a 
visual  alphabet  for  the  purposes  of  conversation  bore  to  the  art  of  print- 
ing with  movable  types.  Mr.  Dyar's  had  no  recording  apparatus,  as  he 
expressly  tells  us ;  and  Professor  Henry  had  contented  himself  with  the 
abundant  honors  of  his  laboratory  and  lecture-rooms. 

"When,  therefore,  Mr.  Morse  claimed,  in  his  first  specification,  'the 
application  of  electro-magnets'  'for  transmitting,  by  signs  and  sounds, 
intelligence  between  distant  points,'  and  '  the  mode  and  process  of  record- 
ing or  making  permanently  signs  of  intelligence  transmitted  between  dis- 
tant points  ; '  and  when  in  his  second  specification  he  claimed  '  the  mak- 
ing use  of  the  motive  power  of  magnetism,  when  developed  by  the  action 
of  currents  of  electricity,  as  a  means  of  operating  and  giving  motion  to 
machinery,  which  may  be  used  to  imprint  signals  upon  paper  or  other 
suitable  material,'  '  for  the  purpose  of  telegraphic  communication  ; '  char- 
acterizing his  '  invention  as  the  first  recording  or  printing  telegraph  by 
means  of  electro-magnetism ; '  and  when,  in  his  third,  after  again  describ- 
ing his  machinery  and  process,  he  once  more  characterized  it  in  the  same 
terms,  and  claimed  '  as  the  essence  of  his  invention  the  use  of  .the  motive 
power  of  the  electric  or  galvanic  current '  (electro-magnetism  as  he  now 
terms  it),  'however  developed,  for  marking  or  printing  intelligible  charac- 
ters, signs  of  letters  at  any  distance  ; '  through  these  several  forms  of  spe- 
cification, claiming  and  renewing  his  claim  of  property  in  the  same  inven- 
tion, as  it  seems  to  us — and  claiming  in  each  and  all  of  them  no  more, 
as  it  also  seems  to  us,  than  he  was  justly  entitled  to  claim — he  declared 
the  existence  of  a  new  art,  asserted  his  right  as  its  inventor  and  owner, 
and,  announcing  fully  its  nature  and  elements,  invoked  in  return  the  con- 
'tracted  protection  of  the  laws. 

"  From  this  time  his  title  was  vested  as  patentee  of  the  art,  and  other 
men  became  competitors  with  him  only  in  the  work  of  diversifying  and 
perfecting  his  details.  He  himself  used  the  stylus,  to  impress  paper  or 
parchment,  or  wax-coated  tablets,  it  may  be  ;  though  he  sometimes  made 
a  colored  record  by  the  friction  of  a  pencil :  another  substitutes  a  liquid 
pigment,  or  stains  his  paper  with  a  chemical  ink :  the  next  perhaps  stains 
his  paper  beforehand,  and  writes  on  it  by  decomposing  the  coloring  mat- 
ter :  and  another  yet,  more  studious  of  originality  than  the  rest,  writes  in 
a  cyclovolute,  instead  of  a  straight  line,  and  manufactures  his  ink  as  he 
goes  along,  by  decomposing  the  tip  of  his  stylus  on  a  chemically-moist- 
ened paper.  They  are  no  doubt  all  of  them  inventors ;  as  was  the  man 
who  first  cast  types  in  a  mould,  or  first  bent  metal  into  the  practical  sem- 
blance of  the  gray  goose-quill,  or  first  devised  sympathetic  ink,  that  the 
curious  in  letter-writing  might  veil  their  secrets  from  the  profane.  All 
these  toiled  ingeniously  and  well,  to  advance  and  embellish  a  preexisting 
art.  But  they  had  no  share  in  the  discovery  of  the  art  itself,  and  can  no 
more  claim  to  share  the  property,  which  its  discovery  may  have  conferred 


582  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

on  another,  than  he  who  has  devised  some  appropriate  setting  for  a  gem, 
can  assert  an  interest  in  the  gem  itself. 

"  That  the  local  or  independent  circuit,  as  we  have  described  it,  and  as 
it  is  more  accurately  and  perhaps  more  intelligibly  set  out  by  Mr.  Morse  in 
his  specification,  was  original  with  him,  cannot  be  seriously  questioned. 
The  devices  referred  to  in  the  patents  of  Cooke  and  Wheatstone,  and 
Davy,  are  at  least  imperfect  modifications  of  the  combined  series  of  Mr. 
Morse's  first  patent ;  one  of  them  not  improbably  borrowed  from  it.  The 
adjustable  receiving  magnet,  the  indispensable  and  characteristic  element 
of  the  local  circuit  patent,  no  one  has  claimed  but  himself. 

"  It  is  only  to  make  the  first  approach  to  a  controversy  on  this  point,  to 
prove  to  us  that  Professor  Henry  had  as  early  as  1828  made  the  intensity 
magnet,  with  which  the  scientific  world  is  now  familiar — or  that  he  after- 
ward, and  before  Mr.  Morse's  first  application  for  a  patent,  had  illustrated 
before  his  classes  at  Princeton,  the  manner  in  which  one  circuit  could 
operate  to  hold  another  closed  or  to  break  it  at  pleasure — or  that  he  had 
foreseen  the  applicability  of  his  discoveries  to  the  purposes  of  a  telegraph. 
The  question  is  not  one  of  scientific  precedence ;  and,  if  it  were,  this  is 
not  the  forum  that  could  add  to  or  detract  from  the  eminent  fame  of  Mr. 
Henry.  It  is  purely  a  question  of  invention  applied  in  a  practical  form 
to  a  specific  use ;  and,  so  regarded,  it  admits  but  of  a  single  answer." 

After  we  have  given  these  judicial  decisions,  so  intelligent, 
discriminating,  impartial,  and  exhaustive,  demonstrating  the  sole 
and  indisputable  right  of  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  to  the  invention 
of  the  recording  Telegraph,  it  is  certainly  not  necessary  for  us 
to  argue  the  question.  Envy  or  ignorance  may  still  deny  to 
the  inventor  the  honor  which  the  courts  and  the  world  have 
awarded  him,  but  the  verdict  is  irreversible. 

bain  and  house. 

Two  suits  for  infringement  were  conducted  by  the  propri- 
etors of  Professor  Morse's  patents,  in  which  their  applications 
for  injunction  were  denied.  They  are  known  as  the  House  and' 
Bain  cases.  House  devised  an  instrument  of  wonderful  inge- 
nuity for  printing  messages  in  Roman  letters,  employing  axial 
magnetism,  a  device  developed  by  Dr.  Charles  Gr.  Page.  It  was 
claimed  that  Professor  Morse,  having  been  the  first  to  invent  a 
method  of  recording  the  message,  by  means  of  electro-magnet- 
ism, was  entitled  to  the  exclusive  use  of  the  electrical  force  as 
a  telegraphic  agent,  by  whatever  device  a  current  might  record 
the  message.  The  phraseology  of  the  patent,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  court,  did  not  sustain  the  claim.  While  the  invention 
dated  back  to  1832,  the  patent  was  not  applied  for  until  1837, 
and  was  not  issued  till  1840.  Steinheil  had  used  a  recording 
magneto-electric  telegraph  in  1837,  and  Gauss  and  Weber  had 


HOUSE,  BAIN,  AND   JACKSON.  583 

pointed  out  in  print,  the  device  by  which  to  accomplish  it,  in 
1833.  Bain  had  succeeded  in  employing  the  electric  current  to 
effect  the  solution  of  an  iron  wire,  resting  upon  paper  in  motion, 
saturated  with  yellow  prussiate  of  potash  and  weak  nitric  acid. 
When  the  current  flowed,  the  iron  dissolved,  and  at  the  instant, 
by  the  action  of  the  acid  and  prussiate  of  potash,  a  blue  stain  was 
produced.  If  the  contact  was  but  for  a  moment,  a  dot  was  pro- 
duced ;  if  for  an  appreciable  interval  of  time,  a  line  was  produced. 
Bain  used  Morse's  alphabet,  but  he  effected  a  visible  record  by 
a  method  wholly  his  own.  The  decisions  do  not  apply  to  any 
thing  Professor  Morse  did.  While  acquiescing  in  his  claims, 
they  simply  assert  that  House's  and  Bain's  modes  were  each  new 
as  regards  that  of  Professor  Morse,  and  that  the  language  of  his 
patent  could  not  be  construed  to  exclude  all  possible  forms  of 
using  electrical  force  to  produce  a  recorded  telegraphic  message. 
The  question  was  in  the  phraseology  of  the  patent ;  the  work- 
ing invention  going  back  to  1835,  two  years  before  Steinheil's 
successful  exhibition  of  his  invention,  was  unquestionably  the 
first  electro-magnetic  recording  telegraph. 

The  House  invention  is  now  employed  only  in  a  modified 
form  in  combination  with  other  inventions  in  stock-reporting 
instruments.  The  Bain  principle  is  employed  to  a  limited  ex- 
tent only  in  various  systems  of  automatic  telegraphs,  but  for  the 
general  business  of  telegraphing,  it  has  been,  like  the  House, 
superseded  by  the  Morse  system. 

DR.    JACKSON'S    PRETENSIONS. 

More  annoying  than  any  of  these  lawsuits,  was  a  claim  set 
up  by  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  as  the  original  inventor  of  the 
Telegraph.  He  was  one  of  the  passengers  on  the  Sully,  and 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  conversation  which  led  Mr.  Morse  to 
conceive  the  idea  of  the  instrument  which  he  afterward  con- 
structed. The  pertinacity  with  which  Dr.  Jackson  insisted  upon 
his  right  to  the  honor  of  the  invention,  in  spite  of  the  clearest 
evidence  to  the  contrary,  led  Mr.  Morse  to  state  publicly  that  he 
believed  the  claim  to  be  the  result  of  a  disordered  intellect. 
Subsequent  events  make  it  evident  that  this  charitable  view  was 
also  just.  The  same  claimant  asserted  his  right  to  the  discov- 
ery of  gun-cotton,  anaesthetic  agents  and  the  circulation  of  the 


584  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

blood.  As  his  pretensions  to  the  invention  of  the  Telegraph 
were  exploded  by  the  courts,  and  exposed  in  a  document  by 
Hon.  Amos  Kendall,  widely  published,  it  is  not  necessary  to  bur- 
den these  pages  with  the  correspondence  between  the  claimant 
and  the  inventor. 

JSTor  is  it  important  to  report  the  various  lawsuits  which  arose 
in  the  extension  of  the  Telegraph  by  rival  lines,  with  conflict- 
ing claims.  It  was  the  practice  of  the  Morse  Company  to  grant 
the  use  of  their  instruments  to  parties  constructing  lines  of  tel- 
egraph, and  to  take  stock  in  such  lines  as  the  consideration  for 
the  use  of  their  patent.  Conflicts  naturally  arose.  The  Morse 
partners  themselves  became  divided  in  interest.  Complicated 
and  protracted  litigations  ensued.  Large  sums  of  money  were 
expended.  The  life  of  the  great  inventor  was  embittered.  At 
times  he  apprehended  that  he  would  be  reduced  again  to  abject 
poverty.  But  in  the  end  justice  was  triumphant.  Whatever 
rewar.d  of  merit  the  world  can  bestow,  was  secured  to  Professor 
Morse  in  his  lifetime — a  lot  that  falls  to  few  great  inventors. 
The  decision  of  the  courts,  and  testimony  that  is  now  incontro- 
vertible, justify  the  following 

SUMMARY   OF  PROFESSOR   MORSE'S   ACHIEVEMENTS. 

1.  The  Electro-Magnetic  Recording  Telegraph.  This  involved 
the  fillet  of  paper  moving  by  clock-work  with  uniform  velocity 
under  the  lever-pen,  rising  and  falling  at  measured  intervals,  con- 
trolled by  the  transmitting  key  operating  the  electro-magnet  through 
the  opening  and  closing  of  the  galvanic  circuit.  It  included  the 
mathematical  and  mechanical  conception  of  the  combination  of 
dots,  lines,  and  spaces,  to  stand  for  letters,  whether  recorded  chem- 
ically or  by  pressure. 

2.  The  combined  series,  or  relay,  which  made  it  practical  to 
transmit  from  any  station  intelligence  to  any  point,  however  far,  and 
to  receive  and  record  messages  at  the  end,  and  at  all  intermediate 
points,  however  numerous. 

3.  The  first  practical  determination  that  the  galvanic  force 
could  be  made  actually  operative  through  sufficiently  great  dis- 
tances without  repetition,  to  render  the  recording  telegraph  a  prac- 
tical success,  suited  to  public  use. 

4.  The  electro-magnetic  sounder,  or  acoustic  semaphore,  with 
an  alphabet  corresponding  to  dots,  lines,  and  spaces. 


MORSE'S  INSTRUMENTS.  585 

5.  The  stopping  apparatus,  for  controlling  the  movement  of  the ' 
fillet  of  paper  at  a  distant  station  through  the  key  of  the  transmit- 
ting office. 

6.  The  combination  of  the  battery  of  Volta,  improved  by  Dan- 
iell ;  the  electro-magnet  of  Sturgeon ;  the  multiplied  insulated  coil, 
and  the  battery  of  many  pairs  and  long-conducting  wire  of  Henry ; 
and  the  single  wire  and  earth  circuit  of  Steinheil,  with  his  own 
writing  and  registering  apparatus,  including  the  key,  lever-pen, 
moving  fillet  of  paper,  stopping  apparatus,  and  register-magnet; 
his  own  alphabet  of  dots,  lines,  and  spaces,  and  his  own  relay  work- 
ing with  an  intensity  battery — all  proportioned  and  adjusted  in  a 
harmonious  whole  of  extreme  simplicity,  and  adapted  to  practical 
working  for  every-day  public  use. 

7.  He  suggested  to  Arago,  in  1839,  the  use  of  the  electro- 
magnetic recording  telegraph  for  determinations  of  longitude. 

8.  He  was  the  first  to  lay  a  working  submarine  cable. 

9.  He  is  entitled  to  the  further  honor  of  having  ftraght  and  con- 
quered the  difficulties,  scientific,  pecuniary,  material,  and  in  the 
way  of  legislation  and  litigation,  which  the  effort  to  make  the  in- 
vention useful  and  successful  encountered. 

morse's  patents  and  instruments. 

1.  Professor  Morse's  first  caveat  was  dated  October  3,  1837; 
first  application  for  a  patent  April  7, 1838  ;  patent  granted  June,  20, 
1840 ;  patent  of  June  20,  1840,  was  reissued  January  15,  1846 ; 
patent  granted  April  11,  1846 ;  patent  of  June  20,  1840,  reissued 
June  13,  1848 ;  patent  granted  May  1,  1849 ;  patent  of  1840  ex- 
tended in  1854  for  seven  years  ;  patent  of  April  11,  1846,  extended 
in  1860  for  seven  years. 

2.  The  Morse  Telegraph  is  employed  (1874)  in  America  upon 
about  110,000  miles  of  line,  and  250,000  miles  of  wire,  and  in  for- 
eign countries  upon  about  200,000  miles  of  line,  and  upon  600,000 
miles  of  wire.  It  is  not  much  used  upon  long  submarine  lines  ;  Sir 
William  Thomson's  Mirror  Galvanometer  being  used  as  a  receiving- 
instrument  upon  all  long  submarine  circuits. 

3.  The  total  Telegraph  receipts  throughout  the  world  (in  1874) 
are  about  $40,000,000  per  annum.  The  total  number  of  messages 
is  about  75,000,000. 

4.  The  Morse  Telegraph  apparatus  and  alphabet  now  used  in 
the  United  States  are  the  same,  and  in  Europe  are  substantially 
the  same,  as  invented  by  him.     Receiving  by  sound  is  the  general 


586  LIFE   0F  SAMUEL  F.    B.   MORSE. 

practice  in  America,  and  receiving  on  paper  in  Europe.  As  a  rule, 
the  Morse's  ink-writer  has  superseded  the  embossing  instrument  in 
England  and  on  the  Continent  of  Europe. 

5.  The  principal  improvements  applied  to  the  Morse  system  are, 
the  Repeater,  through  the  use  of  which  messages  may  be  sent  over 
distances  ranging  from  500  to  10,000  miles  without  rewriting,  and 
the  Duplex  apparatus,  invented  by  Joseph  B.  Stearns,  of  Boston, 
for  the  transmission  of  two  messages  in  opposite  directions,  over 
one  wire,  at  the  same  time.  This  latter  invention,  which  is  the 
greatest  addition  made  to  telegraph}'  since  the  great  invention  of 
Professor  Morse,  is  now  successfully  operated  throughout  the 
United  States,  the  Canadas,  Great  Britain,  and  Ireland,  and  is 
being  introduced  upon  the  Continent  of  Europe. 

6.  In  England  the  Post-Office  Telegraph  continues  to  use  a 
variety  of  systems  of  telegraphs,  although  the  bulk  of  the  traffic  is 
performed  by  the  Morse  apparatus.  Of  the  8,284  instruments  in 
use  there,  3,582  are  Wheatstone  needle  instruments,  2,367  Wheat- 
stone's  A  B  C,  394  Bright's  bell,  98  Wheatstone's  automatic,  23 
Hughes's  letter-printing,  and  1,720  Morse  ink-writers  and  sounder. 
On  the  Continent  of  Europe  12,938  Morse  apparatus  are  employed, 
against  508  Hughes's  letter-printing,  and  2,529  telegraph  instru- 
ments of  all  other  kinds  ! 

TELEGRAPH    COMPANIES   EST   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Within  the  first  seven  years  of  the  operations  of  Morse's 
Telegraph,  there  were  more  than  fifty  separate  organizations  in 
the  United  States  in  actual  existence  at  the  same  time.  In  the 
year  1851  a  few  of  them  were  consolidated  under  one  manage- 
ment. Still,  the  great  number  of  separate  lines  in  operation  pre- 
vented that  unity  and  dispatch  in  conducting  the  business  so  es- 
sential to  its  success,  and  the  public  failed  to  secure  everywhere 
the  benefits  of  direct  and  reliable  communication.  Telegraphic 
correspondence  between  the  Eastern,  Western,  and  Southern 
sections,  was  not  only  burdened  with  several  tariffs,  but  with  un- 
necessary delays.  Messages  under  this  system  required  copying 
and  retransmission  at  the  termini  of  each  local  line,  and  this 
process  not  only  occupied  time,  but  was  frequently  the  cause  of 
errors,  which  rendered  the  service  of  little  value.  The  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company  was  originally  organized  as  the  New 
York  and  Mississippi  Yalley  Printing  Telegraph  Company,  on 


WESTERN   UNION   TELEGRAPH   COMPANY.  587 

the  1st  of  April,  1S51,  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  line  from 
Buffalo,  New  York,  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  On  the  30th  of 
March,  1854,  they  purchased  the  lines  of  the  Lake  Erie  Tele- 
graph Company,  extending  from  Buffalo  to  Detroit,  and  from 
Cleveland  to  Pittsburg ;  and,  on  the  29th  of  April,  1854,  se- 
cured control  of  the  lines  of  the  Cleveland  and  Cincinnati,  the 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  and  the  Ohio  Telegraph  Companies. 
The  AVestern  Union  gradually  swallowed  up  more  and  more  of 
the  various  lines,  until,  in  twenty  years,  it  effected  a  complete 
unification  of  the  great  majority  of  the  telegraph-lines  in  the 
United  States,  and  rendered  the  system  the  most  extensive  and 
efficient  in  the  world.  The  territory  now  occupied  by  the  lines 
of  this  company  embraces  almost  the  entire  civilized  portion  of 
the  Continent  of  North  America.  On  the  eastern  coast  its  lines 
extend  from  Plaister  Cove,  on  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  to 
Brownsville,  on  the  Rio  Grande  ;  and,  on  the  western  coast, 
from  San  Diego,  California,  to  the  fisheries  on  the  Kishyox 
River,  eight  hundred  miles  north  of  New  Westminster,  British 
Columbia.  They  reach  across  the  continent,  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  embrace  every  State  and  Territory  in 
the  Union.  The  consolidations  which  have  resulted  in  the 
Western  Union  connect  with  the  British  provinces,  and  by  the 
Cuba  and  the  Atlantic  cables  with  the  whole  world.  The  man- 
agement of  this  immense  organization  is  in  the  hands  of  Wil- 
liam Orton,  Esq.,  president  of  the  company,  a  gentleman  of 
great  executive  ability,  whose  administration  has  given  to  this 
company  a  success  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  tele- 
graphic enterprise.  The  accomplished  electrician  of  the  com- 
pany, George  B.  Prescott,  Esq.,  has  charge  of  all  matters  of  a 
scientific  or  technical  character  pertaining  to  the  service,  includ- 
ing the  investigation  of  new  inventions  in  telegraphy,  and  from 
time  to  time  authorizes  such  changes  and  modifications  of  the 
instruments,  insulators,  and  other  parts  of  the  apparatus,  as  to 
enable  the  company  to  fully  keep  pace  with  the  progress  of  dis- 
covery. 

In  the  report  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  to 
its  stockholders,  1869,  the  following  testimony  is  borne  to  the 
superiority  of  the  invention  of  Professor  Morse,  and  its  practical 
indorsement  by  other  companies  : 


588  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  Nearly  all  the  machinery  employed  by  the  company  belongs 
to  the  Morse  system.  This  telegraph,  indeed,  is  now  used  almost 
exclusively  everywhere,  and  the  time  will  probably  never  come  when 
it  will  cease  to  be  the  leading  system  of  the  world.  Of  more  than 
a  hundred  devices  that  have  beep  made  to  supersede  it,  not  one  has 
succeeded  in  accomplishing  its  purpose,  and  it  is  used  at  the  pres- 
ent time  upon  more  than  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  all  the  telegraph 
lines  in  existence.  The  almost  universal  use  of  this  apparatus  is 
due  to  its  simplicity  and  peculiar  adaptability  to  the  telegraphic 
traffic  of  every  country.  It  employs  electro-magnetism  in  the  sim- 
plest form  ;  and  its  alphabet,  when  produced  at  a  distance  through 
the  aid  of  the  electric  current,  is  read  with  equal  facility  by  sight 
and  sound,  and  can  be  readily  interpreted  by  two  of  the  other 
senses." 

Thus  have  we  seen,  in  the  rapid  review  of  this  chapter,  that 
the  invention  of  Professor  Morse,  by  the  decision  of  the  most 
competent  scientists,  and  the  highest  judicial  tribunals,  is  distinct 
and  different  from  all  others  that  claim  priority  to  his,  and  by 
the  more  practical  and  absolutely  impartial  and  irreversible  ver- 
dict of  use,  its  superiority  is  attested  by  ninety-five  out  of  every 
hundred  telegraph-lines  on  the  face  of  the  earth !  More  than 
one  hundred  devices  have  been  made  to  supersede  it ;  not  one 
has  succeeded  in  accomplishing  its  purpose.  This  fact  is  stronger 
proof  than  the  arguments  of  counsel,  the  opinions  of  judges,  or 
the  claims  of  science,  and  renders  it  certain  that  in  all  future  ages 
the  present  Recording  Telegraph  will  be  recognized  as  exclu- 
sively the  invention  of  Mouse. 


CHAPTEE   XT. 

1847-1854:.— BEST   AND   REWAKDS. 

A  HOME  AT  LAST — PURCHASE  OF  A  COUNTRY-SEAT  AND  FARM  AT  POUGH- 
EEEPSIE — MARRIAGE — SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE — LOTE  OF  NATURE — 
BIRDS — HIS  NEIGHBORS'  ESTEEM — LETTER  TO  HIS  DAUGHTER — REMBRANDT 
PEALE  VISITS  MORSE — LETTER  OF  BENSON  J.  LOSSING — HOUSE  IN  THE  CITY 
OF  NEW  YORK — LETTER  TO  ARAGO — ADOPTION  OF  THE  MORSE  SYSTEM  BY 
THE  GERMAN  CONVENTION — EXTENSION  INTO  DENMARK,  SWEDEN,  RUSSIA, 
AND  AUSTRALIA — HONORARY  DISTINCTIONS  AND  TESTIMONIALS — SCIEN- 
TIFIC  BODIES — YALE   COLLEGE — FOREIGN   GOVERNMENTS. 

UP  to  this  time,  1847,  Mr.  Morse  had  never  enjoyed  a, 
home  since  in  youth  he  left  his  father's  house.  For 
brief  periods,  at  intervals,  he  had  found  rest  under  the  pater- 
nal roof,  and  after  his  first  marriage  he  established  his  family 
in  ISTew  Haven;  but  his  own  occupations  were  elsewhere, 
and  he  was  only  an  occasional  visitor,  where  he  desired  to  be 
at  home.  His  letters  to  his  wife  were  full  of  ardent  long- 
ings for  the  time  when  he  should  be  no  longer  an  exile.  His 
domestic  attachments  were  intense,  and  the  separation  from  his 
family  in  the  highest  degree  painful.  After  the  death  of  his 
wife,  when  his  children  were  scattered,  the  sense  of  desolation 
was  greater  still.  He  was  a  stranger  everywhere.  Poverty 
forbade  him  to  have  a  home.  "When  the  Telegraph  began  to 
yield  him  a  moderate  income  with  the  prospect  of  indefinite 
increase,  he  sought  without  delay  for  a  spot  where  he  might 
gather  his  children  around  him,  and  at  last  enjoy  the  luxury  of 
his  own  house.  He  was  now  fifty-six  years  old.  It  was  high 
time  that  he  found  a  home  if  he  would  have  one  on  earth. 
He  consulted  with  his  brothers  and  other  friends  as  to  the  loca- 
tion.    His  brother  Richard  wrote  to  him  :  "  Wherever  we  set- 


590  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

tie  ourselves,  obligations  of  a  social  and  religions  character  will 
be  imposed  upon  us.  Our  children  must  have  as  good  institu- 
tions as  we  have  enjoyed.  Our  standard  of  religious  habits  and 
conduct  must  be  as  high  as  in  the  best  parts  of  New  England." 
His  attention  was  directed  to  a  place  near  Poughkeepsie,  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson  River,  in  Dutchess  County  and 
State  of  JSTew  York,  about  seventy-five  miles  north  of  the  city. 
Here  he  purchased  about  two  hundred  acres  of  land.  A  farm- 
house on  it  was  his  abode  while  he  completed  a  mansion  adapted 
to  his  wants,  his  tastes,  and  his  means.  He  gave  to  the  place 
the  name  of  "  Locust  Grove,"  not  knowing  that  it  had  borne  the 
same  name  in  former  years.  There  he  gathered  his  children  and 
their  children,  and  for  the  first  time  knew  what  it  was  to  have  a 
house  and  home  of  his  own.  In  the  year  following  this  pur- 
chase he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Griswold,  the  daughter 
of  his  cousin.  She  was  born  December  25, 1 822,  at  Fort  Brady, 
Sault  St.  Mary's,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Superior.  Her  father  was 
an  officer  in  the  IL  S.  Army.  Her  grandfather  was  Arthur 
Breese,  Esq.,  of  TTtica,  ISTew  York,  and  her  grandmother  was 
Catharine  Livingston,  of  Poughkeepsie.  After  his  marriage 
Professor  Morse  discovered  that  the  place  he  had  purchased  had 
once  been  the  property  of  his  wife's  great-grandfather,  who  had 
called  his  place  "  Locust  Grove."  Her  grandmother,  Catharine 
Livingston,  when  a  child,  had  fallen  into  the  well,  near  the  old 
cottage,  and  was  rescued  by  the  nurse,  who  descended  into  the 
well  by  the  bucket,  and  saved  the  life  of  the  girl.  "When  the 
child  grew  up  and  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Arthur  Breese, 
she  was  wont  to  stand  beneath  an  immense  oak-tree  and  with 
her  handkerchief  wave  a  welcome  to  her  lover  as  he  came  up 
the  river  on  a  sloop,  which  was  then  the  mode  of  travel  up  and 
down  the  Hudson.  This  tree  was  called  the  "Breese  tree," 
and  stood  there  until  within  a  few  years,  when  it  was  unhappily 
destroyed  by  a  stroke  of  lightning.  A  spacious  and  beautiful 
house,  in  the  style  of  an  Italian  villa,  being  finished,  Mr.  Morse 
removed  from  the  cottage,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  family  and 
friends  sat  down  to  the  enjoyment  of  that  rest  and  peace  which 
had  hitherto  been  denied  him.  His  business  affairs  were  in 
the  hands  of  a  trusted,  faithful,  and  able  agent,  and  he  fondly 
hoped  that  they  would  be  conducted  without  his  care.      But 


HOME  ON  THE   HUDSON.  591 

so  wide-spread  had  become  the  relations  of  the  Telegraph  in 
the  affairs  of  the  country  and  the  world,  it  was  necessary  for 
him  to  be  constantly  on  the  alert  for  the  protection  of  his 
own  interests,  and  to  defeat  the  arts  of  those  who  sought  to 
deprive  him  of  the  fame  as  well  as  the  fortune  which  he  had 
fairly  won.  The  battle  of  life  was  only  begun  when  he  thought 
it  was  ended  and  the  victory  secure.  His  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Kendall  was  incessant  and  voluminous.  The  lawsuits  in 
which  he  was  compelled  to  engage  required  of  him  a  vast  amount 
of  personal  labor,  preparing  argument  and  illustration,  searching 
and  arranging  testimony,  and  meeting  the  objections  which  the 
selfishness,  the  envy,  or  the  ignorance  of  his  opponents  inter- 
posed to  rob  him  of  his  due. 

The  retirement  of  his  place  on  the  Hudson  was  favorable 
to  study,  and  his  habits  of  industry  were  such  that  he  made 
the  most  of  his  time.  Into  a  large  and  beautiful  library  he 
brought  all  the  fruits  of  science  and  art  that  would  aid  him  in 
his  inquiries,  and  with  plodding  perseverance  he  worked  as 
steadily  in  his  age  and  leisure,  as  when  struggling  under  the 
burden  of  poverty  to  bring  out  his  great  invention.  The  wires 
of  the  Telegraph  that  connected  Poughkeepsie  with  New  York, 
passed  near  his  house,  and  by-and-by  one  of  them  was  led  into 
his  library !  Here,  with  the  instrument  of  his  own  invention  on 
the  table  at  his  right  hand,  he  sat  and  conversed  at  his  ease  with 
friends  and  correspondents  in  distant  parts  of  the  land!  As 
years  rolled  on,  and  these  wires  were  stretched  still  farther,  and 
by-and-by  beneath  the  ocean  to  foreign  shores,  making  a  reality 
of  every  prophecy  he  had  uttered  when  wise  men  thought  him 
deluded  or  mad,  he  still  sat  in  his  chair,  in  his  own  house  in  the 
country,  far  from  the  city  and  the  sea,  and,  when  he  would,  he 
could  speak  to  men  in  Europe  as  if  they  were  in  an  adjoining 
room !  He  believed  he  would,  when  he  was  in  the  ship  Sully  in 
1832.  He  said  he  would,  when  he  was  in  his  garret  in  1837. 
It  was  done  in  the  year  1866.  Nothing  in  the  history  of  human 
progress  is  more  sublime  and  beautiful  than  this !  Never  were 
the  visions  of  imagination,  the  calculations  of  reason,  and  the 
deductions  of  science,  more  completely  and  practically  accom- 
plished within  the  lifetime  of  the  seer,  the  philosopher,  and  the 
sage. 


592  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Identifying  himself  as  a  neighbor,  a  citizen,  and  Christian, 
with  the  community  of  which  he  had  now  became  a  member, 
he  bore  the  responsibilities,  discharged  the  duties,  and  enjoyed 
the  pleasures  of  his  new  position  with  earnestness,  ability,  and 
zest.  His  hand  and  heart  were  always  open  to  every  good  work, 
and  his  fellow-citizens  delighted  to  know  him  as  a  model  of 
every  manly  and  generous  virtue.  William  H.  Crosby,  Esq.,.  of 
Poughkeepsie,  in  a  note  to  the  author,  speaks  of  Professor 
Morse  in  these  just  and  graceful  words : 

"  His  quiet,  unostentatious  life,  among  us,  displayed  no  promi- 
nent incidents  that  would  find  employment  for  the  pen  of  a  biog- 
rapher, while  at  the  same  time  it  was  sufficiently  marked  to  reveal 
to  all,  who  were  thown  into  his  company,  the  liberal,  kind-hearted, 
courteous,  unpresuming,  Christian  gentleman.  Though  his  name 
was  blazed  abroad  in  every  land  as  that  of  one  whose  invention  had 
been  the  source  of  so  many  blessings  to  his  fellow-creatures,  though 
crowned  heads  had  vied  with  each  other  in  loading  him  with  hon- 
ors, no  pride  nor  arrogance  displayed  itself  in  his  social  intercourse ; 
on  the  contrary,  his  whole  conduct  and  conversation  proved  him 
to  be  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  his  first  electric  and  electrifying 
message,  and  to  be  ever  ready  to  give  to  God  all  the  glory.  His 
house  was  a  place  of  delightful  resort,  and  his  uniform  kindness 
and  courtesy  to  his  visitors,  of  whatever  rank  or  station,  coupled 
with  an  easy  dignity  of  manners,  always  left  upon  their  minds  the 
impression  that  they  had  been  in  the  presence,  if  not  of  a  brilliant, 
yet  of  a  truly  great  man.  As  wealth  and  honors  poured  in  upon 
him,  his  neighbors  and  friends  found  little  or  no  change  in  his  social 
conduct,  although  his  mode  of  life  and  style  of  equipage  had  kept 
pace  with  the  increase  of  his  means.  His  liberality  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  outlay  of  his  purse.  He  was  ever  ready  to  do  a  kind- 
ness to  a  neighbor,  even  at  the  cost  of  great  personal  inconvenience 
and  toil.  I  will  mention  but  one  instance  out  of  many  of  his  self- 
denying  kindness.     While  riding  into  town  one  day  his  attention 

was  arrested  by  observing  that  the  woods  of  Mrs.  L were  on  fire, 

and  that,  if  not  speedily  extinguished,  the  mansion  would  be  en- 
dangered. Regardless  of  his  years,  of  the  business  that  was  taking 
him  to  town,  of  the  quality  of  his  apparel,  he  sprang  from  his  car- 
riage, and  went  to  work  with  such  a  will  that,  with  the  assistance 
of  a  few  others,. in  a  little  while  the  danger  was  over.  As  my  in- 
formant remarked,  he  worked  harder  and  more  efficiently  than  any 


LETTER   TO   MRS.  LIND.  593 

common  laborer  on  the  ground.  One  striking  characteristic  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse — and  one  which,  no  doubt,  has  already  claimed  your 
attention — was  his  love  of  Nature,  in  all  her  varied  aspects,  and  it 
is  probable  that  regret  for  the  loss  of  those  noble  forest-trees  min- 
gled with  his  kind  feelings  to  a  neighbor,  and  had  its  share  in  prompt- 
ing him  to  active  exertion  on  the  occasion  above  mentioned." 

One  of  the  many  letters  to  his  beloved  daughter,  Mrs.  Lind, 
residing  in  the  West  Indies,  was  written  Avhen,  having  completed 
the  payments  on  his  estate,  he  was  able  to  call  it  his  own : 

"Locust  Grove,  May  14,  1848. 

"  I  snatch  a  few  moments,  my  dear  Susan,  to  commence  a  letter 
to  you,  and  to  thank  you  for  your  frequent  and  most  acceptable  let- 
ters. Locust  Grove  is  now  mine,  that  is  to  say,  it  is  loaned  to  me 
by  our  heavenly  Father,  just  so  long  as  he  shall  see  fit  to  permit 
us  to  enjoy  it.  I  have  paid  off  the  bond  and  mortgage  on  the  1st 
instant,  and  it  is  now  free  of  incumbrance,  but  it  has  drained  my 
money-cistern  quite  dry.  Economy,  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances right  and  proper,  is  now  more  than  ever  necessary.  I 
have  fresh  attacks  on  my  rights,  and  I  am  kept  in  a  continual  atti- 
tude of  defense,  and  from  so  many  quarters,  that  were  it  not  for  the 
trust  I  have  in  him  who  has  thus  far  carried  me  through  difficulties 
that  seemed  at  the  time  perfectly  insurmountable,  I  should  almost 
give  up  in  despair  so  persevering  and  so  reckless  and  vindictive 
is  the  opposition  that  is  made  to  me.  Within  a  few  weeks  a  new 
and  more  threatening  attack  has  come  from  the  other  side  of  the 
water.  Mr.  Bain,  a  Scotchman,  who  has  succeeded  in  England  in 
an  ingenious  piece  of  mechanism,  has  applied  for  a  patent  for  a 
mode  of  marking.  It  seems  that  it  is  the  very  mode  which  I  first 
devised  on  board  the  ship,  applied  in  1836,  and  in  January,  1847,  en- 
tered a  caveat  and  applied  for  a  patent  at  our  Patent-Office  in  July 
last.  Mr.  Bain  has  just  applied  for  a  patent  for  the  same  thing ;  he 
is  allowed  to  go  back  in  his  proofs  to  the  date  of  his  English  pat- 
ent, which  is  in  December,  1816,  about  one  month  before  my  caveat. 
I  must  prove  my  invention  before  that  date  (December,  1816),  or 
he  gets  his  patent  and  I  lose  mine  (the  one  last  applied  for).  But, 
I  can  prove  priority,  so  that  I  think  I  shall  defeat  him.  The 
case  comes  on  at  Washington  in  July.  Thus  you  see,  my  dear 
children,  my  invention  gives  me  little  ease,  and  much  vexation  and 
anxiety,  or  would,  were  it  not  that  I  can  view  all  as  ordered  by  a 
kind  and  wise  Father.  If  it  is  his  will,  he  can  continue  to  me  the 
38 


594  '  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

credit  and  the  profits  of  the  Telegraph,  or  I  see  that  by  unforeseen 
incidents,  easily  brought  about  by  infinite  power,  he  can  so  throw  a 
cloud  over  both  as  to  deprive  me  entirely  of  the  latter,  and  tempo- 
rarily deprive  me  also  of  the  former.  If  I  use  the  influence  and  the 
property  he  has  bestowed,  merely  for  selfish  purposes,  merely  for 
self-aggrandizement,  and  selfish  pleasure,  he  will  take  them  away  if 
I  am  a  child  of  his,  for  he  will  not  let  these  things  interfere  with  my 
eternal  interest.  I  have  been  thinking  much  of  the  duties  which 
devolve  on  me  in  this  juncture.  I  have  wealth  in  stock,  and  now 
what  portion  ought  to  be  devoted  saoredly  to  the  cause  of  God  ?  I 
have  decided  deliberately,  and  believe  that  I  shall  have  the  hearty 
concurrence  of  my  dear  children,  when  I  tell  them  that  one-tenth  is 
the  portion  that  must  be  set  apart  and  consecrated  to  the  cause  of 
Christian  benevolence.  All,  indeed,  should  be  consecrated  to  him, 
but  this  must  be  a  fund  from  which  all  applications  for  religious 
benevolent  objects  are  to  be  answered.  Days  of  trial  may  come, 
nay,  will  come,  but,  as  our  day  is  our  strength  will  be,  if  we  look 
with  steady  faith  for  help  in  every  time  of  need. 

"  You  may  judge,  from  what  I  have  told  you  of  my  affairs,  that 
I  have  not  much  time  to  write.  I  leave  in  the  morning  for  New 
York  and  Washington,  to  look  after  matters  and  prepare  for  de- 
fense. With  all  the  piracies  and  frauds  upon  me,  I  hope  to  save 
enough  to  give  my  children  a  welcome  reception  in  their  father's 
house  at  all  times.  Years  are  passing ;  age  is  on  its  way ;  how 
long  I  may  be  spared  I  know  not,  but  I  am  beginning  to  feel  a 
stronger  desire  than  ever  to  have  the  society  of  my  dear  children." 

His  life  in  the  country  was  very  simple  and  quiet.  His  hour 
of  rising  was  half-past  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  he  was  in 
his  library  alone  until  breakfast  at  eight.  He  loved  to  hear  the 
birds  in  their  native  songs,  and  he  could  distinguish  the  notes  of 
each  species  of  birds,  and  would  speak  of  the  quality  of  their  re- 
spective music.  He  spent  most  of  the  day  in  reading  and 
writing,  rarely  taking  exercise,  except  walking  in  his  garden  to 
visit  his  graperies,  in  which  he  took  special  pride ;  or  to  the 
stables  to  see  if  his  horses  were  well  cared  for.  He  did  not 
ride  out  regularly  with  his  family,  preferring  the  repose  of  his 
own  grounds  and  the  labors  of  his  study.  But  when  he  walked 
or  rode  in  the  country,  he  was  constantly  disposed  to  speak  of 
the  beauty  and  glory  around  him,  as  revealing  to  his  mind  the 


LOVE   OF  NATURE.  595 

beneficence,  wisdom,  and  power  of  the  infinite  Creator,  who  had 
made  all  these  things  for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  man.  One 
of  his  daughters  writes  of  him  in  these  simple  and  tender  words : 
"  He  loved  flowers.  He  would  take  one  in  his  hand,  and  talk 
for  hours  about  its  beauty,  its  wonderful  construction,  and  the 
wisdom  and  love  of  God  in  making  so  many  varied  forms  of 
lif  e  and  color  to  please  our  eyes.  In  his  later  years  he  became 
deeply  interested  in  the  microscope,  and  purchased  one  of  great 
excellence  and  power.  For  whole  hours,  all  the  afternoon  or 
evening,  he  would  sit  over  it,  examining  flowers,  or  the  animal- 
cula  in  different  fluids.  Then  he  would  gather  his  children 
about  him  and  give  us  a  sort  of  extempore  lecture  on  the  won- 
ders of  creation,  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  but  so  clearly 
brought  to  view  by  the  magnifying  power  of  the  microscope. 
He  was  very  fond  of  animals,  cats  and  birds  in  particular.  He 
tamed  a  little  flying-squirrel,  and  it  became  so  fond  of  him  that 
it  would  sit  on  his  shoulder  while  he  was  at  his  studies,  and 
would  eat  out  of  his  hand  and  sleep  in  his  pocket.  To  this  little 
animal  he  became  so  much  attached  that  we  took  it  with  us  to 
Europe,  where  it  came  to  an  untimely  end  in  Paris,  by  running 
into  an  open  fire." 

Years  passed  by  in  this  delightful  retreat,  out  of  the  world 
but  in  it,  so  in  it  and  of  it  that  every  day,  and  if  needs  be  every 
hour  or  moment,  brought  to  him  intelligence  of  what  was  trans- 
piring in  his  own  country  and  in  distant  lands.  He  had  but  to 
touch  the  keys  of  the  instrument  at  his  side,  and  he  had  the 
attention  of  far-away  friends  with  whom  he  was  in  instant  com- 
munion. He  had  filled  the  earth  with  a  new  nervous  system 
that  responded  to  his  touch  in  every  part,  as  if  it  were  a  living, 
sensitive  being.  He  dispensed  a  generous  hospitality,  which  was 
enjoyed  by  his  friends,  and  not  seldom  by  strangers  who  came 
from  distant  countries  and  desired  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
a  man  whose  fame  was  now  as  extensive  as  civilization  itself. 
The  companions  of  his  early  years,  who  were  with  him  in  his 
contests  with  the  world,  delighted  to  see  him  in  the  evening  of 
his  days,  prosperous,  honored,  and  happy.  Benson  J.  Lossing, 
Esq.,  the  historian  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  a  resident 
of  Poughkeepsie,  has  furnished  a  sketch  of  an  interview  which 
he  enjoyed  with  Professor  Morse  and  the  distinguished  artist, 


596  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

Rembrandt  Peale.     Mr.  Lossing  sliall  speak  with,  his  pen  and 
pencil : 

MOKSE   AND   PEALE. 

"The  Ridge,  Dover  Plains,  N.  Y.,  April,  18V3. 

"  You  ask  me  to  unfold  into  a  record  the  hint  I  gave  you  the 
other  day  about  a  notable  picture.  Memory  always  recalls  that 
picture  with  delight.  It  was  a  marvelous  grouping  of  landscape 
and  figures  by  the  pencil  of  God,  in  forms  and  colors  of  exquisite 
beauty  and  interest.  It  was  a  midsummer  evening  scene.  Oberon 
and  Titania,  Puck  and  Peas-Blossom,  Cobweb,  Moth,  and  Mustard- 
seed,  were  all  there  among  the  shrubs  and  flowers,  for  it  was  the 
home  of  a  great  magician — a  conjurer  more  potent  than  the  King 
of  the  Fairies.  He  had  conquered  Saturn  and  Neptune,  and  his 
chief  minister  had  already  gone  out  to  '  put  a  girdle  round  the  earth 
in  forty  minutes.' 

"  The  time  was  toward  sunset.  The  place  was  a  beautiful  coun- 
try-seat on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  The  grounds  and  the  out- 
look from  them  formed  the  landscape.  Green  lawns,  neat  hedges, 
beds  of  gay  flowers,  and  graveled  paths,  with  aged  men,  accom- 
plished women,  and  young  children  on  them,  composed  the  fore- 
ground. These  were  on  the  verge  of  a  plateau  a  hundred  feet 
above  the  river.  There  stood  magnificent  trees  which  had  been 
young  denizens  of  the  primal  forest,  perhaps,  when  the  Mohican 
hunted  among  them.  From  their  huge  stems  shadows  stretched 
many  a  perch  eastward  in  the  slanting  sunbeams.  Beyond  these 
giants,  westward,  abrupt  and  gentle  slopes  bowed  to .  the  lowly 
meadows,  wedded  to  the  broken  crags  which  skirted  the  margin  of 
the  river.  Beyond  the  shining  waters,  wooded  precipices  arose 
among  golden  wheat-fields  ;  and,  far  away  on  the  northwestern  ho- 
rizon, slumbered  in  misty  azure  the  lofty  Catskill  Mountains.  The 
singing-birds  were  nearly  all  silent,  for  it  was  July ;  but  the  throat 
of  the  swamp-robin  sent  its  clear  notes  far  away  through  the  vistas. 
"  The  chief  figures  in  the  group  were  two  old  men.  They  had 
been  friends  in  their  younger  days,  but  had  not  seen  each  other's 
faces  in  forty  years.  They  had  been  pupils  of  Benjamin  West  at 
the  Royal  Academy  in  England,  one  of  them  half  a  century  before 
this  meeting ;  and  their  countrymen  were  proud  of  the  achievements 
of  both  in  art  and  science.  One  was  in  the  eighty-second  year  of 
his  age  ;  the  other  was  on  the  verge  of  seventy.  The  elder  was 
quite  erect  in  figure,  handsome  in  features,  with  eyes  of  mildest 
blue,  the  complexion  of  a  young  woman,  a  sweet  voice,  and  was 


REMBRANDT,   PEALE,   AND   MORSE.  597 

wearing  a  crown  of'flowing  white  locks.  The  younger  was  tall  and 
slender,  lithe  in  limb,  with  dark,  magnetic  eyes,  benevolence  beam- 
ing from  his  face,  and  a  long  white  beard  covering  his  bosom.  The 
elder  was  Rembrandt  Peale,  who  had  painted  a  portrait  of  Wash- 
ington from  the  living  man.  The  younger  was  Professor  Morse, 
then  (1859)  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame. 

"  Mr.  Peale  and  his  wife  (an  accomplished  artist,  full  thirty  years 
his  junior)  were  spending  a  few  days  with  us  at  Poughkeepsie. 
'  Locust  Grove,'  the  country-seat  of  Professor  Morse,  the  scene  of 
the  picture,  is  about  two  miles  below  that  city.  We  rode  down 
there  with  our  guests  toward  the  close  of  a  summer  day ;  and  at 
the  '  artist's  hour,'  when  the  shadows  are  long  and  thick,  we  strolled 
about  the  grounds  and  saw  the  beautiful  vision  so  dear  to  memory. 

"  It  was  delightful  to  hear  those  venerable  men,  as  they  walked 
among  the  flowers,  call  up  recollections  of  the  past.  Peale  was 
with  West  ten  \Tears  before  Morse  became  that  master's  favorite 
pupil ;  and  Peale's  father  had  been  West's  pupil  thirty  years  before 
his  son  entered  his  studio. 

"  They  talked  of  the  venerable  Copley,  with  whom  the  elder 
Peale  had  studied,  in  Boston ;  of  his  sweet  though  wrinkled  face, 
and  tender  eyes,  and  kindly  manner.  '  He  was  like  a  father  to 
me  while  I  was  in  London,'  said  Peale.  s  A  Tory  in  America,  he 
was  a  republican  in  England.  He  said  to  me  one  day,  "  I  was  the 
first  to  display  the  American  standard  in  England,  after  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  was  acknowledged  by  this-  govern- 
ment." "  How  and  where  ?  "  Tasked.  "  On  my  easel,"  he  replied, 
"  as  part  of  the  background  to  a  portrait  of  your  countryman,  El- 
kanah  Watson.  It  was  painted  on  the  day  when  the  king  sanc- 
tioned the  acknowledgment.' " 

"  '  To  me,'  Morse  said,  '  Copley  was  a  mentor  in  art.  His  dying 
hand  and  feeble  voice  helped  me  in  professional  difficulties  on  sev- 
eral occasions  while  in  London.  He  was  then  painting  his  last 
picture — the  portrait  of  his  son,  who  was  created  Lord  Lyndhurst 
in  1827.' 

"  They  talked  of  Northcote,  whose  bold  aquiline  nose,  lustrous 
eyes,  and  bald  head,  were  notable  at  a  chop-house  in  Cheapside, 
where  he  dined  at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  whose  pictures 
were  annually  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  exhibition  at  Somerset 
House. 

"  Of  pale  little  Flaxman,  the  classic  sculptor,  they  spoke  tender- 
ly.   His  ganius  claimed  their  admiration,  but  his  goodness  was  their 


598  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

favorite  theme,  for  his  abounding  piety  was  like  a  fragrant  blossom, 
ever  exhaling  pure  delight.  They  talked  graciously  of  handsome 
Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  the  '  painter  to  the  king,'  and  the  favorite  of 
the  ladies  as  a  limner  of  feminine  portraits,  for  he  made  the  plain- 
est appear  attractive.  They  had  mutual  reminiscences  of  the  irri- 
table and  excitable  Fuseli  (the  intimate  friend  of  Lavater,  and  the 
originator  of  Alderman  Boydell's  '  Shakespeare  Gallery '),  who  was 
appointed  Keeper  of  the  Royal  Academy  at  about  the  time  when 
Peale  left  London  for  Paris  in  1804. 

"  '  He  often  looked  over  my  shoulder,'  said  Peale,  '  while  I  was 
at  work,  and  criticised  my  drawing  ;  and  whenever  he  saw  a  glar- 
ing error,  he  would  fly  into  a  passion,  declare  I  was  an  unworthy 
son  of  a  worthy  father,  and  end  by  inviting  me  to  sup  with  him  at 
his  lodgings  in  a  back  room  in  Ivy  Lane.' 

"  '  I  well  remember  the  waspish  Switzer,'  Morse  said.  '  He  was 
a  bundle  of  paradoxes.  Learned,  yet  ignorant ;  a  good  artist,  with 
glaring  faults ;  quarrelsome,  but  placable  ;  always  scolding,  yet  al- 
ways kind-hearted.  He  would  reproach  President  West  for  some 
fancied  remissness  in  duty,  and  with  the  next  breath  declare  that 
he  was  the  most  faithful  man  he  knew.  We  all  laughed  at  his 
storms  and  enjoyed  his  sunshine.  West  said  to  me  gravely  one 
day,  after  Fuseli's  tongue  had  run  its  course  :  "  I  verily  believe  the 
good  man  (then  seventy-four  years  of  age)  does  not  desire  to  go  to 
heaven,  because  he  may  find  no  occasion  there  for  storming ;  he 
would  not  endure  the  eternal  serenity  that  prevails  in  the  Land  of 
the  Blest." ' 

"  Concerning  our  own  artists  who  were  their  contemporaries, 
these  venerable  men  exchanged  opinions  freely.  They  spoke  most 
kindly  of  the  blunt,  erratic  Stuart,  under  whose  rugged  exterior 
beat  a  heart  of  sweetest  nature.  The  memory  of  the  ethereal  All- 
ston  they  cherished  with  the  devotion  of  worshipers,  and  confirmed 
the  verdict  of  contemporary  critics,  that  in  coloring  he  was  justly 
styled  the  '  American  Titian.'  Trumbull,  as  an  artist  and  a  man, 
was  not  spoken  of  in  terms  of  admiration ;  but  of  the  genial,  err- 
ing Jarvis,  the  generous  Inman,  and  the  noble  Sully,  they  talked 
lovingly.  Concerning  the  irascible  and  soured  bachelor,  Vanderlyn, 
they  uttered  words  of  mingled  praise  as  an  artist  and  pity  as  a  man. 

"  I  was  particularly  interested  in  listening  to  their  estimate  of 
the  painters  who  have  filled  the  eight  panels  in  the  rotunda  of  the 
national  Capitol  with  historical  pictures.  They  were  agreed  in  the 
opinion  that  Weir's  picture  of  the  '  Embarkation  of  the  Pilgrims ' 


THE  OLD  PAINTERS.  599 

is  the  best  among  them  as  a  work  of  art,  history,  and  sentiment. 
They  regarded  Trumbull's  four  pictures  as  works  of  great  intrinsic 
value,  because  of  the  portraits.  Chapman's  '  Marriage  of  Pocahon- 
tas '  they  considered  more  pleasing  to  the  less- cultivated  popular 
taste  than  to  the  judgment  of  the  skilled  art-critic.  Vanderlyn's 
'  Landing  of  Columbus  '  seemed  to  them  to  be  weak,  and  Powell's 
'  De  Soto  on  the  Mississippi '  as  a  good  painting,  but  an  historical 
improbability  in  its  composition. 

"  But  I  will  not  weary  you  with  further  details  of  my  recollec- 
tions of  their  conversation  upon  art  themes  and  social  memories. 
For  forty  years  these  eminent  Americans  had  been  pursuing  their 
respective  courses  in  life,  within  a  few  leagues  of  each  other,  but 
without  meeting  face  to  face  in  all  that  time.  The  elder,  gentle, 
quiet,  timid,  unassuming,  lacking  in  self-assertion,  and  eminently 
good  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  had  moved  almost  noiselessly  along 
the  flowery  pathways  of  art,  and  was  then  near  the  end  of  his  long- 
journey,  for  he  died  in  the  early  autumn  of  the  next  year.  The 
younger  was  more  actively  ambitious  and  restless,  tenacious  of  his 
rights,  and  quick  to  assert  and  defend  them ;  but  he  was  patient, 
plodding,  persevering,  modest,  and  eminently  good.  He  had,  by 
his  achievements,  made  the  whole  earth,  as  it  were,  resonant  with 
his  praises,  for  he  had  answered  affirmatively  the  great  question  put 
by  God  to  the  Chaldean  emir,  '  Canst  thou1  send  lightnings,  that 
they  may  go,  and  say  unto  thee,  Here  we  are  ?  '  He  had  trained 
for  the  intellectual  uses  of  man  that  subtile  '  soul  of  the  universe ' 
to  which  the  prophet  of  Twickenham  alluded  when  he  wrote  : 

'  It  warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze, 
Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees ; 
Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent, 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent.' 

"  The  men,  the  landscape,  the  hour,  made  a  picture  which  will 
never  fade  from  memory.  We  returned  home  in  the  evening  twi- 
light, with  hearts  full  of  thanksgiving  for  the  opportunity  we  had 
enjoyed.  Yours  faithfully, 

"  Behstson  J.  Lossing." 

In  the  home  to  which  Ms  heart  had  so  fondly  turned  in  all 
the  years  of  his  struggles  with  poverty,  and  the  severer  contests 
with  those  who  sought  to  deprive  him  of  his  rewards,  the  life 
of  Professor  Morse  was  now  tranquilly  flowing.  Several  years 
after  his  purchase  in  Pougbkeepsie,  he  bought  a  large  and  beau- 


600  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.   MORSE. 

tif  ill  house,  ISTo.  5  West  Twenty-second  Street,  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  On  a  vacant  lot  adjoining,  he  erected  an  elegant 
building  for  Ins  library  and  study.  Here  he  established  his 
winter  residence.  Among  his  papers,  found  after  his  death,  is  a 
prayer  which  he  wrote  and  used  on  the  occasion  of  entering 
upon  possession  of  his  house  in  town.  It  was  in  the  central 
part  of  the  city,  adjacent  to  Madison  Square,  and  it  soon  be- 
came the  frequent  resort  of  the  learned  and  the  good,  who 
sought  the  society  of  the  now  famous  inventor,  recognized  as  a 
great  public  benefactor.  But  for  the  vexatious  lawsuits  that 
for  several  years  disturbed  his  peace,  the  life  of  the  retired  phi- 
losopher would  have  been  as  pleasant  as  the  former  years  had 
been  dark  and  stormy.  But  he  was  reminded  constantly  that 
this  world  was  not  his  rest ;  and  he  took  things  as  they  came, 
in  the  firm  persuasion  that  all  would  be  well  in  the  end.  His 
correspondence  with  men  of  science  at  home  and  abroad  in- 
creased rapidly  and  greatly.  His  letters  during  these  years  of 
rest  indicate  the  progress  of  the  Telegraph,  "and  his  own  pur- 
suits.    Writing  to  Arago  in  1851,  he  said  : 

"  At  this  moment  my  system  of  telegraphing  comprises  about 
fifteen  thousand  English  miles  of  conductors  on  this  continent. 
How  far  the  essential  parts  of  my  system  have  been  adopted  in 
Europe  and  Asia,  I  am  unable  to  say.  In  Russia,  it  has  been  inti- 
mated to  me  that  it  is  in  operation ;  and  at  Constantinople  the 
Sublime  Porte  has  it  in  operation  between  two  of  his  military 
schools.  Making  all  due  allowance  for  the  partiality  naturally  felt 
for  one's  own  offspring,  may  I  not  say  that  the  Recording  Telegraph 
is  the  most  efficient  as  well  as  simplest  form  of  the  Telegraph  yet  in- 
vented ?  It  ought  to  be  noticed,  as  a  striking  peculiarity  of  my  sys- 
tem, that  the  sound  given  out  by  the  lever  in  recording  is  as  readily 
understood  by  a  practised  ear  as  the  recorded  characters  are  by  the 
eye.  Many,  and  indeed  most,  of  the  operators  read  from  the  sound 
only,  and  many  will  thus  read  long  dispatches,  while  every  one  un- 
derstands, when  his  station  is  called,  as  readily  as  if  spoken  to  by 
the  human  voice.  There  is  a  practical  advantage  in  this  talking 
hourly  experienced  in  every  telegraph-office  on  the  lines.  This 
characteristic  of  voice  connected  with  recording,  has  led  me  to 
designate  the  principle  of  my  invention  as  Telegraphic  Speech  by 
Electricity — speech  comprehending  intelligible  sounds  and  written 


DR.   JACKSON  EXPOSED.  601 

marks.  The  Recording  Telegraph,  as  a  distinct  genus,  I  have  ever 
claimed  as  my  invention.  There  was  no  Recording  Telegraph  pre- 
vious to  the  invention  of  mine ;  and  it  is  this  function,  par  excel- 
lence, to  wit,  '  recording  J  that  gives  to  it  both  its  peculiarity  and 
great  efficiency.  .  .  .  As  a  commercial  enterprise,  telegraph  stock  in 
the  Morse  lines  has  paid  valuable  dividends.  Their  business  has 
lately  been  embarrassed  by  temporary  and  local  causes  not  affect- 
ing the  merits  of  the  invention,  but  mainly  in  consequence  of  the 
attempts  to  compete  with  and  to  supplant  by  rival  modes. 

"  A  brochure,  entitled  '  Full  Exposure  of  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jack- 
son's Pretensions  to  the  Invention  of  the  American  Electro-Magnetic 
Telegraph,'  was  sent  to  you  and  to  the  Academy  some  time  since 
at  my  request.  The  brochure  was  prepared  from  the  evidence  be- 
fore the  courts,  by  the  Hon.  Amos  Kendall,  formerly  Postmaster- 
General  of  the  United  States.  Much  more,  indeed,  is  admitted  as 
fact,  in  this  expose  in  favor  of  Jackson's  pretensions,  than  truth  will 
warrant.  I  never  met  with  a  case  of  such  reckless  disregard  of 
truth  as  this  of  Dr.  Jackson's.  He  is  not  sustained  by  any  witness 
in  a  single  important  assertion.  The  only  explanation  which  can 
be  given  that  shall  not  implicate  his  moral  character  is  monomania, 
and  to  this  misfortune  I  have  been  willing,  with  many  of  his  friends, 
to  attribute  his  conduct,  provided  I  maj  have  the  benefit  which  is 
usually  accorded  to  the  sane,  of  protection  against  the  insane. 

"I  have  not  learned  that  the  Academy  of  Sciences  has  ever 
passed  a  decision  upon  the  subject  of  Electric  Telegraphs.  While 
anxious,  of  course,  that  justice  should  be  done  to  me  and  to  my 
country,  by  a  tribunal  to  whose  decisions  the  civilized  world  does 
willing  homage,  I  yet  desire  that  equal  justice  should  be  accorded 
to  those  distinguished  discoverers  of  principles  in  science,  of  what- 
ever country,  without  which  the  inventor  would  lack  the  materials 
for  his  invention." 

In  the  month  of  October,  1851,  a  convention  of  deputies 
from  the  German  states  of  Austria,  Prussia,  Bavaria,  "Wiirtem- 
berg,  and  Saxony,  met  at  Vienna  to  establish  a  German- Austrian 
Telegraphic  Union.  The  various  systems  of  telegraphy  then  in 
use  were  subjected  to  the  most  thorough  examination  aud  dis- 
cussion, by  men  well  qualified  to  illustrate  the  principles  of  the 
several  plans.  They  reached  the  conclusion  with  great  unanim- 
ity that  the  American  (or  Morse  system)  was  the  only  one  to 
meet  their  wants.      Professor  Steinheil,  the  administrator-in- 


602  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

chief  of  the  Austrian  telegraphs,  although  himself  the  inventor  of 
an  electric  telegraph,  which  has  procured  for  him  well-deserved 
fame,  with  a  magnanimity  which  does  him  high  honor,  gave  his 
opinion  in  favor  of  adopting  the  American  system  in  Germany. 
This  was  to  Professor  Morse  a  most  gratifying  fact.  In  the 
lawsuits  involving  his  rights,  great  stress  had  been  laid  upon 
the  Steinheil  invention  as  something  anterior  to  Morse's ;  but 
Steinheil  himself  never  made  such  pretensions,  and  freely  sup- 
ported Morse's  system  as  having  advantages  superior  to  his  own. 
And  by  the  same  steamer  that  brought  this  gratifying  intelli- 
gence, the  inventor  received  the  news  that  it  had  been  decided 
in  the  Denmark  House  of  Representatives  that  the  Electric  Tele- 
graph, in  continuation  of  the  German  lines,  should  be  immediate- 
ly extended  from  Elsinore,  via  Copenhagen,  to  Rendsberg. 

Extract  from  the  Protocol  of  the  Convention  of  Deputies  from 
the  German  Governments  which  met  at  Vienna  in  the  month  of 
October,  1851,  for  the  establishment  of  a  German-Austrian  Tele- 
graphic Union,  etc.,  etc. : 

"  Articles  2  and  3. — The  Governments  of  this  Union  give  their 
mutual  assurance  to  bring  into  operation,  at  the  latest,  on  the 
1st  of  July,  1852,  the  direct  transmission  of  telegraphic  communi- 
cations between  the  central  stations  of  the  respective  governments, 
so  that  transfers  upon  intermediate  stations  will  be  no  longer  re- 
quired, whenever  the  lines  are  not  previously  occupied,  so  that  each 
of  the  central  stations  can  enter  into  direct  communication  with 
every  other.  To  accomplish  this,  all  the  Governments  of  the  Tele- 
graph Union  adopt  for  the  International  Correspondence  upon  each 
line,  for  the  present,  Moese's  Telegraph,  with  receiving  magnets, 
registers,  and  uniform  alphabet." 

In  August,  1854,  Mr.  Fleischmann,  who  had  introduced  the 
Telegraph  into  Austria,  wrote  from  Paris  to  Professor  Morse : 

"  I  saw  this  day  the  agent  of  the  submarine  Telegraph  between 
England  and  France,  and  he  told  me  that  they  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion to  adopt  Morse's  Telegraph  in  preference  to  any  known  and 
tried  system.  They  have  experimented  with  your  system  and  find 
it  the  most  perfect.  They  have  already  some  of  your  machines 
working,  and  the  French  Government  is  about  to  adopt  it  also. 
So  much  for  you  and  your  glory.  My  prediction  comes  to  pass — 
'  Morse's  Telegraph  must  be  universally  adopted.' " 


ADOPTION   IN   AUSTRALIA.  603 

And  Professor  Morse,  inclosing  Mr.  F.'s  letter  to  his  friend 
T.  R.  Walker,  Esq.,  of  Utica,  said : 

"  My  Telegraph  system,  as  you  may  be  aware,  had  been  pre- 
viously adopted  throughout  all  Germany,  and  extended  into  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  and  lately  into  Russia.  It  has  been  introduced  also 
by  choice  of  the  government  throughout  Australia,  and  in  Europe 
the  only  countries  not  using  my  system  were  England  and  France. 
The  facts,  therefore,  revealed  by  the  inclosed  letter,  show  that  with- 
out any  aid  of  an  extrinsic  character  on  my  part,  my  system,  from  its 
own  inherent  qualities,  is  pervading  the  globe,  and  this  in  my  own 
lifetime.  I  believed  from  the  beginning  that  this  would  eventually 
be  the  case,  but  I  did  not  dream  of  its  so  rapid  accomplishment ; 
I  did  not  expect  to  live  to  see  its  diffusion  over  the  whole  world. 
So  far  as  it  regards  England,  I  confess  to  having  had  some  skepti- 
cism on  the  fact  of  her  doing  away  with  her  own  systems  and  ac- 
knowledging an  American  one  better  than  her  own.  '  Can  any  good 
thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ? '  has  been  her  uniform  question  re- 
garding any  thing  American  ;  but  in  confirmation  of  the  fact  that 
she  is  actually  about  to  adopt  my  system,  not  only  on  her  submarine 
lines,  but  also  on  her  other  lines,  I  have  the  authority  of  a  gentle- 
man, a  member  of  the  Royal  Society  and  secretary  of  the  Great 
English  Company,  whom  I  met  in  New  York  last  week,  that  this  is 
the  fact ;  and  he  assured  me  that  in  England  the  opinion  was  rife 
that  my  system  would  supersede  all  the  others  as  the  simplest  and 
best.  This  is  gratifying,  after  all  the  injustice  at  home  and  abroad 
which  I  have  been  called  to  endure." 

HONORARY   DISTINCTIONS. 

As  the  Morse  system  of  telegraphing  made  its  way  into 
foreign  lands,  readily  demonstrating  its  superiority,  and  super- 
seding other  systems,  the  merit  of  the  inventor  was  acknowl- 
edged by  one  and  another  government,  until  it  may  be  safely 
asserted  that  Professor  Morse  received  a  greater  number  of 
honorary  distinctions  from  foreign  powers  than  were  ever  be- 
stowed upon  any  other  private  citizen.  Before  he  became  gen- 
erally known  as  the  inventor  of  the  Telegraph  he  was  (Decem- 
ber 25, 1835)  elected  a  corresponding  member  of  the  Historical 
Institute  of  France. 

January  12,  1837,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Eoyal 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts  of  Belgium.     The   certificate  of  this 


604  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

election  he  preserved  with  a  care  that  reveals  his  secret  love  for 
distinction  in  the  line  of  his  first  pursuit,  in  which  he  would 
gladly  have  passed  his  life. 

July  15,  1839,  the  Great  Silver  Medal  of  the  "  Academy  of 
Industry  "  of  Paris  was  voted  to  him,  for  his  invention  of  the 
Telegraph.     This  medal  he  never  received. 

October  12,  1841,  he  was  made  a  corresponding  member  of 
the  National  Institution  for  the  Promotion  of  Science,  estab- 
lished at  "Washington. 

October  18,  1842,  a  record  was  made  by  the  American  In- 
stitute, showing  the  use  of  the  submarine  Telegraph  by  Profess- 
or Morse  in  1842,  and  on  the  20th  day  of  the  same  month  the 
thanks  of  the  Institute  were  voted  to  him  for  placing  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Institute  his  Telegraph  to  communicate  between  the 
Battery  and  Governor's  Island,  and  the  Gold  Medal  of  the  In- 
stitute was  awarded  to  him  for  his  successful  experiments. 

June  12,  1845,  he  was  elected  a  corresponding  member  of 
the  Archaeological  Society  of  Belgium ;  April  21,  1848,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  Philadelphia ;  No- 
vember 14,  1849,  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  Boston. 

Foreign  distinctions  were  afterward  conferred  on  Professor 
Morse  in  great  numbers  and  in  the  most  flattering  terms,  but 
none  gave  him  more  pleasure  than  the  reception  of  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  the  wise  and  good  man  who  also  gave  him  his 
first  lessons  in  the  science  of  electricity : 

"Yale  College,  August  27,  1846. 
"  Dear,  Sir  :  Permit  me  to  inform  you  that  the  corporation  of 
this  college,  at  our  late  public  commencement,  conferred  on  jrou 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  College  distinctions,  I  am  aware,  are 
becoming  very  common  in  this  country.  But  Yale  College  aims  to 
proceed  on  the  principle  of  selecting  those  who  will  confer  honor, 
rather  than  receive  it,  by  being  enrolled  in  the  list  of  its  favorites. 
We  present  you  this  testimony  of  our  regard,  as  a  tribute  of  respect 
and  gratitude  for  what  you  have  done  to  obviate  the  reproach  which 
we  sometimes  hear,  that  discoveries  and  inventions  of  great  public 
utility  do  not  proceed  from  men  who  have  imbibed  the  principles  of 
their  education  within  the  walls  of  a  college.  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
with  affectionate  regard,  your  friend  and  servant,  J.  Day. 

"Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  LL.  D." 


DOCTOR   OF   LAWS.  605 

Professor  Morse  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  this  honor  in 
these  words : 

"  Permit  me  to  return,  through  you,  my  sincere  thanks  to  the 
honorable  corporation  for  the  high  honor  they  have  conferred  upon 
me  at  the  late  commencement,  in  bestowing  upon  me  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Laws.  I  esteem  it  doubly  valuable  as  emanating  from 
my  much-loved  and  venerated  alma  mater.  In  the  success  with 
which  it  has  pleased  God  to  crown  my  telegraphic  invention,  it  is 
not  the  least  gratifying  circumstance  that  you  consider  the  inven- 
tion as  reflecting  credit  on  my  collegiate  instruction,  and  I  may 
therefore  say  that,  in  reviewing  the  mental  processes  by  which  I 
arrived  at  the  final  result,  I  can  distinctly  trace  them  back  to  their 
incipiency,  in  the  lessons  of  my  esteemed  instructors  in  natural 
philosophy  and  in  chemistry.  Later  developments  in  electro-mag- 
netism in  the  lectures  of  Professor  J.  F.  Dana  were,  indeed,  the 
more  immediate  sources  whence  I  drew  much  of  my  material,  but 
this  was  dependent  for  its  efficacy  on  my  earlier  college  instruction. 
Be  pleased  to  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  flattering  and 
friendly  manner  in  which  you  have  communicated  to  me  the  act  of 
the  corporation.  In  common  with  all  the  friends  of  learning,  I  sin- 
cerely deplore  the  necessity,  which  you  conceive  to  exist,  of  your 
resignation  of  the  presidency  of  the  college  over  whose  interests 
you  have  so  long  watched.  May  the  blessing  of  God  accompany 
you  in  your  retirement !  " 

Turkey. — March  1,  1848,  the  Hon.  John  P.  Brown,  drago- 
man of  the  United  States,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  American 
Oriental  Society,  relating  the  incidents  of  an  exhibition  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse's  Telegraph  before  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and  the 
remarkable  results  that  followed  : 

"  I  do  myself  the  pleasure,"  he  said,  "  to  subjoin  herewith  a 
copy  of  a  diploma,  called  in  Turkish  a  berait,  bestowing  upon  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  of  New  York,  a  decoration  (or  nichan)  of  honor,  to- 
gether with  a  translation  of  it  into  English.  As  this  is  the  first  and 
only  decoration  which  the  Sultan  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  has  con- 
ferred upon  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  it  struck  me,  when  trans- 
lating it  for  'the  legation,  that  some  account  of  it  would  not  prove 
uninteresting  to  our  Society.  There  is  a  young  American  in  the 
service  of  the  Sultan,  as  a  geologist,  etc.,  Dr.  James  Lawrence 
Smith,  Avho  was  sent  out  here,  by  the  present  Hon.  Secretary  of 


606  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

State,  at  the  request  of  the  Sultan,  made  through  me  during  the 
absence  of  the  Minister  Resident.  This  gentleman,  who  stands 
high  here  in  his  profession,  and  has  already  been  able  to  render  the 
Sultan  some  important  services,  being  desirous  of  procuring  some- 
thing from  the  United  States  which  would  be  entirely  new  to  his 
Majesty,  and  of  scientific  interest  to  him,  sent  for  a  specimen  of 
the  electric  telegraph,  as  perfected  by  our  celebrated  countryman 
Mr.  Morse.  On  its  arrival  here,  the  Minister  Resident  confided  its 
presentation  to  the  Sultan  to  my  care  and  management ;  and,  hav- 
ing soon  afterward  an  occasion  to  see  his  Majesty,  I  embraced  it  to 
inform  him  of  the  desire  of  Dr.  Smith  to  have  the  honor  of  exhibit- 
ing the  telegraph  before  him.  The  Sultan  immediately  named  the 
following  day  for  receiving  it ;  and  Dr.  Smith,  kindly  aided  by  Rev. 
C.  Hamlin,  of  the  Armenian  Seminary  at  Bebek,  who,  to  use  his 
own  words,  lent  his  assistance  on  the  occasion  con  amore,  accompa- 
nied me  to  the  palace  of  the  Sultan  at  Beglerbey,  on  the  Asiatic 
shore  of  the  Bosporus.  The  wires  were  stretched  from  the  prin- 
cipal entrance  of  the  palace  to  its  union  with  the  harem,  a  distance 
of  some  thirty  or  forty  paces,  and  the  performers  were  completely 
concealed  from  each  other  by  the  angle  of  a  door-way,  so  that,  had 
the  Sultan  been  disposed  to  doubt  the  reality  of  the  powers  of  the 
instrument,  it  would  nevertheless  have  been  evident  to  him,  that 
the  operators  communicated  with  each  other  only  by  means  of  its 
wires.  The  Sultan  was  attended  by  his  own  personal  employes 
and  domestic  officers.  He  was  in  excellent  spirits,  and  treated  us 
all  with  the  amiableness  and  graciousness  of  disposition  for  which 
he  is  much  beloved  by  all  who  have  the  honor  of  approaching  him. 
I  may  here  add  for  your  information  that  the  Sultan,  now  about 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  is  of  middle  stature,  rather  lightly  built, 
and  thin,  simple  in  his  manners,  with  dark  eyes  and  beard,  and  a 
face  slightly  marked  with  the  small-pox ;  and,  though  he  has  but 
little  of  the  dignified  air  supposed  to  belong  to  all  sovereigns,  his 
countenance  indicates  that  his  feelings  all  partake  of  the  most  pure 
benevolence  and  generosity.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  con- 
verse with  his  Majesty,  and  not  be  forcibly  struck  with  the  evidence, 
in  his  own  demeanor  and  personal  conduct,  of  the  immense  change 
which  has  taken  place  in  this  country,  and  particularly  in  the  char- 
acter of  its  sovereigns,  in  the  course  of  the  past  century,  or  even 
half  century.  The  exhibition  of  Mr.  Morse's  telegraph,  on  this  oc- 
casion, was  perfectly  successful  and  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
young  Sultan,  who  remarked  that  he  had  often  heard  of  the  wonder- 


TURKISH  DECORATION.  607 

ful  invention,  but  had  never  been  able  until  then  to  comprehend  its 
nature.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  his  Majesty  understood  very  well  the 
properties  of  the  electric  fluid,  and,  perceiving  that  the  alphabet  used 
(which  I  had  explained  in  Turkish)  was  a  purely  conventional  one, 
composed  a  few  letters  himself,  which  he  desired  to  have  used.  So 
much  was  he  gratified  with  the  exhibition,  that  he  requested  me,  in 
a  very  kind  manner,  to  leave  the  telegraph  as  it  was,  and  come 
again  on  the  following  day,  saying  he  would  send  invitations  to 
all  his  ministers  and  other  officers  to  assemble,  on  the  following 
morning,  to  witness  its  operations.  I  remarked,  during  this  inter- 
view with  the  Sultan,  that  those  about  him  were  quite  at  their  ease, 
and  conversed  freely  with  him.  He  addressed  several  questions  to 
me  about  the  United  States,  and  its  war  with  Mexico,  expressing 
great  regret  that  there  should  ever  be  a  necessity-for  war.  On  the 
following  morning,  all  the  officers  of  the  Government,  from  the 
Grand- Vizier  and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  down,  assembled  at  the  pal- 
ace ;  and  Dr.  Smith  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hamlin  again  worked  the  tele- 
graph with  entire  success.  Some  of  those  present,  such  as  the 
Grand-Vizier,  Reshid  Pasha,  formerly  ambassador  at  London  and 
Paris,  Ali  Effendi,  now  Pasha,  also  formerly  ambassador  at  Lon- 
don, and  Sarim  Pasha,  Minister  of  Finance,  formerly  ambassador  at 
London,  had  already  seen  electric  telegraphs  in  those  places.  All, 
however,  seemed  much  pleased  with  that  of  Mr.  Morse.  I  was  then 
consulted  by  the  secretary  of  the  Sultan  about  offering  a  recom- 
pense to  Dr.  Smith,  for  his  trouble  in  procuring  the  telegraph  from 
the  United  States.  The  doctor,  to  whom,  of  course,  the  matter  was 
left,  generously  disclaimed  all  desire  of  receiving  any  thing  for  him- 
self, as  he  had  simply  sent  for  the  telegraph,  and  the  honor  of  ex- 
hibiting it  before  the  Sultan  was  all  he  wished.  He  requested  that 
whatever  honor  the  Sultan  was  disposed  to  confer  upon  him  might 
be  given  to  the  talented  inventor  of  the  telegraph ;  and  I  took  oc- 
casion to  recommend  this  to  the  secretary,  as  a  course  which  would 
do  honor  both  to  the  Sultan  as  a  patron  of  science,  and  to  Mr.  Morse 
as  a  person  of  distinguished  talents.  The  object  to  be  conferred,  I 
thought  at  the  moment,  would  be  a  snuff-box  in  diamonds,  but  I 
was  agreeably  surprised  to  learn  from  the  secretary,  on  his  return 
from  reporting  the  result  of  our  conversation  to  the  Sultan,  that  he 
had  been  pleased  to  confer  upon  Mr.  Morse  a  nichan,  or  decoration 
of  a  superior  grade,  in  diamonds." 

The  ingenuous  and  high-minded  gentleman  who  thus  refused 
the  decoration  which  he  believed  to  be  due  to  the  inventor  of 


608  LIFE   or  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  Telegraph,  rather  than  to  himself  who  had  illustrated  it  to 
the  Sultan,  Professor  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  has  since  been  the 
President  of  the  American  Scientific  Association,  and  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Louisville,  Ky.  He  states  that,  after  the  decoration  had 
been  promised  to  Professor  Morse,  some  delay  in  its  presentation 
occurred,  and  Professor  Smith,  inquiring  for  the  cause,  was  in- 
formed by  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  that  the  English 
legation  had  stated  to  the  Turkish  Government  that  Professor 
Morse  was  not  the  inventor  !  Professor  Smith  then  argued  the 
question  in  a  communication  to  the  Turkish  minister,  Ali 
Pasha,  and  fully  satisfied  that  intelligent  statesman  of  the  rights 
of  the  American.  In  ten  days  after  this  paper  was  submitted, 
the  decoration  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Professor  Smith  to  be 
forwarded  officially  to  Professor  Morse.  The  original  diploma 
which  Professor  Morse  received  with  the  diamond  decoration 
of  the  order  is  given  in  facsimile,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
translation : 

[translation.] 
"Lsr  the  Name  op  Him: 

"  Sultan  Abdul  Majid  Khan,  Son  of  Mahmoud  Khan,  Son 
of  Abdul  Hamid  Khan — may  he  ever  be  victorious  ! 

"  The  object  of  the  present  sovereign  decoration  of  Noble 
Exalted  Glory,  of  Elevated  Place  and  of  this  Illustrious,  World 
Conquering  Monogram,  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  Bearer  of  this  Imperial  Monogram  of  exalted  character, 
Mr.  Morse,  an  American,  a  man  of  science  and  of  talents,  and  who 
is  a  Model  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  nation  of  the  Messiah — may  his 
grade  be  increased — having  invented  an  Electrical  Telegraph,  a 
specimen  of  which  has  been  exhibited  in  my  Imperial  presence ; 
and  it  being  proper  to  patronize  knowledge,  and  to  express  my 
sense  of  the  value  of  the  attainments  of  the  Inventor,  as  well  as  to 
distinguish  those  persons  who  are  the  Inventors  of  such  objects  as 
serve  to  extend  and  facilitate  the  relations  of  mankind,  I  have  con- 
ferred upon  him,  on  my  exalted  part,  an  honorable  decoration  in 
diamonds,  and  issued  also  this  present  diploma,  as  a  token  of  my 
benevolence  for  him. 

"  Written  in  the  middle  of  the  moon  Sefer,  the  fortunate,  the 
year  of  the  Flight  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  (22 
January,  1848).     In  Constantinople  the  well-guarded. 

"  Signed  on  the  face  of  the  Diploma  by  the  Sultan. 


% 


^o^i^i^^^j^j 


6*  ^^^^i^^^Sy^S^ 


'J>YL* 


'fa/frs 


^V^^mHU 


HONOR  FROM   PRUSSIA.  609 

"  On  the  back  by 

"Mohammed  Ali  Pasha,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  ;  Cheo- 
kel  Bet,  Vice-  Chancellor  of  the  Sublime  Porte. 
"  The  Registrar  of  the  Sublime  Porte.'''' 

Thus  the  first  recognition  of  the  Telegraph  by  a  monarch 
of  the  Old  World,  was  made  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey !  Pro- 
fessor Morse  acknowledged  the  honor  in  a  letter  closing  with 
these  words  :  "  That  God  may  grant  a  long  and  prosperous  reign 
to  your  Majesty,  is  the  sincere  prayer  of  your  Majesty's  most 
humble  and  obedient  servant." 

In  the  year  1851  Professor  Morse,  having  learned  that  the 
American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  had  been  adopted  in  Prus- 
sia as  the  most  efficient  yet  devised,  directed  a  letter  of  inquiry 
into  the  truth  of  the  report  to  the  Baron  Gerolt,  the  Prussian 
Minister  at  Washington ;  at  the  same  time  transmitting,  as  a 
specimen  of  the  efficiency  of  Morse's  Telegraph,  a  pamphlet  con- 
taining a  full  report  of  the  trial  of  Professor  Webster  for  the 
murder  of  Dr.  Parkman,  which  had  just  been  transmitted  from 
Boston  and  printed  in  the  New- York  Globe,  being  the  longest 
consecutive  document  then  ever  sent  over  a  line  of  telegraph. 
The  following  reply  to  his  inquiry  was  received  by  Professor 
Morse  a  few  days  afterward : 

"Prussian  Legation  at  Washington,  April.  15,  1851. 

"  Dear  Sir  :  On  the  26th  of  April,  1850,  I  informed  you  that  I 
had  communicated  to  his  Majesty's  Government  the  pamphlet 
which  you  had  sent  to  me  as  an  example  of  the  efficiency  of  your 
Electric  Telegraph  system.  In  answer  to  your  inquiries  about  the 
adoption  of  your  Telegraph  in  Prussia,  I  beg  to  inclose  a  copy  of 
the  report  made  on  the  subject  by  Mr.  Nottebohm,  who  was  charged 
with  the  establishing  of  telegraphic  lines  in  Prussia.  You  will  see; 
by  that  report  that  your  Telegraph  has  been  found  the  most  efficient 
for  great  distances. 

"  It  gives  me  great  satisfaction  to  inform  you  at  the  same  time 
that  his  Majesty  the  king,  as  an  acknowledgment  of  your  great 
merits  for  the  improvement  of  the  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraphs, 
has  ordered  me  to  present  to  you  a  golden  snuff-box  containing  the 
Prussian  golden  medal  for  scientific  merit. 

"  The  said  box  is  now  in  possession  of  his  Majesty's  consul- 
39 


610  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

general,  F.  W.  Schmidt,  Esq.,  at  New  York,  No.  56  New  Street, 
who  will  deliver  it  to  you,  and  receive  your  receipt  for  it. 

"  I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  you  the  assur- 
ances of  my  high  consideration  and  personal  esteem. 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant,  Gerolt. 

"  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  Poughkeepsie,  Dutchess  County,  New  York." 

To  this  Professor  Morse  returned  the  following  reply : 

"Poughkeepsie,  Dutchess  County,  K  Y.,  April  21,  1851. 

"  My  dear  Baron  :  On  my  return  home  on  Saturday  evening, 
I  received  your  most  gratifying  letter  of  the  loth  instant,  an- 
nouncing to  me  the  doubly  flattering  intelligence  that  the  Amer- 
ican Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  had  been  adopted  throughout 
the  Prussian  dominions,  by  his  Majesty  the  king,  '  as  the  most 
efficient  for  great  distances,'  and  that  his  Majesty  had  been  pleased, 
through  you,  to  present  to  me  as  the  inventor  such  a  valuable  mark 
of  his  consideration.  The  box,  with  its  inclosed  medal,  is  not  yet 
received.  I  shall  take  the  earliest  opportunity  to  call  and  receive 
it  from  the  Prussian  consul,  when  I  next  visit  the  city  of  New  York. 

"  Be  pleased,  my  dear  baron,  to  present  to  his  Majesty  the 
king  my  sincere  thanks,  with  my  unfeigned  wishes  that  the  Electric 
Telegraph  may  be  a  means,  under  God,  in  the  hands  of  his  Majesty, 
and  of  the  other  governments  of  the  world,  of  adding  greatly  to  the 
convenience,  the  security,  and  the  substantial  happiness  of  mankind, 

"  Accept  also  for  yourself,  my  dear  baron,  my  thanks  for  this 

additional  token  of  your  personal  friendliness,  and  kind  interest  in 

the  success  of  my  invention. 

"  Believe  me,  with  the  highest  consideration  and  personal 

esteem,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 
"  To  his  Excellency  the  Baron  Gerolt." 

Wurtemberg. — The  third  European  Government  recogniz- 
ing the  inventor  of  the  Telegraph  was  Wurtemberg.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  translation  of  the  letter  informing  Professor  Morse 

of  the  honor : 

"Stuttgart,  February  24, 1852. 

"  To  his  Excellency  Professor  Morse,  at  Washington. 

"  Your  Excellency  :  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Wurtemberg, 
upon  the  report  of  the  Minister  of  Finance  relative  to  your  Excel- 
lency as  the  inventor  of  the  best  Recording  Telegraph  known  to  him, 


HONOR  FROM  AUSTRIA.  611 

and  which,  on  account  of  its  simplicity  and  efficiency ;  is  adopted 
and  used  throughout  all  Germany,  and  particularly  in  Wurtem- 
berg,  has  graciously  bestowed  upon  you  the  Great  Gold  Medal  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  for  your  meritorious  services  in  the  art  of  Tele- 
graphing. "While  it  affords  me  special  satisfaction  most  respectfully 
to  inform  your  Excellency  of  this,  in  inclosing  to  you  the  medal,  and 
to  present  my.  sincere  congratulations  on  this  deserved  distinction, 
I  seize  gladly  the  opportunity  to  assure  you  of  my  perfect  esteem. 

"  The  Chief  of  the  Royal  Wurtemberg  Finance  Department  and 
Chancellor  of  State,  Knapp." 

Austria. — In  1855  the  Emperor  of  Austria  sent  to  Professor 
Morse  the  Great  Gold  Medal  of  Science  and  Art.  It  is  a  mas- 
sive and  beautiful  piece  of  work.  On  one  side  is  a  medallion 
bead  of  the  young  emperor,  crowned  with  laurel,  with  the  in- 
scription, "  Franciscus  Josephus  L,  D.  G.,  Austria  Imperator ; " 
and,  on  the  obverse,  a  wreath  of  laurel  surrounding  the  imperial 
crown,  with  the  inscription,  "  Literis  et  Artibus."  This  was  the 
fourth  token  of  acknowledgment  from  European  sovereigns  ac- 
corded to  Professor  Morse.     It  was  accompanied  by  this  letter : 

"Boston,  August  4,  1855. 
"  Sir  :  I  have  much  pleasure  in  transmitting  to  you,  by  order  of 
the  Imperial  Government,  the  Great  Golden  Medal  for  Science  and 
Arts,  which  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Austria  has  been  pleased 
to  confer  upon  you,  in  acknowledgment  of  your  eminent  merits 
concerning  the  telegraphic  system  in  general,  as  well  as  its  devel- 
opment in  Austria  in  particular.  It  is  very  satisfactory  to  myself  to 
be  the  organ  of  the  Imperial  Government  on  this  agreeable  occa- 
sion ;  and  I  beg  you  will  at  the  same  time  permit  me  to  express  to 
you  my  great  personal  regard.  Remaining,  sir,  very  respectfully, 
your  obedient  servant,  Hulsemann, 

"  Charge  d' 'Affaires  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Austria. 
"  To  Professor  Morse,  Poughkeepsie,  New  York." 

France. — In  the  year  1856  the  Emperor  of  France  conferred 
upon  Professor  Morse  the  brevet  and  decoration  as  Chevalier  of 
the  Imperial  Order  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  The  Hon.  J.  T. 
Mason  was  at  that  time  the  Minister  of  the  United  States  in 
France,  and  through  him  the  Order  was  conferred.  Mr.  Mason, 
in  acknowledging  it,  wrote  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  a  let- 
ter, in  which  were  these  words: 


612  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  My  distinguished  compatriot,  Professor  Morse,  having  returned 
to  his  home  in  the  United  States,  I  will  hasten  to  send  to  him  the 
letter  addressed  to  him  by  his  Excellency  Count  Walewski,  Minis- 
ter of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  with  it  the  brevet  and  decoration  which 
his  Majesty  has  deigned  to  confer  on  him  as  a  Chevalier  de  l'Ordre 
Imperial  de  la  Legion  d'Honneur.  The  success  of  Professor  Morse's 
invention,  in  promoting  the  interests  of  mankind,  in  facilitating 
the  art  of  telegraphic  communication,  has  given  him  fame,  and 
made  him  friends  in  all  countries.  This  gracious  act  of  considera- 
tion on  the  part  of  his  Majesty  will,  I  am  assured,  be  acknowledged 
by  him  and  them  as  peculiarly  gratifying.  Professor  Morse  de- 
serves to  be  regarded  as  the  benefactor  of  his  race,  and  the  rewards 
bestowed  on  one  so  highly  gifted,  and  yet  so  modest,  can  never  be 
unworthily  conferred." 

Denmark. — The  King  of  Denmark  honored  the  inventor  in 
the  same  year,  1856.  Professor  Morse  received  the  Cross  of  the 
Order  of  Dannebrog,  with  the  following  letter : 

"  Legation  of  Denmark,  Philadelphia,  December  29,  1856. 

"  Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  his  Majesty  the 
King  of  Denmark,  having  been  pleased  to  confer  on  you  the  Cross 
of  a  Knight  of  the  Order  of  the  Dannebrog,  in  acknowledgment  of 
the  services  you  have  rendered  the  world  by  the  invention  and  suc- 
cessful establishment  of  the  Electrical  Telegraph,  I  have  received 
for  you  from  his  Majesty's  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  the  Cross  of 
the  Dannebrog,  together  with  an  official  communication  from  the 
Chapter  of  the  Order,  which  his  Majesty's  consul  at  New  York, 
Mr.  Ed.  Beck,  will  have  the  honor  of  handing  to  you. 

"  Begging  you  to  accept  my  compliments,  and  the  assurance  of 
my  distinguished  consideration,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your 
most  obedient  servant,  Tttbens  Bill, 

"  H.  D.  Minister  Charge  cP  Affaires. 

"  Professor  Samuel  Morse,  Poughkeepsie,  New  York." 

Sweden. — October  3,  1858,  Professor  Morse  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  in  Sweden,  and  the 
fact  communicated  to  him  in  the  most  flattering  terms  by  the 
secretary. 

Convention  of  European  Powers. — The  pecuniary  testimo- 
nial awarded  to  Professor  Morse  in  1858,  by  a  convention  of  the 


SPAIN,   ITALY,   AND   SWITZERLAND.  613 

European  Governments,  is  made  the  subject  of  a  subsequent 
chapter. 

Spain. — May  11,  1859,  Isabella  II.,  Queen  of  Spain,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  adoption  of  the  Morse  system  of  Telegraphs  in 
her  dominions,  issued  a  decree  conferring  on  Samuel  P.  B. 
Morse,  the  inventor,  the  order  of  Knighthood  and  Commander 
of  the  First  Class  of  the  Royal  Order  of  Isabella  the  Catholic. 

Portugal. — September  20, 1860,  the  King  of  Portugal  with 
his  own  hand  addressed  a  letter  to  Professor  Morse,  thanking 
him  for  the  great  benefit  he  had  conferred  upon  the  human  race 
by  his  invention,  and  making  him  Knight  of  the  Tower  and 
Sword,  as  a  mark  of  his  "  appreciation  of  the  Professor's  scien- 
tific merit  and  the  service  he  had  rendered  the  world  at  large." 

Italy. — March  31,  1864,  his  Majesty  Victor  Emmanuel  II., 
King  of  Italy,  conferred  on  Professor  Morse  the  brevet  and  the 
insignia  of  Chevalier  of  the  Royal  Order  of  S.  S.  Maurizio  et 
Lazare. 

Switzerland. — December  20,  1866,  Professor  Morse  was 
elected  honorary  member  of  the  "  Societe  de  Physique  et  d'His- 
toire  INaturelle "  of  Geneva,  Switzerland. 

These  honorable  distinctions  are  grouped  in  the  order  of 
their  dates,  and  presented  in  connection,  that  it  may  be  seen  at 
a  glance  how  generally  and  thoroughly  the  merits  of  Morse  as 
the  inventor  were  comprehended,  and  the  value  of  his  labors 
appreciated  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  And  all  this  in 
his  own  life-time ! 


CHAPTEK    XYI. 

1854-1855. 

SUBMARINE  TELEGRAPH — THE  FIEST  EXPERIMENT — NEWFOUNDLAND  ELEOTEIO 
TELEGRAPH — GYRUS  W.  FIELD — LIEUTENANT  MAURY'S  OPINION — FORMA- 
TION OF  A  NEW  COMPANY — MORSE  TO  FARADAY — EXTENSION  OF  PATENT — 
LETTERS  TO  MR.  FIELD  AND  ME.  WHITE — DR.  STEINHEDL's  LETTER — HON. 
D.  D.  BARNARD — PROFESSOR  MORSE'S  PREDICTIONS — EXPEDITION  TO  NEW- 
FOUNDLAND— ATTEMPT  TO  LAY  THE  CABLE — FAILURE — RENEWED  ATTEMPT, 
AND  SUCCESS. 

IK  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  dated  September  27, 
1837,  Professor  Morse  remarked,  in  speaking  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  lines  of  Telegraph :  "  Where  the  stream  is  wide, 
and  no  bridge,  the  circuit  inclosed  in  lead  may  he  sunk  to  the 
oottom  /  "  and  again,  speaking  of  the  mode  of  stretching  the  lines 
upon  posts,  to  connect  different  parts  of  the  country  together, 
he  says,  "  This  mode  would  be  as  cheap,  probably,  as  any  other, 
unless  the  laying  of  the  circuit  in  the  water  should  be  found  to 
be  most  eligible."  Professor  Morse  then  contemplated  a  sub- 
marine line  between  New  York  and  Charleston,  along  the 
coast.  He  proceeds :  "  A  series  of  experiments  to  ascertain  the 
practicability  of  this  mode,  I  am  about  to  commence  with  Pro- 
fessor Gale — we  are  preparing  a  circuit  of  twenty  miles.  The 
result  of  our  experiments  I  will  have  the  honor  of  reporting  to 
you." 

This  letter,  with  other  documents,  was  published  and  circu- 
lated in  the  year  1837.  There  was  ample  time  in  two  years  for 
such  a  suggestion,  published  in  a  congressional  document,  to 
reach  Europe,  and  to  be  perused  by  those  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject.    That  the  result  of  the  proposed  experiments  was  satis- 


SUBMARINE   TELEGRAPHS.  615 

factory  is  subsequently  proved,  although  it  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  reported  to  the  department. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1838  Professor  Morse  went  to  Europe 
with  his  Telegraph  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  patents,  and  to 
explain  its  operation  to  the  scientific  world.  Our  consul  in 
Paris  at  that  date  was  Kobert  Walsh,  Esq.,  well  known  as  a 
distinguished  scholar  and  writer.  He  was  the  correspondent  for 
many  years  of  the  ISTew-York  Journal  of  Commerce.  In  the 
summer  of  1858  the  Journal  of  Commerce  quoted  Professor 
Morse's  letter  of  August  10, 1843,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, in  which  this  passage  occurs :  "  The  practical  inference  from 
this  law  is  that  a  telegraphic  communication  on  the  electro-mag- 
netic plan  may  with  certainty  be  established  across  the  Atlantic 
Ocean !  Startling  as  this  may  now  seem,  I  am  confident  the 
time  will  come  when  this  project  will  be  realized."  "When  this 
number  of  the  Journal  reached  Paris,  Mr.  "Walsh,  in  his  corre- 
spondence to  the  Journal  (1858),  alluding  to  the  letter  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  says :  "  His  letter  to  Mr.  Spencer  (Secretary  of  the 
Treasury),  dated  in  August,  1 843,  which  I  read  in  your  Journal, 
is  most  remarkable  and  opportunely  produced.  Many  years  ago, 
in  1838,  when  the  Professor  endeavored  to  cause  his  invention 
and  practice  to  be  understood  by  the  Erench  dignitaries,  I  held 
frequent  converse  with  him,  and  I  can  distinctly  recollect  that 
he  expressed  to  me  that  firm  persuasion  of  the  practicability  and 
ultimate  execution  of  an  Atlantic  Telegraph  which  is  so  confi- 
dently stated  in  the  penultimate  paragraph  of  his  letter."  The 
conversations  thus  alluded  to  and  distinctly  recollected  by  Mr. 
Walsh,  and  the  predictions  of  a  future  Atlantic  Telegraph,  were 
undoubtedly  based  upon  the  success  of  the  experiments  proposed 
and  tried  by  Professor  Morse  in  1837,  just  before  he  left  for 
Europe.  In  an  article  in  the  Telegrapher  of  August  12,  1871, 
the  attempt  is  made  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  !N".  J.  Holmes  to 
show  that  the  first  suggestion  of  "  conveying  messages  under 
the  sea  "  was  due  to  Sir  C.  Wheatstone,  in  1840,  who,  it  is  for 
the  first  time  alleged,  made  an  experiment  at  that  date  in  Swan- 
sea Bay,  and  the  article  thus  concludes :  "  From  the  results  of 
that  trial  has  proceeded  the  great  submarine  telegraph  system, 
now  extending  over  so  large  a  portion  of  the  globe."  Even  if 
this  experiment  was  made  at  that  time  and  in  that  manner  by 


616  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Sir  C.  Wheatstone,  it  was  at  least  two  or  three  years  subsequent 
to  the  successful  experiments  for  that  same  purpose  by  Professor 
Morse.  But  in  1840,  the  year  in  which  this  experiment  of  Pro- 
fessor "Wheatstone  is  said  to  have  been  made,  a  select  committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons  was  raised  on  railways,  of  which 
Lord  Seymour  was  chairman,  and  Sir  John  Guest  a  member. 
Professor  Wheatstone  was  called  before  this  committee  to  an- 
swer some  questions  respecting  telegraphs.  Question  340  was 
proposed  by  Sir  John  Guest : 

"  Have  you  tried  to  pass  the  line  through  water  ? "  To 
which  Professor  Wheatstone  made  this  reply : 

"  There  would  be  no  difficulty  in  doing  so,  but  the  experi- 
ment HAS  NOT  YET  BEEN  TKIED." 

Question  341,  by  Lord  Seymour  :  "  Could  you  communicate 
from  Dover  to  Calais,  in  that  way  %  " 

The  answer  of  Professor  Wheatstone  was,  "  I  think  it  per- 
fectly practicable." 

These  two  questions  and  the  answers  were  all  that  were  pro- 
posed before  that  committee,  relative  to  submarine  telegraphy. 
Alluding  to  this  examination  before  the  committee,  an  article  in 
an  English  scientific  journal  of  1865  commences  with  this  re- 
mark : 

"  Twenty-four  years  have  elapsed  since  Professor  Wheat- 
stone suggested,  to  the  select  committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons on  railways,  the  construction  of  a  submarine  telegraph 
between  Dover  and  Calais."  Now,  if  the  question  of  Sir  John 
Guest  was  the  suggestion,  because  he  alluded  to  "  the  line 
through  water"  it  was  Sir  John  Guest,  and  not  Professor 
Wheatstone,  who  suggested  it.  If  it  was  the  question  whether 
communication  could  be  made  between  Dover  and  Calais,  it  was 
the  suggestion  of  Lord  Seymour,  and  not  of  Professor  Wheat- 
stone. There  is  no  published  account  of  any  submarine  tele- 
graph experiments  until  the  year  1842.  Professor  Morse  said  in 
a  public  address:  "In  October,  1842,  the  first  submarine  tele- 
graph cable  was  laid  by  me  on  one  moonlight  night  in  the  har- 
bor of  this  city,  which  proved  experimentally  the  practicability 
of  submarine  telegraphy." 

For  this  experiment  Professor  Morse  received  the  Gold 
Medal  of  the  American  Institute,  and  the  result  was  published 


NEWFOUNDLAND  COMPANY.  617 

in  the  journals  of  the  day.  A  submarine  telegraph,  with  an  in- 
strument and  battery  at  Castle  Garden,  and  an  instrument  in 
the  fort  at  Governor's  Island,  was  successfully  operated.  This 
was  the  commencement  of  Submarine  Telegraphy.  The  first 
practical  demonstration  of  a  submarine  telegraph  belongs  to 
Professor  Morse. 

In  the  year  1852  the  Legislature  of  Newfoundland  incorpo- 
rated a  company  under  the  title  of  the  "  Newfoundland  Electric 
Telegraph  Company,"  its  object  being  to  connect  the  island 
with  the  American  Continent.  The  company  failed  to  accom- 
plish its  purpose,  and  never  proposed  to  cross  the  ocean  with  its 
lines.  In  the  month  of  January,  1854,  Mr.  F.  N.  Gisborne,  one 
of  the  officers  of  that  company,  came  to  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  meeting  Mr.  Matthew  D.  Field,  a  civil-engineer,  sought  to 
interest  him  in  an  effort  to  revive  the  fortunes  of  the  Newfound- 
land company.  Mr.  Field  spoke  of  the  subject  to  his  brother, 
Cyrus  W.  Field,  who  invited  Mr.  Gisborne  to  his  house  to  con- 
sider the  subject.  An  evening  was  spent  in  its  discussion.  After 
Mr.  Gisborne  had  left  the  house,  Mr.  Field  took  a  terrestrial 
globe,  and,  while  studying  it  with  reference  to  the  connection 
of  Newfoundland  with  New  York,  he  said  to  himself,  "Why 
not  cross  the  ocean,  and  connect  the  New  World  with  the  Old  % " 
Professor  Morse  had  long  ago  declared  it  practicable,  and  pre- 
dicted its  accomplishment.  The  idea  took  possession  of  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Field,  as  the  original  conception  of  the  Telegraph 
had  absorbed  the  mind  of  Professor  Morse  in  1832.  Mr.  Field 
immediately  applied  to  Professor  Morse  for  his  opinion  as  to  the 
feasibility  of  the  scheme.  The  Professor,  being  in  Washington 
at  the  time,  replied  that  he  had  "  perfect  faith  in  the  feasibility 
of  the  enterprise ; "  and  that  he  had  consulted  with  Lieutenant 
Maury,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  on  the  subject,  and  obtained 
from  him  a  letter  which  he  would  show  to  Mr.  Field  when  he  re- 
turned to  New  York.  The  letter,  which  was  addressed  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  described  the  beautiful  plateau  which 
deep  sea-soundings  had  disclosed,  extending  from  Newfoundland 
to  Ireland,  on  which  could  be  laid  a  cable,  to  rest  as  quietly  as 
at  the  bottom  of  a  mill-pond.  This  was  conclusive.  Hon.  Da- 
vid Dudley  Field  embarked  with  his  brother,  Cyrus  W.  Field, 
with  great  enthusiasm  in  the  project,  and  became  the  legal  ad- 


618  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MOKSE. 

viser  of  the  company  formed  to  prosecute  the  work.  He  and 
his  brother,  Cyrus  W.,  Peter  Cooper,  Moses  Taylor,  M.  O.  Rob- 
erts, and  Chandler  White,  met,  and  around  a  table  covered  with 
maps,  plans,  and  estimates,  the  subject  was  discussed  for  four 
successive  evenings — the  practicability  of  the  undertaking  exam- 
ined, its  advantages,  its  cost,  and  the  means  of  its  accomplish- 
ment. The  result  of  the  conference  was  the  agreement  of  all 
the  six  gentlemen  to  enter  upon  the  undertaking.  Mr.  Cyrus  "W"., 
and  David  D.  Field,  and  Mr.  White,  went  to  Newfoundland  to 
procure  a  charter  and  such  aid  in  money  and  privileges  as  the 
government  of  that  island  could  be  induced  to  give. 

At  St.  John's  they  met  Mr.  Edward  M.  Archibald,  then 
Attorney-General  of  the  colony.  He  entered  warmly  into  the 
subject,  introduced  them  to  the  Governor,  Kerr  Bailey  Hamilton, 
who  convoked  the  Council  to  hear  an  explanation  of  their  views 
and  wishes.  As  the  result  of  these  negotiations  a  liberal  charter 
was  secured  from  the  Assembly.  To  the  six  gentlemen  already 
named  as  corporators  were  now  added  Professor  Morse,  Mr.  Rob- 
ert W.  Lowber,  Mr.  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  and  Mr.  John  W.  Brett. 
Immediately,  Mr.  Cyrus  W.  Field  went  to  England,  and  pro- 
cured specimens  of  cable,  and  engaged  men  of  capital  and  influ- 
ence in  the  enterprise.  Mr.  Brett,  Mr.  Whitehouse,  and  Mr. 
Bright,  gentlemen  of  high  scientific  attainments,  were  enlisted. 
The  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company  was  formed  to  cooperate  with 
the  company  already  organized  in  America.  Mr.  Field  obtained 
from  the  British  Government  the  promise  of  ships  to  aid  in  lay- 
ing the  cable,  and  a  fixed  yearly  sum  for  the  service  of  the  Ocean 
Telegraph.  On  his  return  to  the  United  States,  he  succeeded  in 
obtaining  from  Congress  similar  pledges  of  assistance,  though 
by  a  majority  of  one  only  in  the  Senate.  The  two  companies 
were  now  acting  in  harmony.  Morse  was  appointed  Electrician 
of  the  company  on  this  side.  Faraday  held  the  same  responsible 
office  on  the  other.  They  compared  views  by  frequent  corre- 
spondence.    Morse,  in  writing  to  Faraday,  Sept.  30, 1854,  says  : 

"  Taking  for  granted  a  successful  result  of  the  experiment  on 
the  propulsion  of  a  current  to  the  required  distance,  that  is  to  say, 
from  Newfoundland  to  Ireland,  I  have  proposed  that  the  cable  con- 
ductor be  constructed  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit : 

"  The  conducting  wires  of  the  circuit  I  propose  to  be  of  the 


SUBMARINE   CABLES. 


619 


purest  copper,  each  not  less  than  one-eighth  (-J)  of  an  inch  in  sec- 
tional diameter.  Each  wire  to  be  insulated  to  the  thickness  also  of 
one-eighth  of  an  inch  with  gutta-percha.  If  it  should  be  decided  by 
the  company  that  in  the  first  instance  a  single  conductor  shall  be  laid 
down,  then  a  thin  tube  of  lead,  about  one-sixteenth  {-^)  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,  is  drawn  over  the  wire  conductor  and  its  gutta-percha  cov- 
ering, and  then  a  series  of  strands  of  common  iron  wire  and  of 
hempen  cord,  or  rope  yarn  of  the  same  size,  say  four  or  five  of  the 
former  and  the  rest  of  the  latter,  are  to  be  laid  parallel  with  the  in- 
terior conducting  wire,  on  the  exterior  of  the  tube  (Fig.  6),  and 
these  are  to  be  confined  in  place  by  two  spiral  cords  wound  in  con- 
trary directions  and  crossing  each  other  around  the  cable  at  inter- 
vals, say  of  nine  or  twelve  inches. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  1. 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.  5. 


Fig.  6. 


"  If  it  is  thought  best  to  lay  down,  in  the  first  instance,  more 
than  one  conductor  in  the  same  package,  or  fascis,  then  the  number 
chosen  may  be  three,  as  in  Fig.  3,  or  seven,  as  in  Fig.  2 ;  these  be- 
ing the  numbers  most  economically  packed  in  a  tube  to  form  the 
fascis  of  conductors.  Six  wires,  as  in  Fig.  5,  and  four  wires,  as  in 
Fig.  4,  do  not  pack  in  a  tube  economically." 


620  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MOUSE. 

Professor  Steinheil,  of  Munich,  whose  Telegraph  approached 
that  of  Professor  Morse  more  nearly  than  any  other,  and  who 
had  so  magnanimously  insisted  npon  the  superiority  of  the  Morse 
instrument  in  the  German  Telegraph  Convention  of  1852,  com- 
municated to  Colonel  Shanher  in  this  summer  of  1854  a  letter 
giving  a  minute  account  of  the  progress  of  the  Telegraph  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  through  his  instrumentality,  and  clos- 
ing with  the  following  declaration :  "  In  this  way  I  have  been 
able  effectually  to  labor  for  the  adoption  of  the  Morse  system 
throughout  all  Europe  /  and  that  I  have  thereby  extended  his 
well-earned  fame  has  been  to  me  the  source  of  peculiar  pleasure, 
which  I  beg  you  to  testify  to  Professor  Morse  in  proper  time, 
together  with  my  most  friendly  respects? 

This  declaration  is  certainly  sufficient  to  silence  forever  the 
oft-repeated  assertion  that  Morse's  system  is  the  same  as  Stein- 
heil's.  But  a  letter  from  Dr.  Steinheil,  subsequently  received 
by  Morse  himself,  is  still  more  explicit.1 

Hon.  D.  D.  Barnard,  who  had  been  the  Minister  of  the 
United  States  at  the  court  of  Prussia,  wrote  to  Professor  Morse 
communicating  information  which  greatly  cheered  him  : 

"  I  have  been  an  indignant  observer,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
outrageous  piracies  to  which  you  have  been  subjected  at  the  hands 
of  your  countrymen,  and  of  the  infamous  course  of  the  public  press 
of  this  country  toward  you,  in  reference  to  your  wonderful  inven- 
tion of  the  Telegraph.  It  was,  therefore,  with  peculiar  satisfaction 
that,  during  my  residence  abroad,  I  was  accustomed  to  hear  your 
name  pronounced  with  emphasis  and  honor  everywhere  on  the  Con- 
tinent where  I  chanced  to  be,  and  in  whatever  circle,  whenever  the 
subject  of  the  Electric  Telegraph  was  named.  I  became  entirely 
satisfied  that  the  general  sentiment  of  the  European  world  did  not 
fail  or  hesitate  to  award  to  you  the  chief  merit  of  this  grand  inven- 
tion, and  that  your  name  was  as  sure  of  unrivaled  immortality  in 
connection  with  it,  as  that  of  Galileo  or  Newton  with  astronomy,  or 
that  of  Bacon  with  philosophy.  I  spoke  to  you  briefly  of  this  when 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you,  but  I  have  wished  to  express  to 
you  the  same  thing  in  a  more  substantial  form. 

"  In  Germany,  after  the  most  mature  and  elaborate  investigation 
by  the  aid  of  the  profoundest  learning  and  wisdom  of  the  age,  your 

1  See  page  687. 


HON.   D.   D.   BARNARD.  621 

Telegraph  was  adopted  in  a  general  convention  of  all  the  states 
assembled  expressly  to  consider  that  subject.  And  I  can  give  you 
the  assurance,  without  attempting  to  detail  particular  conversations, 
that  had  you  visited  Berlin  while  I  was  there,  and  when  I  had 
hoped  to  have  seen  you,  you  would  have  met  from  such  a  man  as 
the  illustrious  Humboldt,  and  from  the  King  of  Prussia  himself, 
such  a  distinguished  and  honored  reception  as  would  only  be  ac- 
corded from  such  quarters  to  the  few  who  have  made  themselves 
eminent  and  immortal  by  such  rare  benefactions  of  their  genius  to 
the  world  as  have  satisfactorily  passed  the  ordeal  of  trial  and  time. 
"  Regretting  the  necessity  I  am  under  of  writing  thus  briefly, 
and  wishing  you  all  honor  and  prosperity,  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  most 
truly  yours,  D.  D.  Barnard." 

Professor  Morse  to  Mr.  Barnard. 

"  Poughkeepsie,  July  26,  1854. 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  return  you  my  hearty  thanks  for  your  most 
acceptable  letter.  I  had  supposed  that  mine,  to  which  it  was  in 
reply,  had  by  some  means  miscarried.  Any  evil  merely  of  delay, 
however,  has  now  been  more  than  overbalanced.  I  regret  only  the 
cause  of  the  delay,  and  this  most  sincerely,  and  I  trust  your  valu- 
able life  and  health  may  long  be  preserved  to  the  country  and  to 
your  family.  Your  letter  is  to  me,  indeed,  most  gratifying  as  a 
most  valuable  addition  to  the  substantial  and  munificent  proof  of 
regard  already  in  my  possession  from  his  Majesty  the  King  of 
Prussia.  To  have  such  an  attestation  of  priority  of  invention  of 
the  Telegraph  from  so  distinguished  a  quarter,  and  supported  by 
the  opinion  of  that  excellent  and  world-renowned  savant,  the  Baron 
Humboldt,  is  indeed  cheering,  yet  in  some  respects  a  mortifying  con- 
trast with  the  denial  of  this  claim  by  some  of  my  own  countrymen 
who  stand  high  in  attainments  in  science.  But  the  courts  of  my 
country,  especially  our  noble  Supreme  Court,  have  at  length  fully 
sustained  the  foreign  verdict,  but  alas !  I  fear  their  decision  will  be 
of  little  personal  benefit,  except  as  it  may  favorably  affect  my  family 
after  I  am  gone. 

"  I  feel  the  loss  of  time,  and  the  habits  of  mind  generated  by 
long-continued  litigation  more  than  all  else,  as  unfitting  me  for  con- 
summating other  projects  of  usefulness,  and  when  I  consider  that 
my  age  must  ere  long,  in  the  natural  course  of  things,  disqualify  me 
from  undertaking  them  with  any  prospect  of  success,  I  feel  a  sad- 
ness I  cannot  express." 


622  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

Professor  Morse  to  Mr.  Kendall. 

"A  most  important  arrangement  has  been  entered  into  be- 
tween the  American  and  English,  or  rather  Continental  Submarine 
Telegraph  Companies.  Our  New  York,  Newfoundland,  and  London 
Telegraph  Company  has  been  united  with  the  Continental  or  Great 
Telegraph  Union  of  Europe.  A  deputation  or  rather  agent  was 
sent  over  to  concert  a  plan  of  union.  Mr.  C.  D.  Archibald,  F.  R.  S., 
and  secretary  of  the  British  company,  met  us  at  Mr.  Field's.  I  was 
present  at  the  meetings,  and  after  much  consultation  a  plan  of  union 
was  adopted.  They  have  the  control  of  all  the  lines  of  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  the  Continent  generally,  and  are  the  company 
carrying  out  the  Mediterranean  and  Asiatic  lines. 

"  Mr.  Archibald  gave  me  the  first  information  that  the  British 
lines  were  about  to  discard  all  other  systems  but  mine,  and  that  the 
scientific  mind  of  Britain  was  disposed  at  length  to  do  us  the  jus- 
tice to  acknowledge  that  we  were  far  ahead  of  all  the  world  in 
telegraphy.  A  letter  also  just  received  from  him  commences  thus : 
'  I  feel  bound  to  express  my  acknowledgments  of  your  kindness  in 
initiating  me  into  the  mysteries  of  electric  telegraphy,  of  which  I 
regard  you  as  the  great  high-priest.'  I  had  shown  him  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Telegraph  in  our  various  offices,  and  he  was  enthusiastic 
in  his  admiration  of  the  simplicity  of  my  system,  and  was  strong  in 
his  expressions  of  its  superiority  over  their  systems,  which  he  as 
strongly  condemned.  Mr.  A.  is  an  intimate  and  personal  friend  of 
Faraday,  who  proposed  him  as  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  and 
who  by-the-by  is  the  electrician  of  the  British  company." 

Professor  Morse  to  Mr.  Fleischmann. 

"  September  21,  1854. 
"  Many  thanks  for  your  letter  of  the  25th  August,  which  came 
safely  to  hand,  and  for  the  most  gratifying  intelligence  which  it 
gives  me  of  the  near  prospect  of  the  universality  of  my  Telegraph 
system.  I  am  now  engaged  in  the  great  enterprise  of  the  Oceanic 
Telegraph,  and  in  investigating  and,  overcoming  the  difficulties  of 
such  a  work.  The  two  companies,  European  and  American,  have 
united  on  satisfactory  terms,  and,  as  great  capital  is  embarked  to 
cany  it  through,  I  do  not  despair  of  witnessing  myself,  as  un  fait 
accompli,  my  prediction  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  my 
letter  to  him  of  August  10,  1843,  fulfilled,  that,  'startling  as  hrmay 
now  seem  (a  telegraph  across  the  Atlantic),  the  project  will  event- 
ually be  realized.' " 


ANTICIPATIONS.  623 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  Professor  Morse  was  nominated 
for  Congress  by  a  portion  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  the  re- 
sult he  expresses,  very  concisely  but  correctly,  in  a  letter  written 
to  a  friend  abroad  :  "  I  came  near  being  in  Congress  at  the  late 
election,  but  had  not  quite  votes  enough,  which  is  the  usual 
cause  of  failure  on  such  occasions." 

His  mind  was  constantly  absorbed  in  experiments  and  corre- 
spondence, meeting  new  difficulties,  encouraging  doubtful  capi- 
talists, and  combating  adverse  suggestions  by  men  of  science. 
The  winter  of  1854-'55  was  passed  in  ]STew  York,  in  the  midst 
of  intense  labors,  such  as  few  young  students  would  endure. 
In  the  spring  he  wrote  to  his  friend  T.  E.  "Walker,  Esq.,  of 
Utica  : 

"  Our  Atlantic  line  is  in  a  fair  way.  We  have  the  governments 
and  capitalists  of  Europe  zealously  and  warmly  engaged  to  carry  it 
through.  Three  years  will  not  pass  before  a  submarine  telegraph 
communication  will  he  had  with  Europe  /  and  I  do  not  despair  of 
sitting  in  my  office,  and,  by  a  touch  of  the  telegraph-key,  asking  a 
question  simultaneously  to  persons  in  London,  Paris,  Cairo,  Cal- 
cutta, and  Canton,  and  getting  the  answer  from  all  of  them  in  Jive 
minutes  after  the  question  is  asked.  Does  this  seem  strange  ?  I 
presume,  if  I  had  even  suggested  the  thought  some  twenty  years 
ago,  I  might  have  had  a  quiet  residence  in  a  big  building  in  your 
vicinity." 

The  "big  building"  is  the  Lunatic  Asylum.  To  Mr.  Field 
he  wrote : 

"  I  am  happy  to  learn  the  progress  of  the  Telegraph,  and  hope, 
in  1858,  to  accomplish  what  I  have  so  often  predicted  I  should  do 
in  three  years  from  this,  to  wit :  ask  a  question  from  my  office,  in 
my  house  in  Poughkeepsie,  to  London,  Paris,  Vienna,  Constanti- 
nople, and  Calcutta,  if  not  to  Canton,  and  get  my  answer  back  in 
five  minutes." 

And  in  July  Professor  Morse  wrote  to  1ST.  Green,  Esq.,  in 
New  Orleans : 

"  I  am  about  to  leave  home  for  some  weeks  to  sail  for  New- 
foundland, to  assist  in  laying  down  the  submarine-cable,  to  connect 
Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia  across  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  a 


624  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

distance  of  about  sixty  miles.  When  this  is  laid,  we  shall  bring 
Europe  within  six  days  of  America ;  and  this  is  preparatory  to  the 
great  enterprise  across  the  Atlantic,  which  I  confidently  anticipate 
seeing  in  operation  within  two  years  from  the  present  time.  Should 
this  enterprise  succeed,  as  I  have  no  doubt  it  will,  a  great  impulse 
will  be  given  to  telegraph  business  throughout  all  the  country ;  in- 
deed, I  may  say,  throughout  the  world.  The  effects  of  the  Telegraph 
on  the  interests  of  the  world,  political,  social,  and  commercial,  have 
as  yet  scarcely  begun  to  be  apprehended,  even  by  the  most  specu- 
lative minds.  I  trust  that  one  of  its  effects  will  be  to  bind  man  to 
his  fellow-man  in  such  bonds  of  amity  as  to  put  an  end  to  war;  I 
think  I  can  predict  this  effect  as  in  a  not  distant  future." 

On  the  7th  day  of  August,  1855,  Professor  Morse,  with  his 
wife  and  one  of  his  sons,  embarked  on  the  steamer  James 
Adger,  with  a  large  number  of  friends,  for  Newfoundland. 
The  party  was  one  of  business  and  pleasure  combined.  The 
company  was  represented  by  Messrs.  Peter  Cooper,  Cyrus  "W. 
Field,  David  Dudley  Field,  Robert  W.  Lowber,  and  Professor 
Morse ;  and  the  invited  guests  included  Rev.  Drs.  Spring  and 
EL  M.  Field,  Rev.  J.  M.  Sherwood,  and  others.  Professor  Morse 
was  in  high  spirits.  He  had  a  telegraphic  instrument  on  board, 
which  he  illustrated  to  the  company.  The  voyage  was  delight- 
ful. The  steamer  touched  at  Halifax,  and  then  went  on  to 
Port  au  Basque,  near  Cape  Pay,  where  the  Sarah  L.  Bryant 
was  expected  from  England  with  the  cable,  to  be  laid  across 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  She  had  not  arrived ;  and  the  party 
proceeded  to  St.  John's,  where  they  were  entertained  with  great 
hospitality.  In  return,  a  banquet  was  given  on  board  the 
James  Adger  to  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  town.  The 
Morning  Post  of  August  18th,  gave  an  animated  sketch  of  the 
occasion,  and  records  the  toast  that  called  out  the  inventor  of 
the  Electric  Telegraph — 

"The  steed,  called  Lightning  (say  the  Fates), 
Was  tamed  in  the  United  States ; 
'Twas  Franklin's  hand  that  caught  the  horse, 
'Twas  harnessed  by  Professor  Morse." 

Returning  from  St.  John's  to  Port  au  Basque,  the  expected 
ship  was  found,  with  the  cable  on  board.     The  work  of  laying 


FAILURE  AND  SUCCESS.  625 

it  was  begun  August  23,  1855,  and  prosecuted  four  days,  when, 
in  the  midst  of  a  terrific  storm,  it  was  necessary  to  sever  the 
cable  and  abandon  the  attempt.  The  James  Adger  arrived  at 
New  York,  September  5th,  on  her  return  from  this  first  and 
unsuccessful  expedition.  The  next  summer  a  second  and  quiet 
attempt  was  crowned  with  success. 
40 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

1856. 

PEOFESSOE    MOESE   VISITS    HIS    NATIVE    PLACE — GOES   TO   ETTEOPE— CONSULTA- 
TIONS IN   LONDON   ON   THE  ATLANTIC  TELEGEAPH — ME.  PEABODY's  P/INNEE 

LANDSEEE  AND   LESLIE WHITEBAIT  DINNEE LETTEE  TO  THE   CHILDEEN 

— GOES  TO   PAEIS   AND   HAMBUEG ATTENTIONS   SHOWN   TO   HIM   THEEE — 

COPENHAGEN — VISIT  TO  THE  KING  OF  DENMABK — GOES  TO  EUSSIA — BE- 
CEPTION — PEESENTATION  TO  THE  EMPEEOE — VISIT  TO  BEELIN — EECEP- 
TION  BY  HUMBOLDT — EETUEN  TO  LONDON— SCIENTIFIC  EXPEEIMENTS — 
LETTEES  TO  ME.  FIELD — BANQUET  TO  MOESE — LEGION  OF  HONOE — TUP- 
PEE'S   SONNET — LONDON   TIMES — EOBEET   OWEN. 

Being  in  Boston  on  business  in  the  spring  of  1856,  Professor 
Morse  employed  a  leisure  afternoon  in  visiting  the  house  in 
which  he  was  born.  In  a  letter  written  at  the  Revere  House 
the  same  evening,  he  describes  the  interesting  incidents  of  the 
visit : 

"  Boston,  Wednesday,  May  13,  1856. 
"  After  dinner,  to-day,  I  walked  over  to  Charlestown,  not  hav- 
ing visited  the  place  for  some  eighteen  years,  and  then  but  for  a 
few  hours,  after  an  absence  of  many  years.  The  changes  in  the 
north  part  of  Boston,  and  in  Charlestown,  were  so  great,  that  I 
found  my  way  across  the  old  Charles  River  bridge  with  some  diffi- 
culty, and,  standing  on  the  bridge  and  looking  on  each  side,  could 
scarcely  recognize  any  of  the  former  landmarks.  I  paid  my  penny- 
toll  to  the  toll-taker,  and  said  to  him :  '  I  find  some  alterations  here 
since  I  used  to  pay  my  tolls  to  old  Deacon  Miller,  at  the  toll-house 
on  the  opposite  side  of  this  bridge.'  'Ah!'  said  he;  'that  was  a 
great  while  ago;  the  old  deacon  has  been  dead  many  years;  my 
grandfather  was  deacon  with  him  in  the  same  church.'  '  In  what 
church  ? '  said  I.     '  In  Dr.  Morse's  church,'  said  he,  '  where  I  used 


THE   OLD   HOMESTEAD.  627 

to  go  when  I  was  a  boy.'  '  Indeed,'  said  I  ;  '  and  who  was  your 
grandfather?'  'Deacon  Frothingham,'  said  he.  'Are  you  a 
grandson  of  old  Deacon  Frothingham  ?  I  knew  the  good  old  man 
well ;  he  was  one  of  my  father's  firmest  friends*'  '  And  who  was 
your  father,  then,  sir  ? '  said  he.  '  Dr.  Morse,'  I  replied.  '  Are  you 
a  son  of  Dr.  Morse  ?'  said  he  ;  '  which  one  ?  He  had  a  son  a  paint- 
er ;  and  my  brother  also  is  a  painter.'  '  I  am  the  painter,'  I  said  ; 
'  and  your  brother,  then,  is  James  Frothingham  ? '  '  Yes.'  '  Where 
is  he  ?  Is  he  living  ? '  '  Yes ;  he  lives  in  Brooklyn,  New  York.' 
'Indeed  !  and  can  you  tell  me  where  the  portrait  is  which  he  took 
of  my  father  ? — for  I  think  it  was  one  of  the  best  ever  taken  of  him ; 
and  I  am  very  anxious  to  know  where  I  can  find  it.'  '  No,'  said 
he ;  '  I  cannot  tell  you  where  it  is.'  After  shaking  hands  with  him, 
I  passed  on  into  the  square  of  Charlestown.  I  stopped  and  looked 
round.  A  pump  used  to  stand  in  the  centre.  It  was  no  longer 
there.  The  eastern  part  of  the  square  was  entirely  changed.  The 
north  showed  the  Salem  turnpike,  passing  between  a  new  build- 
ing, the  Bunker  Hill  Bank,  and  an  old  building,  which  seemed  un- 
changed amid  the  changes  that  surrounded  it,  the  old  store  of 
Skinner  &  Hurd,  the  same  in  all  respects  as  of  old,  except  a  new 
firm  upon  the  sign  over  the  door.  Directly  opposite,  on  the  south 
of  the  square,  more  changes  struck  me ;  a  new  bridge-way  occupied 
the  space  where  the  house  of  Richard  Carey,  and  old  Aunt  Dowse, 
as  she  was  familiarly  called, , formerly  stood,  leaving  a  venerable 
reminiscence  of  the  ancient  aristocracy  of  Charlestown  on  the  right, 
in  the  old  mansion  of  the  Russell  family ;  it  is  now  a  tavern,  the 
words  'Innholder,'  in  small  letters,  are  over  the  door.  "What  a 
change  was  here !  In  that  house  I  had  seen  the  venerable  Judge 
Russell,  and  his  two  maiden  daughters,  Sally  and  Mary  Russell.  I 
recalled  the  days  when,  with  my  parents,  I  used  to  visit  at  that 
house,  and  the  pleasure,  when  a  child,  with  which  I  heard  my 
mother  say,  '  If  you  are  good,  you  shall  go  and  see  Aunt  Russell 
this  afternoon ; '  for  Aunt  Sally  and  Aunt  Mary  were  sure  to  fill 
our  pockets  with  cakes  and  apples.  So  vividly  did  the  sight  of  this 
old  mansion  bring  up  the  faces  of  the  good  old  people,  that  I  think 
now  I  could  paint  each  of  their  portraits  from  recollection :  the 
large  features  of  the  old  judge,  with  his  bushy  eyebrows,  his  promi- 
nent under  lip,  and  his  bending  form ;  Aunt  Mary,  with  her  wide 
face,  pale,  and  somewhat  sad  ;  and  Aunt  Sally,  with  a  sharper  physi- 
ognomy, and  expression  of  more  vivacity,  and  quicker  and  more 
bustling  in  her  movement ;  their  dress  models  of  neatness  and  pro- 


(328  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

priety,  and  their  demeanor  kind  and  courteous,  yet  sufficiently  re- 
served to  restrain  any  disposition  on  our  part  to  childish  excess. 

"  Separated  from  the  old  mansion  by  a  passage  to  a  wharf,  still 
stands  in  all  its  gloomy,  unattractive  shabbiness,  an  old  house, 
which  I  well  remember  possessed,  from  my  earliest  recollection  of 
it,  the  same  repulsive  characteristics  which  it  now  has.  For  fifty 
years  it  seems  never  to  have  had  a  coat  of  paint,  nor  any  attempt 
at  change. 

"  I  passed  up  the  hill  where,  formerly  on  the  right,  was  the  gar- 
den of  my  father's  house.  All  trace  of  this  garden  and  the  house 
is  gone  ;  the  site  of  both  is  covered  by  a  row  of  brick  houses ;  all  on 
that  side  was  new.  On  the  left,  however,  still  stands,  apparently 
unchanged,  the  garden  and  house  of  Matthew  Bridge,  our  oppdsite 
neighbor — unchanged  I  mean  in  their  general  characteristics,  but 
bearing  marks  of  decay  and  neglect.  The  house  toward  the  west 
has  also  the  same  general  features  as  it  had  forty  years  ago,  but 
now  decayed  and  dilapidated,  the  fence  down,  and  every  thing 
about  it  slovenly. 

"  The  church  where  my  father  preached  has  long  since  been  re- 
moved, and  on  its  site  the  present  neat,  substantial,  and  commo- 
dious house  of  worship  erected.  I  had  not  time  to  give  it  more 
than  a  passing  glance.  I  went  on,  desirous  of  finding  the  house  in 
which  I  was  born,  for  my  parents  occupied  a  different  house  from 
the  parsonage,  when  they  first  came  to  Charlestown,  and  during  the 
time  the  parsonage  was  being  built.  I  proceeded  down  the  hill 
toward  the  main  street,  leaving  on  the  right  the  house  in  which  our  , 
family  physician,  Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett,  once  lived,  and,  on  the  left, 
the  site  where  once  stood  the  little  shanty  of  a  school-house,  kept  by 
old  Ma'am  Rand,  which  was  standing  not  many  years  ago,  and  when 
my  first  attempts  at  drawing,  from  the  injudicious  choice  I  had 
made  of  my  pencil  and  canvas,  which  were  a  pin  and  a  bureau, 
were  rewarded  by  a  smart  rap   on  the  shoulders  by  her  long  rattan. 

"  Passing  into  the  main  street,  I  soon  found,  after  proceeding  be- 
yond the  church  on  the  right,  the  substantial,  though  wooden,  house 
of  two  stories,  which  I  had  been  told  in  earlier  days  was  the  house 
in  which  I  was  born.  It  is  now  painted  brown,  but  formerly  was 
white.  I  stood  for  a  short  time  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street, 
reconnoitring  it,  to  be  assured  that  it  was  the  house.  I  then 
crossed  over,  and,  finding  on  the  door-plate  '  R.  B.  Edes,'  I  was  con- 
firmed in  my  assurance,  and  rang  the  bell.  It  was  opened  by  a 
lady,,  to  whom  I  apologized  for  the  liberty  I  had  taken,  stating  that 


RECOGNITION  BY  OLD   FRIENDS.  629 

I  knew  she  would  excuse  me  when  she  learned  my  errand,  which 
was  to  visit  a  room  in  which  I  first  saw  the  light,  and  in  which  I 
had  not  been  for  more  than  sixty  years.  She  at  once  exclaimed, 
'  Surely  this  is  not  Mr.  Morse  ! '  '  Yes,  madam,  you  have  spoken  my 
name.'  '  Walk  in,  walk  in,'  she  exclaimed,  '  I  am  rejoiced  to  see 
you.  I  well  remember  your  good  father  and  mother,  and  have  often 
heard  that  you  were  born  in  this  house.'  So  I  walked  into  a  neatly- 
furnished  parlor,  and  found  that  the  lady  was  Mrs.  Edes,  the  wife 
of  Caj>tain  Robert  Edes,  whom  we  all  well  knew  in  our  younger 
days.  He  was  not  at  home,  but  two  of  their  daughters,  with  each 
a  sweet  child,  were  soon  called  and  introduced  to  me.  I  soon  found 
that  I  was  among  friends,  and,  while  talking  with  them,  one  sudden- 
ly ran  to  the  window,  exclaiming,  '  There  is  Mr.  Hooper  ;  I  wonder 
if  he  is  coming  here  ? '  She  had  scarcely  spoken,  before  he  turned 
to  the  door  and  came  in.  The  moment  he  recognized  me  he  mani- 
fested the  greatest  pleasure,  and  was  full  of  inquiries  after  all  the 
family.  I  told  him  my  errand  in  coming  to  this  house.  '  Oh  ! '  said 
he,  '  I  can  tell  you  all  about  it,  for  I  was  here  when  you  were  born, 
and  used  to  take  you  out-of-doors  to  take  the  air,  before  your  mother 
was  well  of  her  confinement.'  '  In  which  room,  then,  was  I  born  ? ' 
said  I,  '  for  I  had  the  impression  it  was  the  east  front  chamber.' 
'  No,'  said  he,  '  it  was  the  east  rear  chamber,  and  it  is  unchanged, 
except  new  papering  and  painting.  I  have  good  reason  to  remem- 
ber the  time  of  your  birth  :  your  father  wished  a  boy  to  go  to  the 
post-office  in  Boston  daily  for  him,  and  also  to  carry  the  proofs  and 
copy  to  the  printers.  I  was  then  about  nine  years  old,'  said  he, 
'  and  your  father  employed  me  for  those  purposes,  and  I  lived  in 
the  family.  Nancy  Shepherd  was  the  nurse,  and  was  always  active 
in  the  kitchen.  One  day  she  was  roasting  peas  to  free  them  from 
the  weevil,  preparatory  to  burning  them  for  coffee,  for,'  said  he, 
'  real  coffee  at  that  time  was  very  scarce.  I  was  sitting  by  the  fire, 
when  one  of  these  little  bugs  flew  into  my  ear,  and  it  caused  me 
so  great  pain  that  I  feared  for  my  life.  I  ran  across  the  street  to  a 
doctor  who  poured  some  spirits  of  wine  into  my  ear,  which  soon 
drove  the  weevil  out.'  After  a  few  anecdotes  of  this  kind  I  went 
up-stairs  to  see  the  room.  I  was  first  shown  into  the  east  front 
room,  overlooking  the  street,  which  I  had  supposed  was  the  room. 
Then  into  the  east  rear  room,  which  communicated  with  the  other 
by  a  small  entry.  There  was  nothing  peculiar  in  the  room ;  the 
ceiling  is  low,  the  walls  substantial,  as  is  the  whole  house,  in  strik- 
ing contrast  with  modern  buildings. 


630  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MOESE. 

"  I  then  visited  Mr.  Hooper's  residence,  where  I  found  that  Mr. 
Henry  C.  Pratt  (my  former  pupil  in  painting)  and  his  family  were 
boarding.  While  there,  Mrs.  Benjamin  Brown  came  in,  one  of 
father's  old  friends  ;  she  was  greatly  rejoiced  to  see  me,  and  insisted 
that  I  must  call  with  her  upon  Mrs.  Hovey,  the  widow  of  Abijah 
Hovey,  and  one  of  the  strongest  friends  of  father  and  mother  in 
their  last  da)7s  in  Charlestown.  I  observed  that  I  could  not  think 
of  coming  to  Charlestown  without  calling  upon  her ;  so  Mrs.  Brown 
piloted  me  to  Mrs.  Hovey's,  saying,  as  we  knocked  at  the  door, '  Do 
not  mention  your  name  ;  see  if  she  will  know  you.'  When  I  went 
into  the  parlor,  and  while  waiting  for  the  appearance  of  Mrs.  Hovey, 
I  cast  my  eyes  upon  the  picture  of  my  father,  by  Frothingham,  the 
identical  portrait  about  which  I  had  inquired  of  the  toll-keeper  of 
the  bridge,  the  brother  of  the  painter ;  and,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  room,  is  my  earliest  picture  of  a  group,  being  our  own  fami- 
ly, my  father,  mother,  my  brother  Sidney,  Richard,  and  myself,  in 
water-colors ;  this  picture  had  been  the  subject  of  inquiry  by  my- 
self and  brothers  just  previous  to  my  coming  to  Boston  ;  we  were 
speculating  where  it  could  be.  I  remembered  giving  it  to  Nancy 
Shepherd,  and  it  seems  that  Nancy  just  previously  to  her  death  gave 
it  to  Mrs.  Hovey.  My  father's  likeness,  but  especially  my  mother's, 
were  good  likenesses  still ;  Richard's  was  tolerable,  but  Sidney's 
and  my  own  did  not  strike  me  agreeably.  My  father's  figure  is 
without  legs,  the  picture  having  been  abruptly  left  before  complet- 
ing it.  On  the  whole,  I  had  a  most  agreeable,  and  to  me  exceed- 
ing^ exciting,  visit,  which  I  shall  remember  to  the  end  of  my 
life." 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1856,  Professor  Morse  sailed  for  Liver- 
pool in  the  steamship  Baltic,  Captain  Comstock.  Among  the 
passengers  were  William  H.  Appleton,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  Dr. 
Hnll,  and  Colonel  Cobb.  The  Professor  was  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  his  niece,  Miss  Louisa  Morse,  daughter  of  his  brother 
Richard.  On  board  the  ship,  at  the  request  of  the  passengers, 
Professor  Morse  gave  a  discourse  in  the  cabin  on  the  history  of 
the  Telegraph,  the  circumstances  of  its  invention  at  sea,  and  its 
progress  thus  far  in  the  several  countries.  His  time  in  London 
was  largely  occupied  with  the  gentlemen  who  were  then  en- 
gaged in  the  construction  of  the  cable  for  the  Atlantic,  Messrs. 
Glass,  Bright,  Whitehouse,  Statham,  and  others.  On  the  4th  of 
July  he  was  one  of  the  guests  of  George  Peabody,  Esq.,  at  din- 


LANDSEER  AND   LESLIE.  631 

ner,  at  the  Star  and  Garter  Tavern,  Richmond  Hill.  When  the 
toast,  "  The  Telegraph,"  was  suddenly  proposed,  he  was  unex- 
pectedly called  upon  to  respond,  and,  being  unable  to  make  a 
speech,  he*  rose,  and  with  modesty  and  dignity  recited  these 
words  from  the  19th  Psalm  :  "  Their  line  is  gone  out  through  all 
the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

Landseer  was  a  boy  when  Morse  was  a  student  with  West 
in  London,  and  Morse  knew  him  at  that  time.  The  great  artist 
now  sought  him  and  paid  him  deserved  honors  as  the  President 
of  the  National  Academy  of  Design  in  the  United  States.  He 
gathered  the  artists  of  London  and  men  of  science  and  letters  at 
his  own  house,  and  presented  to  them  his  distinguished  friend 
Professor  Morse.  C.  R.  Leslie,  his  fellow-student  and  room- 
mate in  early  youth,  when  they  were  both  taking  lessons  of 
"West,  was  now  in  the  country  at  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Egre- 
mont.  It  was  a  few  miles  by  stage-coach,  and  an  invitation 
from  his  old  companion  was  readily  accepted.  The  reunion  was 
like  that  of  boys  meeting  after  a  few  years  only  of  separation. 
They  wandered  arm-in-arm  over  the  grounds,  and  through  the 
halls,  recalling  the  thousand  pleasant  memories  of  youth,  and 
repeating  to  one  another  the  incidents  that  had  marked  the  in- 
tervening years.  A  white-bait  dinner  at  Greenwich,  given  to 
Morse  by  the  Telegraph  managers,  brought  together  several 
gentlemen  who  had  been  actively  engaged  in  the  extension  of 
the  system  abroad,  and,  in  a  private  letter  to  his  children  at 
home,  Professor  Morse  gives  natural  expression  to  his  gratifica- 
tion in  the  testimonies  of  these  practical  men  to  the  great  suc- 
cess of  his  invention. 

From  London  he  journeyed  toward  the  north  of  Europe, 
spending  a  few  days  only  in  Paris,  and  at  Hamburg.  In  neither 
of  these  cities  did  he  find  at  this  season  of  the  year  the  men 
whom  he  would  have  been  most  pleased  to  meet;  but,  with 
a  definite  purpose  before  him,  he  pursued  his  journey  to  Copen- 
hagen.    His  niece,  Miss  Morse,  in  one  of  her  letters,  says  : 

"  We  reached  Copenhagen  after  two  night's  tossing  in  the  most 
wretched  dog-kennel  of  a  boat,  and  when  we  arrived  at  the  gloomy 
hotel  on  a  damp,  drizzling  day,  and  looked  out  of  our  parlor-window 
upon  the  long  canal-wharf,  and  the  prison-like  palace  on  the  other 
side,  we  were  a  most  homesick,  as  we  had  been  a  seasick,  party. 


632  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

But  after  this  forbidding  introduction,  Copenhagen  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  pleasantest,  if  not  the  pleasantest  place,  of  our  journey 
thus  far.  We  were  immediately  surrounded  by  warm  friends,  who 
made  us  feel  at ,  once  as  if  we  were  at  home.  Every  day  and  hour 
was  filled  up  with  entertainments,  which  these  hospitable  friends 
were  delighted  to  give  to  uncle  and  his  party.  Commodore  Michel- 
sen  and  Mr.  Froliche  were  devoted  in  their  attentions.  All  spoke 
the  English  language  so  naturally  that  we  could  not  believe  our- 
selves in  a  strange  country." 

Professor  Morse's  own  letters,  in  the  familiar  and  confidential 
words  of  a  father  to  his  children,  give  a  pleasant  account  of  his 
presentation  to  the  king : 

"  Captain  Raastoff  and  I  arrived  at  Fredericksborg  at  11.30, 
near  midnight.  The  aide  and  chamberlain  of  the  king  had  already 
retired  for  the  night,  but,  leaving  our  letters  to  be  delivered  to  the 
aide  in  the  morning,  we  retired  to  rest. 

"  In  the  morning,  while  at  breakfast,  we  received  a  message 
from  the  king  to  see  him  in  his  audience-chamber  in  half  an  hour ; 
so,  dressing  for  the  occasion,  the  captain  wearing  his  orders  as 
Knight  of  the  Dannebrog,  and  I  my  Turkish  Nishan  (by  advice), 
we  proceeded  to  the  palace  in  the  Castle  of  Fredericksborg,  where 
we  were  received  in  the  anteroom  by  the  king's  aide.  The  aide  told 
us  that  the  king  had  been  apprised  of  my  visit  to  Copenhagen,  and 
was  expecting  to  see  me  the  day  before,  which  would  have  been  the 
case  had  we  not  been  misdirected  to  Jaeger's  Priis  instead  of  Fred- 
ericksborg. After  a  few  minutes  the  captain  was  called  into  the 
presence  of  the  king,  and  in  a  few  minutes  more  I  was  requested  to 
go  into  the  audience-chamber,  and  was  introduced  by  the  captain  to 
Ferdinand  VII.,  King  of  Denmark.  The  king  received  me  standing, 
and  very  courteously.  He  is  a  man  of  middle  stature,  thick-set, 
and  resembles  more  in  the  features  of  his.  face  the  busts  and  pict- 
ures of  Christian  IV.  than  those  of  any  of  his  predecessors,  judging 
as  I  did  from  the  numerous  busts  and  portraits  of  the  Kings  of 
Denmark  which  adorn  the  city  palace  and  the  Castle  of  Fredericks- 
borg. 

"  The  king  expressed  his  pleasure  at  seeing  the  inventor  of  the 
Telegraph,  and  regretted  he  could  not  speak  English,  as  he  wished 
to  ask  me  many  questions.  He  thanked  me,  he  said,  for  the  beautiful 
instrument  I  had  sent  him ;  told  me  that  a  telegraph-line  was  now 
in  progress  from  the  castle  to  his  royal  residence  in  Copenhagen ; 


CONVERSATION  WITH   THE   KING.  633 

that  when  it  was  completed,  he  had  decided  on  using  my  instru- 
ment, which  I  had  given  him,  in  his  own  private  apartments.  He 
then  spoke  of  the  invention  as  a  most  wonderful  achievement,  and 
wished  me  to  inform  him  how  I  came  to  invent  it.  I  accordingly 
in  a  few  words  gave  him  the  early  history  of  it,  to  which  he  listened 
most  attentively,  and  thanked  me,  expressing  himself  highly  grati- 
fied. He  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  the  practicability  of  the 
Transatlantic  Telegraph.  I  told  him  it  was  an  enterprise  sure  to  be 
accomplished.  After  a  few  minutes  more  of  conversation  of  the 
same  character,  the  king  shook  me  warmly  by  the  hand,  and  we 
took  our  leave.  After  the  king  and  his  cortege  had  left  the  castle, 
the  governor  of  the  castle,  who  speaks  English,  as  if  it  were  his 
native  language,  politely  accompanied  us  through  the  rooms  of  the 
palace,  and  the  gorgeous  old  church  attached  to  it.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  give  in  description  any  idea  of  its  richness.  The  altar  has 
all  the  splendor  of  many  of  the  most  ornate  old  Roman  Catholic 
churches,  and  it  was  difficult  to  believe  it  to  be  a  Lutheran  church. 

"  "We  returned  to  Fredericksborg,  which  we  left  after  passing 
through  the  royal  apartments,  and  arrived  in  the  afternoon  at  Co- 
penhagen.    Mrs.  F called  in  her  carriage.     We  drove  to  the 

Thorwaldsen  Museum  or  Depository,  where  are  all  the  works  of  this 
great  man.  This  collection  of  the  greatest  sculptor  since  the  best 
period  of  Greek  art  is  attraction  enough  in  itself  to  call  travelers  of 
taste  to  Copenhagen.  After  spending  some  hours  in  Thorwaldsen's 
Museum,  I  went  to  see  the  study  of  Oersted,  where  his  most  impor- 
tant discovery  of  the  deflection  of  the  needle  by  a  galvanic  current 
was  made,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  science  of  electro-mag- 
netism, and  without  which  my  invention  could  not  have  been  made. 
It  is  now  a  drawing-school.  I  sat  at  the  table  where  he  made  his 
discoverjr.  We  went  to  the  Porcelain  Manufactory,  and  singularly 
enough  met  there  the  daughter  of  Oersted,  to  whom  I  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  an  introduction.  Oersted  was  a  most  amiable  man,  and  uni- 
versally beloved.  The  daughter  is  said  to  resemble  her  father  in 
her  features,  and  1  traced  a  resemblance  to  him  in  the  small  porce- 
lain bust,  which  I  came  to  the  manufactory  to  purchase.     Mr.  B 

kindly  gave  me  a  medallion  struck  in  honor  of  Oersted's  discovery. 

"  I  feel  under  great  obligations  to  all  these  good  people.  We 
left  Copenhagen  and  its  hospitable  people  with  reluctance.  But 
our  time  was  limited,  and  so  on  the  24th  of  July  (dear  Arthur's 
birthday)  we  embarked  on  a  neat  little  steamer  that  had  arrived  at 
Copenhagen  on  its  way  to  St.  Petersburg  from  Hull  in  England. 


634  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

Her  name  is  Falcon,  and  her  commander  has  an  appropriate  name 
as  her  captain,  Captain  Fowler  /  we  find  him  a  worthy  and  obliging 
man.  Such  a  passage  I  never  before  made  up  to  this  date  (July 
27th,  noon) ;  for  three  days  and  three  nights  the  weather  has  been 
perfectly  clear  and  calm,  the  sea  smooth;  not  once  has  the  vessel 
been  off  an  even  keel ;  we  have  had  a  whole  cabin  to  ourselves, 
good  food,  and  but  three  other  passengers  in  the  other  cabin,  a  gen- 
tleman and  two  ladies,  Scotch,  quiet  and  agreeable.  Last  night 
Louisa  and  I  sat  up  till  after  midnight  to  witness  a  night  without 
darkness.  Though  somewhat  late  in  the  season  to  see  the  night  of 
these  northern  latitudes  in  the  longest  days  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage, yet  we  witnessed  such  a  one  as  we  never  before  saw.  The 
sun  dipped  below  the  horizon  in  the  northwest  at  half:past  eight 
o'clock,  but  the  twilight  continued  so  bright,  gradually  passing  to 
the  north  and  northeast,  that  at  midnight  we  could  read  large  printed 
letters  without  difficulty.  To  vary  the  scene,  the  moon,  in  its  last 
quarter,  arose  in  the  northeast  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  twilight, 
a  very  unusual  place  (as  you  will  perceive  on  reflection)  to  see  an 
evening  moon.  A  few  clouds  of  the  stratus  character,  low  down, 
lent  an  additional  lustre  to  the  red  and  apple-colored  twilight  by 
their  contrasted  darkness.  All  else  was  clear  a.nd  calm.  "We  staid 
on  deck  till  the  evening  twilight  became  the  morning  twilight ;  and, 
when  it  had  so  far  brightened  that  we  could  see  to  read  print  of  a 
less  size,  we  retired  to  rest,  and  found  ourselves,  on  waking  this 
beautiful  calm  Sunday  morning,  rapidly  closing  our  pleasant  passage, 
three  o'clock  p.  m.  finding  us  within  sight  of  the  formidable  and 
extensive  fortress  of  Cronstadt. 

"  St.  Petersburg,  August  8,  1856. 
"  My  letter  was  abruptly  interrupted  by  the  bustle  and  confusion 
of  our  arrival  in  a  strange  and  unimagined  country,  and  studying 
its  novel  forms  and  customs.  Americans  are  particularly  struck 
with  the  strictness  of  the  custom-house  and  police  regulations, 
although  as  it  regards  the  former  we  had  less  trouble  and  were 
treated  with  more  politeness  and  less  inconvenience  than  we  have 
been  in  most  other  countries.  We  were  detained  at  Cronstadt 
about  two  hours,  passing  the  ordeal  of  the  police,  and,  leaving  our 
steamer,  with  our  luggage,  embarked  on  board  another  steamer  for 
St.  Petersburg,  seventeen  miles  distant.  We  passed  up  the  Neva 
about  eight  o'clock  and  landed  amid  hundreds  of  people  at  the  cus- 
tom-house landing,  when  our  luggage  went  through  a  very  slight 
examination,  the  fact  that  we  were  Americans  finding  us  favor  with 


NOSEGAYS   OF  DIAMONDS.  635 

all,  with  officers  and  people.  We  took  two  or  three  droskies  and 
drove  to  a  house  kept  by  an  Englishwoman  of  the  name  of  Benson, 
but  which  we  found  full,  so  that  we  were  compelled  to  take  to  our 
droskies  again  and  drive  to  the  Hotel  de  Russie,  where  we  are  well 
lodged,  and  shall  remain  during  our  stay  here ;  we  were  tired  enough 
when  we  entered  our  rooms,  and  glad  to  go  to  our  beds. 

"Up  to  this  date  we  have  been  in  one  constant  round  of  visits  to 
the  truly  wonderful  objects  of  curiosity  in  this  magnificent  city.  I 
have  seen,  as  you  know,  most  of  the  great  and  marvelous  cities  of 
Europe,  but,  I  can  truly  say,  none  of  them  can  at  all  compare  in 
splendor  and  beauty  to  St.  Petersburg.  It  is  a  city  of  palaces,  and 
palaces  of  the  most  gorgeous  character.  The  display  of  wealth  in 
the  palaces  and  churches  is  so  great  that  the  simple  truth  told  about 
them  would  incur  to  the  narrator  the  suspicion  of  romancing. 
England  boasts  of  her  regalia  in  the  Tower,  her  crown  jewels,  her 
Kohinoor  diamond,  etc.  I  can  assure  you  they  fade  into  insignifi- 
cance, as  a  rushlight  before  the  sun,  when  brought  before  the  wealth 
in  jewels  and  gold  seen  here  in  such  profusion.  What  think  you 
of  nosegays,  as  large  as  those  our  young  ladies  take  to  parties, 
composed  entirely  of  diamonds,  rubies,  emeralds,  sapphires,  and 
other  precious  stones,  chosen  to  represent  accurately  the  colors 
of  various  flowers  —  the  imperial  crown,  globular  in  shape,  com- 
posed of  diamonds,  and  containing  in  the  centre  of  the  Greek 
cross  which  surmounts  it  an  unwxought  ruby  at  least  two  inches 
in  diameter  ?  The  sceptre  has  a  diamond  very  nearly  as  large  as 
the  Kohinoor.  At  the  Arsenal  at  Tsarskoe-selo  we  saw  the  trap- 
pings of  a  horse,  bridle,  saddle,  and  all  the  harness,  with  an 
immense  saddle-cloth,  set  with  tens  of  thousands  of  diamonds; 
on  those  parts  of  the  harness  where  we  have  rosettes,  or  knobs, 
or  buckles,  were  rosettes  of  diamonds  an  inch  and  a  half  to  two 
inches  in  diameter,  with  a  diamond  in  the  centre  as  large  as  the 
first  joint  of  your  thumb,  or  say  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter. Other  trappings  were  as  rich.  Indeed,  there  seemed  to  be 
no  end  to  the  diamonds.  All  the  churches  are  decorated  in  the  most 
costly  manner  with  diamonds,  and  pearls,  and  precious  stones." 

Hon.  Thomas  H.  Seymour  was  the  United  States  Minister 
at  St.  Petersburg  at  this  time,  and  Mr.  J.  Pierce,  Jr.,  the  secre- 
tary of  legation.  They  received  Mr.  Morse  and  his  party  with, 
the  greatest  cordiality,  and  extended  to  them  every  courtesy  that 
would  be  accorded  to  the  most  distinguished  Americans.     Din- 


636  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

ners,  parties,  and  receptions,  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succes- 
sion. In  a  letter  to  his  children  at  home,  Professor  Morse  gives 
a  brilliant  description  of  his  presentation  at  court,  and  his  ac- 
count is  the  more  entertaining  because  of  those  minute  and 
delicate  touches  which  a  father  writing  to  his  children,  and  to 
them  only,  would  give : 

PROFESSOR   MORSE   TO   HIS   CHILDREN. 

"  Peterhoff,  seventeen  miles  from  St.  Petersburg  (Russia),  ) 

"August  14,  1856.        \ 

"  My  dear  daughter  Susan",  and  the  Grovites  generally  : 
Yesterday  I  received  notice  from  Prince  Gortchakoff,  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  through  our  minister,  Mr.  Seymour,  that  his  imperial 
Majesty  the  Emperor  had  appointed  the  hour  of  half-past  one  this 
day  to  see  me  at  his  palace,  at  Peterhoff. 

"  On  our  arrival  at  the  quay  at  Peterhoff,  we  found,  somewhat  to 
my  surprise,  the  imperial  carriages  in  waiting  for  us,  each  carriage 
with  a  coachman  and  two  footmen  in  imperial  livery,  which  is  scarlet 
and  gold  lace,  with  towering  chapeaux  bras,  edged  with  broad  gold- 
lace.  Our  party  occupied  two  of  the  carriages,  which  drove  rapidly 
by  all  other  carriages,  and  through  people  with  their  heads  uncov- 
ered as  we  passed,  which,  to  us  republicans,  was  something  new ; 
and  were  set  down  at  our  quarters  in  one  of  the  palace  buildings 
in  the  extensive  gardens  specially  appropriated  to  our  party.  Here 
we  were  attended  by  four  or  five  servants  in  scarlet  livery  loaded 
with  gold  lace,  and  shown  to  our  apartments,  upon  the  doors  of 
which  were  our  names  respectively.  After  throwing  off  our  over- 
coats, the  servants  inquired  if  we  would  have  breakfast — to  which, 
of  course,  we  had  no  objection ;  and  an  excellent  one,  of  coffee  and 
sandwiches,  was  soon  upon  the  table,  served  up  on  silver,  with  the 
imperial  arms  upon  the  waiter,  spoons,  etc.  Every  thing  about  our 
rooms — which  consisted  of  a  parlor  and  bedrooms  attached — was 
plain,  but  exceedingly  clean  and  neat.  After  seeing  us  well  housed, 
our  attendant  chamberlain  left  us  to  prepare  ourselves  for  the  pre- 
sentation, saying  he  would  call  for  us  at  the  proper  time.  As  there 
were  two  or  three  hours  to  spare,  I  took  occasion  to  improve  the 
time,  to  commence  this  brief  notice  of  the  events  of  the  day. 

"About  two  o'clock,  our  attendant,  who  gave  his  name  as 
Thorner,  an  officer  under  the  principal  chamberlain,  called  to  say 
our  carriages  were  ready.  On  descending  our  staircase,  through 
rows  of  liveried  servants,  we  found  three  carriages  in  waiting,  with 


CONVERSATION  WITH  THE  EMPEROR.  637 

the  imperial  livery,  and  splendid  black  horses,  three  servants  to  each 
carriage,  as  before,  but  in  blue  and  gold-lace  two  inches  at  least 
broad,  and  the  double-headed  eagle  emblazoned  upon  it  at  intervals 
of  about  four  inches.  We  seated  ourselves  in  the  carriages,  which 
were  then  driven  at  a  rapid  rate  to  the  great  and  principal  palace, 
the  entrance  to  which  is  most  picturesquely  placed  to  overlook  the 
numerous  and  magnificent  fountains  so  celebrated  at  Peterhoff. 
Hundreds  of  well-dressed  people  thronged  each  side  of  the  carriage- 
way, as  we  drove  up  to  the  door,  where  we  were  set  down  in  turn. 
After  alighting,  we  were  ushered  through  a  long  hall  by  an  officer 
richly  dressed,  and  having  upon  his  head  a  cap  with  black  feathers, 
much  like  the  Highlander's  cap ;  we  passed  through  two  lines  of 
liveried  servants,  that  manned  the  sides  of  the  hall  and  staircase, 
to  the  entrance  of  the  anteroom — the  last  two  of  these  officials 
being  Africans  of  the  darkest  complexion,  and  dressed  with  Turkish 
turban,  etc.  We  passed  through  the  anteroom  to  a  large  and  mag- 
nificent room,  where  were  assembled  those  who  were  to  be  pre- 
sented. The  master  of  ceremonies  led  the  way  to  the  southern 
veranda,  which  overlooked  the  gardens,  ranging  us  in  a  line,  and 
reading  our  names  from  a  list,  to  see  if  we  were  truly  mustered, 
after  which  a  door  suddenly  opened,  and  the  Emperor  Alexander  II. 
entered.  He  was  dressed  in  military  costume,  a  blue  sash  was 
across  his  breast,  passing  over  the  right  shoulder ;  on  his  left  breast 
were  stars  and  orders.  He  commenced  at  the  head  of  the  column, 
which  consisted  of  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  persons,  and  on  the 
pronouncing  of  the  name  by  the  master  of  ceremonies,  he  addressed 
a  few  words  to  each.  When  he  came  to  me,  the  master  of  cere- 
monies mistook  my  name,  calling  me  Mr.  Moore ;  I  instantly  cor- 
rected him,  and  said,  'No,  Morse.'  The  empe*ror  at  once  said, 
kindly,  'Ah,  that  name  is  well  known  here;  your  system  of  tele- 
graph is  in  use  in  Russia.  How  long  have  you  been  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  how  have  you  enjoyed  yourself?'  To  which  I  appropri- 
ately replied.  After  a  few  more  unimportant  questions  and  answers, 
the  emperor  addressed  himself  to  the  other  gentlemen,  and  retired. 
After  remaining  a  few  moments,  the  master  of  ceremonies — who, 
by-the-by,  apologized  to  me  for  miscalling  my  name — opened  a  door 
from  the  veranda  into  the  large  drawing-room  of  the  empress, 
where  we  were  again  put  in  line  to  await  the  appearance  of  her 
imperial  Majesty.  The  doors  of  an  adjoining  room  were  suddenly 
thrown  open,  and  the  empress,  gorgeously  but  appropriately  at- 
tired, advanced  toward  us.     She  addressed  a  few  words  gracefully 


638  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

to  each  of  us  in  succession,  approaching  us  as  our  names  were 
called.  The  impression  left  upon  my  mind  in  regard  to  both  the 
emperor  and  empress  is  that  they  are  amiable  and  kind-hearted, 
with  sufficient  firmness  in  the  emperor's  temperament  to  prevent 
these  gentle  virtues  from  degenerating  into  weakness.  After  speak- 
ing to  each  of  us  in  perfect  English,  she  gracefully  bowed  (we,  of 
course,  returning  the  salutation)  and  retired,  followed  by  her  maids- 
of-honor,  her  long  train  sweeping  the  floor  for  a  distance  of  several 
yards  behind  her.  .  .  . 

"  On  our  return  to  our  rooms,  we  dressed  for  dinner,  and  pro- 
ceeded in  the  same  manner  to  the  palace  in  the  gardens,  called  the 
English  Palace.  Here  we  found  assembled,  in  the  great  reception- 
room,  the  distinguished  company,  in  number  forty-seven,  of  many 
nations,  who  were  to  sit  down  to  table  together.  When  dinner 
was  announced,  we  entered  the  grand  dining-hall,  and  found  a  table 
most  gorgeously  prepared  with  gold  and  silver  service  and  flowers. 
At  table,  I  found  myself  opposite  three  princes,  an  Austrian,  a 
Hungarian,  and  one  from  some  other  German  state ;  and  second 
from  me,  on  my  left,  was  Lord  Ward,  of  England,  with  whom  I  had 
a  good  deal  of  conversation.  Opposite  to  me,  and  farther  to  my 
right,  was  Prince  Esterhazy,  seated  between  Lady  Granville  and 
the  beautiful  Lady  Emily  Peel ;  on  the  other  side  of  Lady  Peel  was 
Lord  Granville,  the  principal  and  special  delegate  from  England  to 
the  coronation  ceremonies  at  Moscow,  and  near  him  sat  Sir  Robert 
Peel.  Among  the  guests,  a  list  of  which  I  regret  I  could  not  ob- 
tain, was  the  young  Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  several  other  noblemen, 
in  the  suite  of  Lord  Granville.  Here,  then,  was  a  rare  assemblage  ; 
English,  French,  Austrians,  Sardinians,  Italians,  and  Americans, 
gathered  at  table  in  a  palace  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  Some 
twenty  servants  in  the  imperial  scarlet  livery  waited  upon  the 
table,  which  was  served  in  a  truly  royal  profusion  and  costliness. 
The  rarest  dishes  and  the  costliest  wines,  in  every  variety,  were  put 
before  us.  I  need  not  say  that,  in  such  an  assemblage,  even'-  thing 
was  conducted  with  the  highest  decorum.  No  noise,  no  boisterous 
mirth,  no  loud  laughing  or  talking,  but  a  quiet  cheerfulness  and 
perfect  ease  characterized  the  whole  entertainment.  After  the 
dinner,  all  arose,  both  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  left  the  room  to- 
gether. 

"  We  remained  in  the  large  hall  for  coffee,  but,  being  fearful 
that  we  should  be  too  late  for  the  last  steamer  from  Peterhoff  to  St. 
Petersburg,  we  were  hurrying  to  get  through  and  to  leave,  but  the 


ENGLISH   NOBLEMEN.  639 

momeat  our  fears  came  to  the  knowledge  of  Lord  Granville,  lie 
most  kindly  came  to  us  and  told  us  to  feel  at  ease,  as  his  steam- 
yacht  was  lying  off  the  quay  to  take  them  up  to  the  city,  and  he  was 
but  too  proud  to  have  the  opportunity  of  offering  us  a  place  on 
board — an  offer  which  we  of  course  accepted  with  thanks.  Having 
thus  been  entertained  with  truly  imperial  hospitality  for  the  entire 
day,  ending  with  this  sumptuous  entertainment,  we  descended  once 
more  to  the  carriages,  and  drove  to  the  quay,  where  a  large  and 
commodious  barge,  belonging  to  the  English  man-of-war  Jean 
d'Acre  (the  ship  put  in  commission  for  the  service  of  Lord  Gran- 
ville), manned  by  stalwart  man-of-war's  men,  was  waiting  to  take 
the  English  party  of  nobles  on  board  the  steam-yacht.  When  all 
were  collected  on  the  quay,  we  left  Peterhoff  in  the  barge,  and  were 
soon  on  board  the  yacht.  The  weather  was  fine,  and  the  moon  soon 
rose  over  the  palace  of  Peterhoff,  looking  for  a  moment  like  one  of 
the  splended  gilded  domes  of  the  palace.  On  board  the  yacht,  I  had 
much  conversation  with  Lord  Granville,  who  brought  the  various 
members  of  his  suite  and  introduced  me  to  them — to  Sir  Robert 
Peel ;  to  the  young  Earl  of  Lincoln,  the  son  of  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle, who,  when  himself  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  in  1839,  showed  me 
so  much  courtesy  and  kindness  in  London ;  to  Mr.  Acton,  a  nephew 
of  Lord  Granville,  with  whom  I  had  some  interesting  conversation. 
We  landed  at  the  quay  in  St.  Petersburg  about  eleven  o'clock  p. 
M.,  and  I  reached  my  lodgings  at  the  H6tel  de  Russie  about  mid- 
night, thus  ending  a  day  of  incidents  which  I  shall  remember  with 
great  gratification. 

"  Having  completed,  as  far  as  such  a  flying  visit  would  allow, 
our  sight-seeing  in  this  beautiful  and  interesting  city,  we  the  next 
day,  August  15th,  prepared  for  our  departure  for  Stettin,  on  our  re- 
turn toward  home,  having  remained  longer  than  we  originally  in- 
tended in  this  part  of  the  world.  In  the  evening,  we  paid  our  part- 
ing visit  to  our  amiable  and  kind  Minister,  Mr.  Seymour,  taking  tea 
with  many  Americans  at  his  house. 

"In  the  morning  we  took  our  leave  of  St.  Petersburg,  embark- 
ing with  Major  Barnes  and  lady,  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and 
Mr.  Edward  Bell  and  lady,  of  New  York,  on  board  the  steamer  for 
Cronstadt,  to  be  received  at  Cronstadt  on  board  the  Prussian  mail- 
steamer  Prussian  Eagle,  for  Stettin.  The  morning  of  Saturday, 
the  16th  of  August,  was  somewhat  unpromising,  threatening  rain, 
but,  accompanied  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shaffner,  and  young  Nicolai 
Bodisco,  a  son  of  the  late  Baron  Bodisco,  Russian  Minister  in  the 


640  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

United  States,  we  set  out  for  Cronstadt,  leaving  the  quay  and  the 
Neva  at  twelve  o'clock.  Mr.  Seymour  intended  to  accompany  us  as 
far  as  Cronstadt,  but,  supposing  our  boat  did  not  leave  till  one 
o'clock,  he  was  left  behind.  Before  we  reached  Cronstadt,  a  settled 
rain  set  in,  much  to  our  discomfort,  and  we  got  on  board  the  steam- 
er Prussian  Eagle  not  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  but 
the  boat  was  large,  neat,  and  generally  commodious,  one  with  an 
obliging  captain ;  there  was  one  exception,  and  a  very  important 
one,  too,  to  the  commodiousness  of  the  boat ;  the  sleeping-apart- 
ments were  the  smallest  I  ever  saw  on  any  boat,  even  a  Long  Isl- 
and Sound  wood-boat  contains  larger  and  better  accommodations  in 
this  respect ;  they  have  no  conveniences  of  shelves  or  hooks  to  stow 
away  our  clothing.  The  berths  were  so  narrow  that  I  lay  in  mine 
as  I  would  in  a  coffin,  with  no  room  to  raise  my  head  any  more  than 
if  lying  between  two  shelves. 

"  In  the  evening,  to  our  gratification,  the  weather  cleared,  and 
the  voyage,  from  Saturday  noon  till  Monday  night,  was  like  the  voy- 
age from  Copenhagen  to  St.  Petersburg,  beautifully  clear  and  calm, 
with  a  smooth  sea,  and  I  began  to  have  quite  a  favorable  idea  of  the 
character  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  as  a  most  amiable  and  gentle  piece  of 
water ;  but,  as  if  conscience-stricken  tbat  such  a  false  impression  of 
its  real  character  should  go  forth  to  the  world,  the  sky  on  Monday 
evening  put  on  a  frown  of  clouds ;  the  wind  rose,  and  our  little  steamer 
began  to  dance  to  the  piping  winds  so  ungracefully  that  most  of  our 
passengers  (some  fifty  in  number)  were  glad  to  retire  early  to  their 
berths.  The  morning  of  Tuesday,  the  19th,  broke  in  tears,  but  not 
until  we  had  made  good  our  landfall,  and  the  Swinemunde  light- 
house loomed  up  in  the  fog,  and  showed  us  our  entrance  into  the 
Oder,  into  which  we  soon  entered  upon  smooth  water,  and  moored 
for  a  few  moments  at  the  custom-house  wharf.  We  then  proceeded 
up  the  winding  river  for  two  or  three  hours,  .and  arrived  at  Stettin 
just  in  time  to  be  too  late  for  the  noon  train  to  Berlin.  So  we 
quietly  wended  our  way  to  the  H6tel  de  Prussie,  had  a  good  dinner, 
rested  ourselves  comfortably,  and  at  six  took  our  seats  in  the  cars 
for  Berlin,  where  we  arrived  in  the  rain,  which  more  or  less  pur- 
sued us  all  the  day,  at  ten  o'clock,  and  at  this  present  writing,  the 
morning  of  August  20th,  find  ourselves  comfortably  housed  at  the 
excellent  H6tel  St.-Petersbourg,  on  the  Unter  den  Linden. 

"  Saturday  Evening,  August  23d. — Yesterday  we  had  a  pleas- 
ant dinner-party  at  our  excellent  Minister's,  Governor  Vroom,  and 
met  there  several  Americans.     To-day  I  went  to  Potsdam  to  see 


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HUMBOLDT   IN   HIS  STUDY.  (341 

Baron  Humboldt,  and  had  a  delightful  interview  with  this  wonder- 
ful man.  Although  I  had  met  with  him  at  the  soirees  of  Baron 
Gerard,  the  distinguished  painter,  in  Paris,  in  1832,  and  afterward 
at  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  when  my  Telegraph  was  exhibited  to 
the  assembled  academicians  in  1838,  I  took  letters  of  introduction 
to  him  from  Baron  Gerolt,  the  Prussian  Minister,  but  they  were  un- 
necessary, for  the  moment  I  entered  his  room,  which  is  in  the  Royal 
Palace,  he  called  me  by  name  and  greeted  me  most  kindly,  saying, 
as  I  presented  my  letters,  '  Oh,  sir,  you  need  no  letters,  your  name 
is  a  sufficient  introduction ; '  and,  so  seating  myself,  he  rapidly 
touched  upon  various  topics  relating  to  America.  He  was  enthusi- 
astic in  his  praise  of  Professor  Dana's  work  on  the  geology  of  the 
countries  he  visited  with  Captain  Wilkes,  saying  it  was  the  most 
splendid  contribution  to  science  of  the  present  day ;  a  compliment  of 
some  significance,  when  we  consider  the  source  whence  it  comes. 

"  And  now  good-by  ;  kiss  those  dear  little  ones  for  me.  Arthur, 
I  hope,  is  a  good  boy,  and  gives  you  no  trouble ;  and  sweet  Leila, 
tell  her  she  must  not  forget  dear  papa  and  mamma  ;  and  my  darling 
little  Willie,  tell  him  papa  loves  him  dearly,  and  longs  to  carry  him 
in  his  arms  to  bed,  and  hear  him  say  his  prayers.  Well,  in  good 
time,  if  God  wills,  we  shall  all  meet  again.  I  cannot  send  my  love 
to  little  Charley  any  more,  but  to  tall  Charley,  and  to  him  give 
grandpapa's  hearty  love,  and  indeed  to  all  the  dear  ones  of  every 
degree  and  connection,  both  at  the  Grove  and  at  Newark.  May  we 
not  look  for  another  deluge  f  In  our  family,  at  least,  they  seem  to 
be  '  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage.' 

"  Your  affectionate  father, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

Professor  Morse's  niece  (now  Mrs.  Parmalee),  in  one  of  her 
letters  mentions  the  visit  to  the  study  of  Humboldt,  which  has 
been  alluded  to  above.     She  writes : 

"  He  came  forward  and  received  us  very  cordially,  with  no  stiff- 
ness or  formality.  He  is  quite  short,  stoops  a  little,  and  holds  his 
head  slightly  toward  one  side.  He  talked  very  fast,  so  that  I  could 
scarcely  understand  him.  His  library  was  very  simply  furnished, 
the  walls  on  all  sides  were  lined  with  bookcases ;  two  or  three 
tables,  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  were  strewed  with  papers,  pam- 
phlets, etc.  Before  we  left,  the  baron  presented  uncle  with  an  im- 
perial photograph  of  himself,  on  the  margin  of  which  he  wrote  an 

inscription  in  French : 
41 


642  LIFE   0F   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

" '  To  Mr.  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  whose  philosophic  and  useful  labors 
have  rendered  his  name  illustrious  in  two  worlds.  The  homage  of 
the  high  and  affectionate  esteem  of 

" '  Alexander  Humboldt. 

'r<  Potsdam,  August,  1856.' 

"  His  secretary  accompanied  us  through  the  gardens  of  Sans- 
Souci,  and  from  him  we  learned  something  of  the  habits  of  this  re- 
markable man.  He  told  us  how  he  portioned  off  each  day  exactly, 
saying  that  Humboldt  only  allowed  four  hours  for  sleep — from  two 
o'clock  A.  m.  till  six  o'clock.  Then  he  arose,  breakfasted  at  nine 
o'clock ;  then  walked  till  ten  o'clock ;  read  his  letters  and  papers 
till  one  o'clock ;  received  visitors  till  four  o'clock  ;  then  dressed, 
and,  when  he  had  no  other  engagement,  dined  with  the  king  at  six 
o'clock,  and  spent  the  evening  there  till  ten  o'clock.  From  that 
time  till  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  passed  in  his  library  at  his 
studies.     This  had  been  his  rule  for  years." 

This  journey  of  pleasure  was  extended  to  Cologne,  Aix-la- 

Chapelle,  Brussels,  Paris,  and  then  to  London,  where  Professor 

Morse  arrived  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  September, 

1856.     The  Atlantic  cable  enterprise  was  the  engrossing  topic 

among  men  of  science  at  that  moment.     A  letter  of  Professor 

Morse  to  Baron  Humboldt  indicates  the  minute  attention  he 

was  giving'  to  this  work  : 

"London,  October  7,  1856. 

"  My  dear  Baron  :  You  will  doubtless  have  read  of  the  achieve- 
ment of  sounding  the  Atlantic  Ocean  between  Newfoundland  and 
Ireland,  by  order  of  the  American  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  expressly 
for  the  New  York,  Newfoundland,  and  London  Telegraph  Cable, 
under  the  immediate  direction  of  that  expert  navigator,  Lieuten- 
ant O.  H.  Berryman,  of  the  American  Navy,  in  the  U.  S.  steamer 
Arctic,  with  a  view  to  explore  ithe  telegraphic  plateau''  of  our  dis- 
tinguished savant.  Lieutenant  Maury,  whose  ingenious  specula- 
tions respecting  its  character,  from  a  partial  previous  survey,  have 
been  so  beautifully  verified  by  a  more  complete  survey.  It  is  with 
great  pleasure  that  I  am  enabled  to  send  you  a  copy  of  the  draft 
made  of  this  survey  by  Lieutenant  Berryman,  which  I  had  made 
expressly  to  send  you,  knowing  the  great  interest  you  feel  in  every 
advance  in  science.  I  could  have  wished  to  send  you  at  the  same 
time  a  specimen  of  the  bottom  obtained  from  each  sounding,  and, 
if  possible,  will  yet  do  so  before  I  embark  for  the  United  States. 


MORSE   TO   HUMBOLDT.  643 

There  will  shortly  be  published  engravings  of  some  of  the  infusoria, 
as  viewed  in  the  microscope,  copies  of  which  I  have  requested  shall 
be  forwarded  to  you. 

w  You  will  be  gratified  also  to  learn  that  experiments  made  un- 
der the  direction  of  Dr.  Whitehouse,  an  acute  investigator  of  elec- 
trical phenomena,  and  Mr.  Bright,  the  experienced  and  ingenious 
Superintendent  of  the  Electric  Telegraphs,  assisted  by  myself,  on 
Thursday  last,  most  satisfactorily  solved  the  problem  of  the  practi- 
cability of  telegraphing  from  Newfoundland  to  Ireland,  A  subter- 
ranean line  of  one  continuous  conductor  of  more  than  two  thou- 
sand English  miles,  was  at  our  disposal,  and  we  succeeded  in  pass- 
ing signals  through  its  entire  length  at  the  rate  of  210,  241,  and 
at  one  moment  of  270,  per  minute.  The  scientific  and  commercial 
problem  of  an  ocean-telegraph,  I  conceive,  is  thus  satisfactorily 
solved.  The  pecuniary  aid  for  its  practical  accomplishment  is  at 
hand,  and  there  only  remains  that  service  which  the  proper  manu- 
facture of  the  cable  and  the  nautical  skill  in  laying  it  in  its  ocean- 
bed  demand,  to  insure  the  accomplishment  of  the  grand  enterprise 
of  uniting  the  two  worlds  in  telegraphic  bonds. 

"  You  will  excuse  my  enthusiasm,  my  dear  baron,  if  I  say  that  I 
confidently  anticipate  the  successful  accomplishment  of  this  enter- 
prise in  less  than  one  year  from  this  time,  and  the  possibility  of 
sending  you  a  dispatch  from  my  home  on  the  Hudson  River  to 
Potsdam  in  less  than  five  minutes  of  time.  I  look  with  sanguine 
hopes  to  this  consummation." 

These  scientific  experiments,  conducted  by  Professor  Morse 
i^and  the  gentlemen  with  whom  he  was  associated  while  in  Lon- 
don, were  reported  to  Mr.  Field : 

"London,  five  o'clock  a.  m.,  October  ?.  185Cj. 

"  As  the  electrician  of  the  New  York,  Newfoundland,  and  Lon- 
don Telegraph  Company,  it  is  with  the  highest  gratification  that  I 
have  to  apprise  you  of  the  result  of  our  experiments  of  this  morning 
upon  a  single  continuous  conductor  of  more  than  two  thousand 
miles  in  extent,  a  distance  you  will  perceive  sufficient  to  cross  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  from  Newfoundland  to  Ireland. 

"  The  admirable  arrangements  made  at  the  Magnetic  Telegraph- 
Office  in  Old  Broad  Street,  loV/connecting  ten  subterranean  gutta- 
percha insulated  conductors,  of  over  two  hundred  miles  each,  so  as 
to  give  one  continuous  length  of  more  than  two  thousand  miles  dur- 
ing the  hours  of  the  night,  when  the  Telegraph  is  not  commercially 


644  •      LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

employed,  furnished  us  the  means  of  conclusively  settling,  by  actual 
experiment,  the  question  of  the  practicability  as  well  as  the  practi- 
cality of  telegraphing  through  our  proposed  Atlantic  cable. 

"  This  result  had  been  thrown  into  some  doubt  by  the  discovery, 
more  than  two  years  since,  of  certain  phenomena  upon  subterranean 
and  submarine  conductors,  and  had  attracted  the  attention  of  elec- 
tricians, particularly  of  that  most  eminent  philosopher,  Professor 
Faraday,  and  that  clear-sighted  investigator  of  electrical  phenomena, 
Dr.  Whitehouse;  and  one  of  these  phenomena,  to  wit,  the  percep- 
tible retardation  of  the  electric  current,  threatened  to  perplex  our 
operations,  and  required  careful  investigation  before  we  could  pro- 
nounce with  certainty  the  commercial  practicability  of  the  Ocean- 
Telegraph. 

"  I  am  most  happy  to  inform  you  that,  as  a  crowning  result  of  a 
long  series  of  experimental  investigation  and  inductive  reasoning 
upon  this  subject,  the  experiments  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  White- 
house  and  Mr.  Bright,  which  I  witnessed  this  morning — in  which 
the  induction-coils  and  receiving-magnets,  as  modified  by  these  gen- 
tlemen, were  made  to  actuate  one  of  my  recording  instruments — 
have  most  satisfactorily  resolved  all  doubts  of  the  practicability  as 
well  as  practicality  of  operating  the  Telegraph  from  Newfoundland 
to  Ireland. 

"Although  we  telegraphed  signals  at  the  rate  of  210,  241,  and, 
according  to  the  count  at  one  time,  even  of  270  per  minute  upon  my 
telegraphic  register  (which  speed,  you  will  perceive,  is  at  a  rate 
commercially  advantageous),  these  results  were  accomplished  not- 
withstanding many  disadvantages  in  our  arrangements  of  a  tempo- 
rary and  local  character — disadvantages  which  will  not  occur  in  the 
use  of  our  submarine  cable. 

"  Having  passed  the  whole  night  with  my  active  and  agreeable 
collaborators,  Dr.  Whitehouse  and  Mr.  Bright,  without  sleep,  you 
will  excuse  the  hurried  and  brief  character  of  this  note,  which  I 
could  not  refrain  from  sending  you,  since  our  experiments  this  morn- 
ing settle  the  scientific  and  commercial  points  of  our  enterprise  sat- 
isfactorily. 

"  With  respect  and  esteem,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Moese." 

A  week  later  be  writes  again : 

"London,  October  10,  1856. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  After  having  given  the  deepest  consideration 
to  the  subject  of  our  successful  experiment  the  other  night,  when 


MORSE   TO   FIELD.  645 

we  signaled  clearly  and  rapidly  through  an  unbroken  circuit  of 
subterranean  wire  over  two  thousand  miles  in  length,  I  sit  down  to 
give  you  the  result  of  my  reflections  and  calculations. 

"  There  can  be  no  question  but  that,  with  a  cable  containing  a 
single  conducting  wire,  of  a  size  not  exceeding  that  through  which 
we  worked,  and  with  equal  insulation,  it  would  be  easy  to  telegraph 
from  Ireland  to  Newfoundland  at  a  speed  of  at  least  from  eight  to 
ten  words  per  minute ;  nay,  more :  the  varying  rates  of  speed  at 
which  we  worked,  depending  as  they  did  upon  differences  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  apparatus  employed,  do  of  themselves  prove 
that  even  a  higher  rate  than  this  is  attainable.  Take  it,  however, 
at  ten  words  in  the  minute,  and  allowing  ten  words  for  name  and 
address,  we  can  safely  calculate  upon  the  transmission  of  a  twenty- 
word  message  in  three  minutes ; 

"  Twenty  such  messages  in  the  hour ; 

"  Four  hundred  and  eighty  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  or  fourteen 
thousand  four  hundred  words  per  day. 

"  Such  are  the  capabilities  of  a  single-wire  cable  fairly  and  mod- 
erately computed. 

"  It  is,  however,  evident  to  me,  that,  by  improvements  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  signals  themselves,  aided  by  the  adoption  of  a 
code  or  system  constructed  upon  the  principles  of  the  best  nautical 
code,  as  suggested  by  Dr.  Whitehouse,  we  may  at  least  double  the 
speed  in  the  transmission  of  our  messages. 

"As  to  the  structure  of  the  cable  itself,  the  last  specimen  which 
J  examined  with  you  seemed  to  combine  so  admirably  the  necessary 
qualities  of  strength,  flexibility,  and  lightness,  with  perfect  insula- 
tion, that  I  can  no  longer  have  any  misgivings  about  the  ease  and 
safety  with  which  it  will  be  submerged. 

"  In  one  word,  the  doubts  are  resolved,  the  difficulties  overcome, 
success  is  within  our  reach,  and  the  great  feat  of  the  century  must 
shortly  be  accomplished. 

"  I  would  urge  you,  if  the  manufacture  can  be  completed  within 
the  time  (and  all  things  are  possible  now),  to  press  forward  the 
good  work,  and  not  to  lose  the  chance  of  laying  it  during  the  en- 
suing summer. 

"Before  the  close  of  the  present  month,  I  hope  to  be  again 
landed  safely  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  and  I  full  well  know 
that  on  all  hands  the  inquiries  of  most  interest  with  which  I  shall 
be  met  will  be  about  the  Ocean  Telegraph. 

"  Much  as  I  have  enjoyed  my  European  trip  this  year,  it  would 


646  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

enhance  the  gratification  which  I  have  derived  from  it  more  than  I 
can  describe  to  you,  if,  on  my  return  to  America,  I  could  be  the  first 
bearer  to  my  friends  of  the  welcome  intelligence  that  the  .great 
work  had  been  begun,  by  the  commencement  of  the  manufacture 
of  the  cable  to  connect  Ireland  with  the  line  of  the  New  York, 
Newfoundland,  and  London  Telegraph  Company,  now  so  success- 
fully completed  to  St.  John's.     Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 
"  To  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Esq,  Vice-President,  etc." 

These  experiments  scattered  the  last  doubts  of  the  practica- 
bility of  the  enterprise.  Individuals  and  governments  yielded 
to  the  force  of  truth,  and  the  work  was  begun. 

BANQUET    LN    LONDON   TO   PROFESSOR   MORSE. 

The  last  place  where  Professor  Morse  could  reasonably  have 
expected  the  honor  of  a  public  dinner  was  the  city  of  London. 
His  most  ungracious  and  unjust  treatment  there  when  a  patent 
was  refused  him  in  1838,  was  a  life-long  grievance.  But  now, 
eighteen  years  afterward,  he  comes  back  in  triumph.  The  world 
has  pronounced  upon  his  merits'  and  his  rights,  and  accorded  to 
him  the  honor  which  England  had  persistently  denied.  He  was 
now  invited  to  a  banquet  by  the  Telegraph  companies,  in  dis- 
tinct acknowledgment  of  his  services !  And  at  the'  head  of  the 
table,  as  the  chairman,  sat  Mr.  W.  F.  Cooke,  who  had  been  the 
partner  of  Wheatstone,  whose  claims  had  been  preferred  in 
England  to  those  of  Professor  Morse.  The  dinner  was  given 
October  9,  1856,  at  the  Albion  Tavern.  The  chairman,  in  pre- 
senting Professor  Morse  to  the  company,  bore  this  extraordinary 
testimony : 

"  I  was  consulted  only  a  few  months  ago  on  the  subject  of  a 
telegraph,  for  a  country  in  which  no  telegraph  at  present  exists.  I 
recommended  the  system  of  Professor  Morse.  I  believe  that  system 
to  be  one  of  the  simplest  in  the  world,  and  in  that  lies  its  perma- 
nency and  certainty.  [Cheers.]  There  are  others  which  may  be 
as  good  in  other  circumstances,  but  for  a  wide  country  I  hesitate 
not  to  say  Professor  Morse's  is  the  best  adapted.  It  is  a  great  thing 
to  say,  and  I  do  so  after  twenty  years'  experience,  that  Professor 
Morse's  system  is  one  of  the  simplest  that  ever  has  been,  and  I 
think  ever  will  be,  conceived.     [Cheers.]     It  was  a  great  thing  for 


MK.  COOKE'S  TESTIMONY.  647 

me,  after  having  been  so  long  connected  with  the  electric  telegraph, 
to  be  invited  to  preside  at  this  interesting  meeting;  and  I  have 
traveled  upward  of  one  hundred  miles,  in  order  to  be  present  to-day, 
having,  when   asked  to  preside,  replied  by  electric   telegraph,  '  1 
will.'    [Cheers.]    But  I  may  lower  your  idea  of  the  sacrifice  I  made 
in  so  doing  when  I  tell  you   that  I  knew  the  talents  of  Professor 
Morse,  and  was  only  too  glad  to  accept  an  invitation  to  do  honor 
to  a  man  I  really  honored  in  my  heart.     [Cheers.]     I  have  been 
thinking,  during  the  last  few  days,  on  what   Professor  Morse  has 
done.     He  stands  alone  in  America  as  the  originator  and  carrier 
out  of  a  grand  conception.     "We  know  that  America  is  an  enormous 
country,  and  we  know  the  value  of  the  telegraph,  but  I  think  we 
have  a  right  to  quarrel  with  Professor  Morse  for  not  being  content 
with  giving  the  benefit  of  it  to  his  own  country,  but  that  he  ex- 
tended it  to  Canada  and  Newfoundland  ;  and,  even  beyond  that,  his 
system  has  been  adopted  all  over  Europe — [cheers] — and  the  nui- 
sance is,  that  we  in  England  are  obliged  to  communicate  by  means 
of  his  system.     [Cheers  and  laughter.]     I,  as  a  director  of  an  elec- 
tric telegraph  company,  however,  should  be  ashamed  of  myself  if 
I  did  not  acknowledge  what  we  owe  him.     But  he  threatens  to  go 
further  still,  and  promises  that,  if  we  do  not,  he  will   carry  out  a 
communication  between   England   and  Newfoundland   across   the 
Atlantic.     I  am  nearly  pledged  to  pay  him  a  visit  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic  to  see  what  he  is  about ;  and,  if  he  perseveres  in  his 
obstinate  attempt  to  reach  England,  I  believe  I  must  join  him  in  his 
endeavors.     [Cheers.]     To  think  that  he  has   united  all  the  stripes 
and  stars  of  America,  which  are  increasing  day  by  day — and  I  hope 
they  will  increase  until  they  are  too  numerous  to  mention — that  he 
has  extended  his  system  to  Canada,  and  is  about  to  unite  those 
portions  of  the  world  to  Europe,  is  a  glorious  thing  for  any  man  ;  and, 
although  I  have  done  something  in  the  same  cause  myself,  I  confess  I 
almost  envy  Professor  Morse  for  having  forced  from  an  unwilling 
rival  a  willing  acknowledgment  of  his  services.     [Cheers.]     I  am 
proud  to  see  Professor  Morse  this  side  of  the  water.     I  beg  to  give 
you  'The  health  of  Professor  Morse,'  and  may  he  long  live  to  enjoy 
the  high  reputation  he  has  attained  throughout  the  world !  " 

Speeches  by  distinguished  gentlemen  followed,  all  of  them 
bearing  the  highest  testimony  to  the  merits  of  the  great  Ameri-, 
can  inventor,  whose  claims  were  now  beyond  question,  and 
whose  system  commanded  the  unqualified  favor  of  the  best-in- 


648  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.    MORSE. 

formed  and  most  practical  electricians  in  the  world.  On  the 
day  of  this  banquet,  Professor  Morse  received  from  Paris, 
through  Mr.  Mason,  the  American  Minister,  the  information 
that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  had  made  him  a  Chevalier  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor  y  and  the  next  day  Mr.  Tupper  sent  him 
the  following  lines : 

TO  PROFESSOR  MORSE, 

IN  PLEASANT  MEMORY  OF  OCTOBER  9,  1856,  AT  THE  ALBION. 

A  good  and  generous  spirit  ruled  the  hour ; 

Old  jealousies  were  drowned  in  brotherhood ; 
Philanthropy  rejoiced  that  Skill  and  Power, 

Servants  to  Science,  compass  all  men's  good ; 

And  over  all  Religion's  banner  stood, 
Upheld  by  thee,  true  patriarch  of  the  plan 
Which  in  two  hemispheres  was  schemed  to  shower 
Mercies  from  God  on  universal  man. 

Yes ;  this  electric  chain  from  East  to  West 
More  than  mere  metal,  more  than  mammon  can, 

Binds  us  together — kinsmen,  in  the  best, 
As  most  affectionate  and  frankest  bond ; 
Brethren  as  one  ;  and  looking  far  beyond 

The  world  in  an  Electric  Union  blest ! 

Martest  F.  Tupper. 
Albury,  Guilford. 

The  London  Times  of  October  13th  gave  noble  testimo- 
ny to  the  fact  that  the  labors  of  Professor  Morse  were  under- 
stood and  appreciated  by  men  of  intelligence  in  England.  The 
banquet  itself  was  proof  of  this,  and  the  verdict  of  the  press 
confirmed  it.  The  distinguished  philanthropist,  Robert  Owen, 
from  his  retirement,  wrote  to  the  Professor,  giving  his  congratu- 
lations. And  Mr.  Morse  considered  his  success  as  complete,  now 
that  England's  men  of  science  and  men  of  letters,  her  greatest 
and  wisest  men,  had  honored  him  publicly  as  the  inventor  of 
the  Recording  Telegraph. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
1857. 

SUBMARINE  CABLES — EARLY  ATTEMPTS — CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  CABLES — CON- 
GRESSIONAL ACTION — PROFESSOR  MORSE,  THE  ELECTRICIAN — EMBARKS  ON 
THE  NIAGARA LETTERS  TO  MRS.  MORSE EXPERIMENTS  WITH  DR.  "WHITE- 
HOUSE   IN    LONDON — LORD    MAYOR'S    BANQUET — IN   PARIS — MR.   MASON 

PROFESSOR  MORSE'S  CLAIM — RETURN  TO  LONDON — EMBARKING — NARROW 
ESCAPES — CABLE  FESTIVAL — COVE  OF  CORK — AN  ACCIDENT — VALENTIA — 
SAILING  OF  THE  EXPEDITION PARTING  OF  THE  CABLE ATTEMPT  ABAN- 
DONED FOR  THE   SEASON RETURN  TO  NEW  YORK — MR.  FIELD'S  EFFORTS 

THE  SECOND  EXPEDITION — FAILURE THIRD  EXPEDITION THE  CABLE  LAID 

THE     CONTINENTS     CONNECTED FIRST     MESSAGE GREAT     REJOICING 

CELEBRATION THE     CABLE     SILENT   EIGHT     TEARS FOURTH     EXPEDITION 

— GREAT  EASTERN — FAILURE — RETURN — FIFTH  EXPEDITION — SUCCESS  AT 
LAST. 

FROM  the  laying  of  the  first  submarine  cable,  the  work  of 
Professor  Morse  in  the  harbor  of  ISTew  York  in  1842,  we 
hear  of  no  successful  attempts  until  1849,  when  it  was  proposed 
to  unite  Dover  and  Calais  by  a  line  across  the  British  Channel. 
"  The  wire,  it  was  proved  by  frequent  attempts,  could  not  be 
wholly  insulated,  and  the  electric  fluid,  as  it  passed  along  the  ex- 
posed portions,  was  so  diffused  by  contact  with  the  water  as  to 
lose  its  efficacy.  Hemp,  saturated  with  tar,  was  employed ;  but 
in  course  of  time  it  was  found  that  the  water  penetrated  through 
that  covering,  and  the  project  was  about  being  abandoned  as 
hopeless,  when  a  new  material  was  discovered,  which  was  found 
to  answer  the  purpose  when  every  thing  else  had  failed.  For- 
tunately, at  this  very  time,  when  it  was  most  needed,  the  valua- 
ble properties  of  gutta-percha,  and  its  entire  adaptability  to  this 
purpose,  were  made  known.     It  was  tested  with  the  most  signal 


650  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 

success — found  not  only  to  resist  the  action  of  the  water,  but 
that  it  was  a  perfect  non-conductor.  This  important  fact  once 
established,  the  attempt  to  construct  a  submarine  telegraph  be- 
tween France  and  England  was  made,  and  with  the  most  grati- 
fying result.  A  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  '  the  submarine 
telegraph  cable,'  as  it  was  called,  was  erected  in  England  in 
1850,  and  by  September  of  that  year  twenty-four  miles  of  it  were 
made  and  ready  to  be  laid  down  from  Calais  to  Dover.  This 
cable  consisted  simply  of  the  copper  wire,  which  was  about  the 
thickness  of  an  ordinary  knitting-needle,  and  was  encased  with 
gutta-percha.  At  either  end,  where  it  lay  in  shallow  water  near 
the  shore,  it  was  protected  by  a  covering  of  thick  iron  wire. 
The  engraving  presents  the  lateral  and  end  sections  of  this  cable 
without  the  wire  protector. 


"  In  the  following  engravings,  the  inner  core,  or  conductor, 
with  its  gutta-percha  coating,  is  preserved  from  the  action  of  the 
water,  and  from  attrition,  by  the  wire  protector. 


"  This  cable  was  laid  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  *1850,  be- 
tween Dover  and  Calais,  Two  small  steamers  were  employed 
in  laying  it,  and  the  work  was  accomplished  in  from  six  to  seven 
hours.  For  the  purpose  of  sinking  the  cable,  chunks  or  weights, 
of  from  fourteen  to  twenty-four  pounds  each,  were  fastened  to 
it  at  distances  of  the  sixteenth  of  a  mile  apart.  This  was  an 
easy  matter,  the  greatest  depth  not  exceeding  two  hundred  feet 
along  the  course  of  the  line.  In  the  whole  length  not  more 
than  twenty-four  miles  of  cable  were  paid  out,  which  was  only 
three  more  than  the  actual  distance  between  the  two  points.  It 
was  found,  however,  a  short  time  after  it  was  laid,  that  a  por- 


SUBMARINE   CABLES.  651 

tion  of  it  had  given  way,  and  the  communication  was  inter- 
rupted. Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
manufacture  a  cable  which  would  be  able  to  resist  all  the  strain- 
ing it  might  be  subjected  to,  and  in  a  comparatively  brief  period 
the  required  article  was  produced  and  successfully  laid  down  be- 
tween the  points  already  named.  This  cable  was  composed  of 
four  copper  wires,  or  conductors,  each  insulated  with  gutta-per- 
cha, and  afterward  bound  together  with  hemp  steeped  in  a  so- 
lution of  tar  and  tallow.  In  this  condition  it  had  the  appear- 
ance of  a  rope  about  an  inch  in  diameter.  Outside  of  the  hemp 
was  the  iron  wire  protector,  which  increased  the  diameter  to 
nearly  an  inch  and  a  half.  Nine  miles  of  this  cable  were  manu- 
factured every  day.  In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1852,  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  were  brought  into  instant  communication 
through  the  same  wonderful  agent,  the  submarine  telegraph. 
The  distance  between  the  points  of  connection — Holyhead  and 
Howth — is  sixty-five  miles,  and  the  greatest  depth  five  hundred 
and  four  feet.  There  was  only  one  wire  in  this  cable,  with  the 
indispensable  coating  of  gutta-percha,  which  was  protected  and 
strengthened  by  the  iron  wire  covering  the  outside.  It  was  laid 
at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour,  and  fell  so  evenly  that  only 
three  miles  more  than  the  actual  distance  traversed  was  required. 
Scotland  and  Ireland  were  connected  by  a  cable  of  six  wires, 
in  May,  1853.  The  distance  is  about  thirty  miles,  and  was 
traversed  by  the  steamer  in  not  more  than  ten  hours.  The  fol- 
lowing June  a  cable  was  laid  from  Oxf ordness,  in  England,  to 
the  Hague,  in  Holland,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
miles.  This  task  was  accomplished  in  thirty-four  hours,  and 
only  four  and  a  half  miles  of  cable  were  required  in  the  paying 
out  over  the  actual  length  from  point  to  point,  making  hardly 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  altogether.  It  has  been  already 
stated  that  the  New  York,  Newfoundland  and  London  Tele- 
graph Company  made  an  attempt  in  August,  1855,  to  unite  the 
islands  of  Newfoundland  and  Cape  Breton,  but  the  vessels  em- 
ployed in  the  work  were  caught  in  a  gale,  the  cable  was  obliged 
to  be  cut,  and  the  undertaking  abandoned  for  that  time.  The 
cable,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  accompanying  engravings,  which 
show  .the  exact  size,  had  three  conductors,  and  was  protected  in 
the  same  manner,  by  iron  wire,  as  those  already  described. 


652 


LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 


THE   FIEST    GULF-CABLE. 


"  In  1856  the  company  succeeded  in  making  the  desired  tele- 
graphic connection  between  the  opposite  shores  of  Newfound- 
land and  Cape  Breton.  This  time  they  rejected  the  three-wire 
cable  and  procured  a  much  lighter  one,  with  a  single  wire,  con- 
sisting of  seven  strands.  This  strand  was  covered  with  three 
layers  of  the  purest  gutta-percha,  separately  applied.  In  the  sub- 
joined engraving  is  a  correct  representation  of  this  cable  and  of 
its  exact  size. 


THE    SECOND    GULF-CABLE. 


"  A  few  weeks  after  the  allied  army  entered  the  Crimea,  a 
single-wire  cable  was  laid  across  the  Black  Sea,  a  distance  of 
three  hundred  and  seventy-four  miles,  between  Yarna  and  Ba- 
laklava,  and  it  was  through  this  that  the  English  and  French 
Governments  were  apprised  every  day  of  the  movements  of  the 
belligerent  forces  on  either  side." 

This  brief  outline  of  the  progress  of  submarine  cables  was 
prepared  under  the  eye  of  Professor  Morse  when  the  great  ex- 
pedition of  1857  was  about  to  sail,  to  lay  the  cable  across  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  It  was  accompanied  also  with  a  minute  de- 
scription of  the  great  Atlantic  cable.  The  core,  or  conductor, 
was  composed,  like  that  of  the  gulf -cable,  of  seven  copper  Vires, 
wound  together  in  the  same  manner.     The  cable  was  twenty- 


MORSE  IN  LONDON  AND  PARIS.  653 

« 

five  hundred  miles  in  length,  the  surplus  over  the  actual  dis- 
tance to  be  traversed  being  considered  necessary  in  case  of 
emergency  to  make  up  for  the  inequalities  in  the  bed  of  the 
ocean  and  the  variations  that  might  be  caused  by  the  winds  and 
currents.     The  protecting  wires  were  made  into  strands,  each 


composed  of  seven  of  the  best  charcoal-iron  wires.  The  aggre- 
gate length  of  the  smaller  wires  required  in  the  manufacture  of 
one  mile  of  the  cable  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles, 
and  the  whole  cable  required  three  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand 
miles  of  this  wire. 

"  The  flexibility  of  this  cable  was  so  great  that  it  could  be 
made  as  manageable  as  a  small  rope,  and  was  capable  of  being 
tied  round  the  arm  without  injury.  Its  weight  was  bat  1,800 
pounds  to  the  mile,  and  its  strength  such  that  it  would  bear  in 
water  over  six  miles  of  its  own  length  if  suspended  vertically." 

As  the  electrician  of  the  company,  Mr.  Morse's  responsibility 
was  great,  but,  the  cable  having  been  made  in  England,  the 
officers  there  had  it  in  charge.  He  embarked  at  New  York  on 
the  steam-frigate  Niagara,  April  21, 1857,  to  go  abroad  and  give 
personal  attention  to  the  great  work.  The  daily  letters  that  he 
wrote  on  board  the  ship,  to  his  family  at  home,  disclose  the  in- 
tense anxiety  he  felt  at  every  stage  of  the  enterprise.  On  arriv- 
ing in  London  he  was  hospitably  received  by  Dr.  Whitehouse, 
and  entertained  at  his  house  in  Greenwich.  He  was  invited  to 
dine  at  the  Lord  Mayor's,  and  honored  with  every  attention  by 
men  who  appreciated  the  work  he  had  done  and  was  doing. 
While  the  vessels  were  delayed  in  taking  the  cable  on  board,  he 
^ visited  Paris  by  invitation  of  Mr.  Mason,  the  American  Minister, 
and  had  interviews  with  the  Prime-Minister  of  France.  In  one 
of  his  playful  letters  to  his  family,  he  writes : 

"  While  I  was  at  Mr.  Mason's,  one  of  the  young  ladies  came 
running  to  me  and  said  that  Lady  Elgin  was  at  the  door,  to  make 


654  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   R   B.   MORSE. 

a  call ;  so  I  went  with  Mr.  Mason  to  the  hall-door,  and  was  intro- 
duced to  Lady  Elgin,  the  widow  of  Lord  Elgin,  who  was  so  kind  to 
me  in  Paris  in  1838- '39.  She  had  an  attack  of  paralysis,  which 
rendered  her  lower  limbs  useless,  about  the  same  time  that  Mr. 
Mason  suffered  from  a  like  attack  a  few  years  ago.  She  was  drawn 
to  the  door  in  a  little  hand-carriage,  and  did  not  alight ;  so  we  all 
sat  on  the  steps,  and  had  a  pleasant  conversation  with  her.  When 
my  name  was  mentioned,  she  said  she  had  often  heard  her  husband 
speak  of  me  and  of  -the  Telegraph.  She  put  me  very  much  in  mind 
of  my  mother,  in  her  last  days.  I  learned  an  anecdote  of  her  and 
Lord  Elgin,  after  she  had  left.  It  seems  she  was  the  second  wife 
of  Lord  Elgin,  who  had  first  married  a  very  beautiful  woman.  This 
first  wife  was  about  to  visit  Italy  with  her  husband.  Their  prepa- 
rations had  all  been  made,  but,  owing  to  some  unforeseen  circum- 
stance, Lord  Elgin  was  obliged  to  remain  some  weeks  longer,  and, 
not  wishing  to  disappoint  his  wife,  gave  her  in  charge  of  a  friend 
of  his  (a  Mr.  Patterson),  to  accompany  her  to  Italy,  where  he  pro- 
posed to  join  them  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks.  Mr.  Patter- 
son was  a  good-looking  man,  while  Lord  Elgin  was  far  from  being 
so.  Mr.  Patterson  proved  himself  a  villain  ;  he  took  advantage  of 
his  position,  and  betrayed  the  confidence  of  Lord  Elgin,  and  pre- 
vailed on  the  lady  to  elope  with  him.  Of  course  the  result  was 
divorce  ;  and  Lord  Elgin  then  married  the  lady  whom  I  saw.  The 
first  Lady  Elgin,  after  the  divorce,  married  Patterson.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  Lord  and  Lady  Elgin  were  in  a  part  of  the  country 
where  his  former  wife  and  Patterson  lived,  and  had  proposed  to 
visit  a  family,  which  the  Pattersons  also  visited.  Something  pre- 
vented Lord  and  Lady  Elgin  from  fulfilling  their  engagement  with 
punctuality,  and  they  did  not  arrive  at  their  friend's  house  until  some 
hours  after  the  time.  The  first  salutation  of  the  lady  of  the  house 
to  Lady  Elgin  was,  '  I  am  so  glad  that  you  did  not  come  at  the  time 
you  had  appointed,  for  if  you  had  you  would  have  met  here  Mrs. 
Patterson,  and  I  have  been  nervous  all  the  time  lest  you  should  en- 
counter her ;  it  would  have  been  so  disagreeable  to  you.'  '  Not  at 
all,'  said  Lady  Elgin,  '  I  should  have  been  glad  of  the  opportunity 
to  thank  her  for  surrendering  to  me  so  excellent  a  husband.' " 

Returning  to  London,  and  still  delayed,  lie  writes  again  to  < 
his  wife  and  children  : 

"  Greenwich,  July  24,  1857. 
"  Yesterday  was  a  most  exciting  day.    Sir  Culling  Eardley,  whose 
name  is  well  known  in  the  religious  world,  and  who  lives  at  Erith, 


MORSE'S  REMARKS.  655 

in  Kent,  not  many  miles  from  here,  invited  the  officers  and  crew  of 
the  Agamemnon,  the  principals  and  men  of  the  manufacturers  of  the 
cable,  Messrs.  Glass  &  Co.,  to  a  grand  fete  champetre  at  his  splendid 
place.  Besides  these,  invitations  were  sent  to  a  large  circle  of  the 
nobility,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company, 
to  the  officers  of  the  American  frigates,  etc.  The  account  of  the 
whole  matter  will  be  in  the  papers  this  morning." 

At  this  festival,  when  Professor  Morse  was  called  out  to 
speak  for  the  scientific  men  of  the  expedition,  lie  was  received 
with  great  applause,  and  is  reported  in  the  papers  as  saying  in 
the  course  of  his  remarks  :  "  We  may  not  then  concentrate  our 
plaudits  upon  any  one  individual.  Many  divide  the  honors. 
Time  would  fail  me  were  I  to  mention  their  names,  and  time 
must  not  be  taken  from  the  enjoyments  of  the  occasion  so  gen- 
erously and  magnificently  provided  by  our  noble  host.  [Cheers.] 
It  is  an  unusual  spectacle  to  see  England  and  America,  with 
blended  flags,  thus  united  with  ships-of-war,  not  for  conquest, 
nor  in  hostile  array,  but  in  the  great  interest  of  universal  peace. 
Is  it  not  an  omen  of  good  to  mankind  ?  May  God  bless  the  en- 
terprise !     If  he  bless  it,  it  succeeds  ;  if  not,  it  surely  fails." 

The  departure  of  the  expedition  was  also  attended  with  sol- 
emn religious  services  in  which  the  Divine  favor  was  humbly 
invoked.     From  the  Cove  of  Cork  he  wrote  to  his  wife  : 

"  When  I  wrote  the  finishing  sentence  of  my  last  letter  I  was 
suffering  a  little  from  a  slight  accident  to  my  leg.  We  were  laying 
out  the  cable  from  the  two  ships,  the  Agamemnon  and  Niagara,  to 
connect  the  two  halves  of  the  cable  together,  to  experiment  through 
the  whole  length  of  twenty-five  hundred  miles  for  the  first  time. 
In  going  down  the  sides  of  the  Agamemnon,  I  had  to  cross  over 
several  small  boats  to  reach  the  outer  one,  which  was  to  take  me  on 
board  the  tug  which  had  the  connecting  cable  on  board  ;  in  stepping 
from  one  to  the  other  of  the  small  boats,  the  water  being  very  rough, 
and  the  boats  having  a  good  deal  of  motion,  I  made  a  misstep,  my 
right  leg  being  on  board  the  outer  boat,  and  my  left  leg  went  down 
between  the  two  boats,  scraping  the  skin  from  the  upper  part  of  the 
leg  near  the  knee  for  some  two  or  three  inches.  It  pained  me  a  little, 
but  not  much.  Still,  I  knew  from  experience  that,  however  slight, 
and  comparatively  painless  at  the  time,  I  should  be  laid  up  the  next 


656  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

day,  and  possibly  for  several  days.  My  warm-hearted,  generous 
friend,  Sir  William  O'Shaughnessy,  was  on  board,  and,  being  a  sur- 
geon, lie  at  once  took  it  in  hand,  and  dressed  it,  tell  Susan,  in  good 
hydropathic  style,  with  cold  water.  I  felt  so  little  inconvenience 
from  it  at  the  time,  that  I  assisted  throughout  the  day  in  laying  the 
cable,  and  operating  through  it  after  it  was  joined,  and  had  the  sat- 
isfaction of  witnessing  the  successful  result  of  passing  the  electricity 
through  twenty-five  hundred  miles,  at  the  rate  of  one  signal  in  one 
and  a  quarter  second.  Since  then,  Dr.  Whitehouse  has  succeeded 
in  telegraphing  a  message  through  it  at  the  rate  of  a  single  signal 
in  three-quarters  of  a  second.  If  the  cable,  therefore,  is  successfully 
laid,  so  as  to  preserve  continuity  throughout,  there  is  no  doubt  of 
our  being  able  to  telegraph  through,  and.at  a  good  commercial  speed. 
I  have  been  on  my  back  for  two  days,  and  am  still  confined  to  the 
ship.  To-morrow  I  hope  to  be  well  enough  to  hobble  on  board  the 
Agamemnon,  and  assist  in  some  experiments. 

"  August  3d,  Monday  morning,  eleven  o'clock  a.  m. — I  am  still 
confined,  most  of  the  time  on  my  back  in  my  berth,  quite  to  my  an- 
noyance in  one  respect,  to  wit,  that  I  am  unable  to  be  on  board  the 
Agamemnon  with  Dr.  Whitehouse  to  assist  at  the  experiments. 
Yet,  I  have  so  much  to  be  thankful  for  that  gratitude  is  the  pre- 
vailing feeling. 

"  Our  success  in  the  electrical  experiments  is  most  gratifying. 
Mrs.  Whitehouse  showed  me  a  strip  of  paper  marked  on  my  register 
with  my  alphabetic  characters,  beautifully  made,  through  the  whole 
cable  of  twenty-five  hundred  miles,  and  with  a  feeble  sand-battery 
of  only  twelve  plates,  like  one  of  those  in  gutta-percha  boxes  in  my 
instrument-room.  If  the  nautical  and  engineering  departments 
perform  their  part  successfully,  we  are  now  sure  of  success. 

"  Seven  o"1  clock. — All  the  ships  are  under  way  from  the  Cove  of 
Cork ;  the  Leopard  left  first,  then  the  Agamemnon,  then  the  Sus- 
quehanna, and  the  Niagara  last ;  and  at  this  moment  we  are  all 
off  the  Head  of  Kinsale,  in  the  following  order :  Niagara,  Leopard, 
Agamemnon,  Susquehanna.  The  Cyclops  and  another  vessel,  the 
Advice,  left  for  Valentia  on  Saturday  evening,  and  with  a  beau- 
tiful night  before  us  we  hope  to  be  there  also  by  noon  to-morrow. 
This  day,  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  years  ago,  Columbus  sailed 
on  his  first  voyage  of  discovery,  and  discovered  America.  Good- 
night, my  beloved. 

"  Tuesday  morning,  August  Mh,  ten  a.  m. — Off  the  Skilligs  light, 
of  which  I  send  you  a  sketch.     A  beautiful   morning,  with  head 


PREPARATIONS.  657 

wind  and  heavy  sea,  making  many  sea-sick.  We  are  about  fifteen 
miles  from  our  point  of  destination.  Our  companion-skips  are  out 
of  sight  astern,  except  the  Susquehanna,  which  is  behind  us  only 
about  a  mile.  In  a  few  hours  we  hope  to  reach  our  expectant 
friends  in  Valentia,  and  to  commence  the  great  work  in  earnest. 
Our  ship  is  crowded  with  engineers  and  operators,  and  delegates 
from  the  Governments  of  Russia  and  France ;  and  the  deck  is  a  be- 
wildering mass  of  machinery,  steam-engines,  cog-wheels,  breaks, 
boilers,  ropes  of  hemp  and  ropes  of  wire,  buoys  and  boys,  pulleys 
and  sheaves  of  wood  and  iron,  cylinders  of  wood  and  cylinders  of 
iron,  meters  of  all  kinds,  anemometers,  thermometers,  barometers, 
electrometers,  steam-gauges,  speed-measurers,  strain-gauges,  ships' 
logs,  from  the  common  log  to  Massey's  log,  and  Friend's  log,  to  our 
friend  Whitehouse's  electro-magnetic  log,  which  I  think  will  prove 
to  be  the  best  of  all,  with  a  modification  I  have  suggested ;  and, 
thus  freighted,  we  expect  to  disgorge  most  of  our  solid  cargo  before 
reaching  mid-ocean.  I  am  keeping  ready  to  close  this  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning ;  so  give  all  manner  of  love  to  all  friends,  kisses  to 
whom  kisses  are  due.  I  am  getting  almost  impatient  at  the  delays 
we  necessarily  encounter.  But  our  great  work  must  not  be  neg- 
lected. I  have  seen  enough  to  know  now  that  the  Atlantic  Tele- 
graph is  sure  to  be  established,  for  it  is  practicable.  We  may  not 
succeed  in  our  first  attempt,  some  little  neglect  or  accident  may  foil 
our  present  efforts,  but  the  present  enterprise  will  result  in  gather- 
ing stores  of  experience  which  will  make  the  next  effort  certain. 
Not  that  I  do  not  expect  success  now,  but  accidental  failure  now 
will  not  be  the  evidence  of  its  impracticability.  Our  principal 
electrical  difficulty  is  the  slowness  with  which  we  must  manipulate 
in  order  to  be  intelligible.  Ticenty  tcords  in  sixteen  minutes  is 
now  the  rate ;  I  am  confident  we  can  get  more  after  a  while,  but  the 
Atlantic  Telegraph  has  its  own  rate  of  talking,  and  cannot  be  urged 
to  speak  faster  any  more  than  any  other  orator,  without  danger  of 
becoming  unintelligible. 

"  Three  o'clock  p.  m. — We  are  in  Valentia  harbor.  We  shall 
soon  come  to  anchor.  A  pilot  who  has  just  come  to  show  us  our 
anchorage-ground  says, '  There  are  a  power  of  people  ashore.'  " 

In  other  letters  he  gives  the  minutest  details  of  the  delays, 
accidents,  and  fears,  by  which  they  were  beset,  and  at  length  he 
writes : 

"  August  8th. — Yesterday,  at  half-past  six  p.  M.,  all  being  right, 
42 


658  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

we  commenced  again  paying  out  the  heavy  shore-end,  of  which  we 
had  about  eight  miles  to  be  left  on  the  rocky  bottom  of  the  coast, 
to  bear  the  attrition  of  the  waves,  and  to  prevent  injury  to  the  deli- 
cate nerve  which  it  incloses  in  its  iron  mail,  and  which  is  the  living 
principle  of  the  whole  work.  A  critical  time  was  approaching ;  it 
was  when  the  end  of  the  massive  cable  should  pass  overboard  at 
the  point  where  it  joins  the  main  and  smaller  cable.  I  was  in  my 
berth  by  order  of  the  surgeon,  lest  my  injured  limb,  which  was 
somewhat  inflamed  by  the  excitement  of  the  day  and  too  much 
walking  about,  should  become  worse.  Above  my  head,  the  heavy 
rumbling  of  the  great  wheels  over  which  the  cable  was  passing,  and 
was  being  regulated,  every  now  and  then  giving  a  tremendous 
thump,  like  the  discharge  of  artillery,  kept  me  from  sleep,  and  I 
knew  they  were  approaching  the  critical  point.  Presently  it  came ; 
the  machinery  stopped ;  and  soon  amid  the  voices  I  heard  the  un- 
welcome intelligence, '  The  cable  is  broke.'  Sure  enough,  the  small- 
er cable  at  this  point  had  parted ;  but,  owing  to  the  prudent  pre- 
cautions of  those  superintending,  the  end  of  the  great  cable  had 
been  buoyed,  and  the  hawsers  which  had  been  attached  secured  it. 
The  sea  was  moderate,  the  moonlight  gave  a  clear  sight  of  all,  and 
in  half  an  hour  the  joyous  sound  of  '  All  right ! '  was  heard,  the  ma- 
chinery commenced  a  low  and  regular  rumbling,  like  the  purring  of 
a  great  cat,  which  has  continued  from  that  moment  (midnight)  till 
the  present  moment  uninterrupted.  The  coil  on  deck  is  most  beau- 
tifully uncoiling,  at  the  rate  of  three  nautical  miles  an  hour.  The 
day  is  magnificent,  the  land  has  almost  disappeared,  and  our  com- 
panion-ships are  leisurely  sailing  with  us  at  equal  pace,  and  we  are 
all  of  course  in  fine  spirits.  I  sent  you  a  telegraph  dispatch  this 
morning,  thirty  miles  out,  which  you  will  duly  receive,  with  others 
that  I  shall  send  if  all  continues  to  go  on  without  interruption.  If 
you  do  receive  any,  preserve  them  with  the  greatest  care,  for  they 
will  be  great  curiosities." 

"  August  10£A,  Monday. — Thus  far,  we  have  had  most  delight- 
ful weather,  and  every  thing  goes  on  regularly  and  satisfactorily. 
You  are  aware  we  cannot  stop  night  nor  day  in  paying  out.  On 
Saturday  we  made  our  calculations  that  the  first  great  coil,  which  is 
upon  the  main  deck,  would  be  completely  paid  out,  and  one  of  our 
critical  moments,  to  wit,  the  change  from  this  coil  to  the  next, 
which  is  far  forward,  would  be  made  by  seven  or  eight  o'clock  yes- 
terday morning  (Sunday).  So  we  were  up  and  watching  the  last 
flake  of  the  first  coil  gradually  diminishing.     Every  thing  had  been 


"STOP  HER!    STOP   HER!"  659 

well  prepared :  the  men  were  at  their  posts ;  it  was  an  anxious  mo- 
ment, lest  a  kink  might  occur,  but,  as  the  last  round  came  up,  the 
motion  of  the  ship  was  slightly  slackened,  the  men  handled  the 
slack  cable  handsomely,  and  in  two  minutes  the  change  was  made 
with  perfect  order,  and  the  paying  out  from  the  second  coil  was  as 
regularly  commenced,  and  at  this  moment  continues,  and  at  an  in- 
creased rate  to-day  of  five  miles  per  hour. 

"  Last  night,  however,  was  another  critical  moment.  On  ex- 
amining our  chart  of  soundings,  we  found  the  depth  of  the  ocean 
gradually  increasing  up  to  about  four  hundred  fathoms,  and  then 
the  chart  showed  a  sudden  and  great  increase  to  seventeen  hundred 
fathoms,  and  then  a  further  increase  to  two  thousand  and  fifty,  nearly 
the  greatest  depth  with  which  we  should  meet  in  the  whole  distance. 
We  had,  therefore,  to  watch  the  effect  of  this  additional  depth  upon 
the  straining  of  the  cable.  At  two  in  the  morning,  the  effect  showed 
itself  in  a  greater  strain,  and  a  more  rapid  tendency  to  run  fast. 
We  could  check  its  speed,  but  it  is  a  dangerous  process.  Too  sud- 
den a  check  would  inevitably  snap  the  cable.  Too  slack  a  rein 
would  allow  of  its  egress  at  such  a  wasting  rate,  and  at  such  a  vio- 
lent speed,  that  we  should  lose  too  great  a  portion  of  the  cable,  and 
its  future  stopping  within  controllable  limits  be  almost  impossible. 
Hence  our  anxiety.  All  were  on  the  alert ;  our  expert  engineers 
applied  the  brakes  most  judiciously,  and  at  the  moment  I  write — 
latitude  52°  28' — the  cable  is  being  laid  at  the  depth  of  two  miles 
in  its  ocean-bed  as  regularly,  and  with  as  much  facility,  as  it  was  in 
the  depth  of  a  few  fathoms.  After  the  critical  point  of  change  yes- 
terday from  coil  one  to  coil  two  (there  are  five  coils  altogether),  we 
had  our  Sunday  services  on  deck.  Read  the  portion  of  the  Psalms, 
morning  prayer  for  9th  of  the  month  ;  }tou  will  see  there  is  much  ap- 
positeness  in  its  tone  and  character  to  our  situation.  The  more  I 
contemplate  this  great  undertaking,  the  more  I  feel  my  own  little- 
ness, and  the  more  I  perceive  the  hand  of  God  in  it,  and  how  he 
has  assigned  to  various  persons  their  duties,  he  being  the  great 
controller,  all  others  his  honored  instruments.  No  single  human 
being  can  appropriate  to  himself  the  exclusive  honors  of  this  enter- 
prise, for  in  no  human  being  do  the  various  and  almost  opposite 
qualities  exist  necessary  to  be  combined  before  it  can  be  consum- 
mated. Hence  our  dependence  first  of  all  on  God,  then  on  each 
other. 

"  Six  p.  m. — We  have  just  had  a  fearful  alarm.  '  Stop  her  !  stop 
her ! '  was  reiterated  from  many  voices  on  deck.     On  going  up  I 


660  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

perceived  the  cable  had  got  out  of  its  sheaves,  and  was  running  out 
at  great  speed.  All  was  confusion  for  a  few  moments.  Mr.  Can- 
ning, our  friend,  who  was  the  engineer  of  the  Newfoundland  cable, 
showed  great  presence  of  mind,  and  to  his  coolness  and  skill  I  think 
is  due  the  remedying  of  the  evil.  By  rope-stoppers,  the  cable  was 
at  length  brought  to  a  stand-still,  and  it  strained  most  ominously, 
perspiring  at  every  part  large  tar-drops.  But  it  held  together  long 
enough  to  put  the  cable  on  its  sheaves  again. 

"  Tuesday,  August  Wth. — Abruptly,  indeed,  am  I  stopped  in  my 
letter.  This  morning,  at  3.45,  the  cable  parted^  and  we  shall  soon 
be  on  our  way  back  to  England." 

Mr.  Charles  T.  Bright,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  paying-out 
machine,  gave  a  minute  account  of  the  fatal  accident.  "Its 
origin,"  he  says,  "  was  no  doubt  the  amount  of  retarding  strain 
upon  the  cable,  but  had  the  machine  been  properly  manipulated 
at  the  time  it  could  not  possibly  have  taken  place.  I  had  at- 
tended personally  to  the  regulation  of  the  breaks;  but,  find- 
ing that  all  was  going  on  well,  and  it  being  necessary  that  I 
should  be  temporarily  away  from  the  machine  to  ascertain  the 
rate  of  the  ship,  and  to  see  how  the  cable  was  coming  out  of 
the  hold,  and  also  to  visit  the  electrician,  the  machine  was  for 
the  moment  left  in  charge  of  a  mechanic  who  had  been  engaged 
from  the  first  in  its  construction  and  fitting,  and  was  acquainted 
with  its  operation.  I  was  proceeding  to  the  fore-part  of  the 
ship,  when  I  heard  the  machine  stop ;  I  immediately  called  out 
to  ease  the  break  and  reverse  the  engine  of  the  ship,  but  when 
I  reached  the  spot  the  cable  was  broken."  Professor  Morse,  the 
next  day,  wrote  again  to  his  wife : 

"  You  will  perhaps  be  surprised  to  learn  that  I  have  not  left  my 
berth  for  three  days.  The  accident  to  my  leg,  in  the  Cove  of  Cork, 
when  engaged  in  connecting  the  two  halves  of  the  cable,  is  the 
cause.  Athough  apparently  slight,  I  took  too  much  exercise  with 
it,  and  consequently  have  now  been  compelled  to  lie  quiet.  I  do 
not  suffer  except  from  the  irksomeness  of  the  confinement,  while  so 
much  of  interest  has  been  enacted  on  deck,  which  I  have  not  visited 
since  the  parting  of  the  cable.  And,  moreover,  my  hurt  on  the  leg 
is  healing  kindly  and  rapidly." 

"  August  13,  three  o'clock  p.  m. — A  beautiful  day,  and  we  are 
now  under  full  steam  and  sail  for  Plymouth.     The  Agamemnon  and 


NOT  DISCOURAGED.  661 

Susquehanna  are  in  sight  for  the  same  destination.  The  Cyclops 
took  Mr.  Field  to  Valentia,  and  the  Leopard  at  the  same  time 
sailed  for  Plymouth,  leaving  us  to  make  several  important  ex- 
periments bearing  upon  the  Atlantic  Telegraph,  which  consumed 
nearly  the  whole  day.  I  was  unable  to  be  on  deck,  but  I  learned 
the  results,  which  are  for  the  most  part  very  satisfactory.  Our 
accident  will  delay  the  enterprise,  but  will  not  defeat  it.  I  con- 
sider it  a  settled  fact,  from  all  I  have  seen,  that  it  is  perfectly  practi- 
cable. It  will  surely  be  accomplished.  There  is  no  insurmountable 
difficulty  that  has  for  a  moment  appeared,  none  that  has  shaken  my 
faith  in  it  in  the  slightest  degree.  My  report  to  the  company,  as 
co-electrician,  will  show  every  thing  right  in  that  department.  We 
got  an  electric  current  through  till  the  moment  of  parting,  so  that 
electric  connection  was  perfect,  and  yet  the  farther  we  paid  out  the 
feebler  were  the  currents,  indicating  a  difficulty  which,  however,  I  do 
not  consider  serious,  while  it  is  of  a  nature  to  require  attentive  in- 
vestigation." 

PROFESSOR   MORSE  TO   MR.    SAWARD. 

In  the  midst  of  this  disappointment,  and  while  still  confined 
to  his  berth,  Professor  Morse  addressed  a  letter  to  the  company : 

"  United  States  Steam-Frigate  Niagara,  ) 
Plymouth  Harbor,  August  18,  1857.      j 

"Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  17th  instant  is  just  received, 
and  to  it  I  send  a  brief  answer  by  telegraph,  as  you  requested.  I 
take  advantage  of  Captain  Hudson's  departure  for  London  to  write 
to  you,  since  the  hurt  I  received  in  the  Cove  of  Cork,  while  con- 
necting the  two  parts  of  the  cable,  has  shown  itself  to  be  more 
serious  than  I  anticipated,  and  so  confining  me  to  my  berth  now  for 
a  week,  with  an  uncertain  prospect  of  release ;  I  am  thus  unable, 
most  unfortunately  for  myself,  to  be  with  you  in  your  consultation  ; 
nevertheless,  although  deprived  of  being  present  in  person,  I  will 
venture  a  few  remarks  by  letter,  giving  the  conclusions  to  which  I 
have  come  in  reflecting  upon  the  condition  of  our  enterprise. 

"  We  have  met  with  a  misfortune,  viewed  in  some  of  its  aspects, 
but  in  others  a  providential  interference  to  insure  final  success.  It 
is  not  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  success  in  any  great  enterprise 
that  every  part  of  our  plans  should  go  smoothly  forward.  Partial 
failures  ought  to  be  expected,  and  it  is  neither  wise  nor  just  to  leave 
such  probable  failures  out  of  our  calculations.  What,  then,  is  the 
state  of  the  enterprise  ?     We  had  a  cable  of  some  2,300  miles.    We 


662  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

still  have  some  2,000  miles  left,  so  that  the  loss  is  but  about  300 
miles.  What  had  been  gained  by  this  loss  ?  An  amount  of  expe- 
rience and  knowledge  for  which  the  loss  of  300  miles  of  cable  is  a 
cheap  purchase.  Better  to  lose  300  miles  than  the  whole  cable.  It 
has  been  shown  by  our  experience  that  the  rate  of  safe  paying  out 
will  require  more  surplusage  than  had  been  provided.  In  the  deep- 
est soundings  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  to  check  the  speed  of 
the  cable  to  accommodate  it  to  the  speed  of  the  ship  is  fatal,  and  it 
has  taught  us  that  the  proper  remedy  in  such  an  exigency  is  to  in- 
crease the  speed  of  the  ship,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  deposit  of 
more  cable. 

"  I  would  say  it  with  all  deference,  too,  that  the  instructions  de- 
volving so  much  of  duty  and  responsibility  upon  the  engineers, 
and  at  the  same  time  depriving  the  nautical  department  of  duties 
and  responsibilities  which  appropriately  belonged  to  it,  have  been 
shown  by  the  event  to  have  been  injudicious.  The  safe  deposit  of 
the  cable  from  on  shipboard  involves  duties,  it  is  true,  of  a  mixed 
character ;  but  the  duties  are  more  nautical  than  engineering,  and 
ought  not  to  have  been  devolved  upon  any  one  individual  unless 
possessed  of  the  rare  qualifications  of  a  knowledge  of  both  depart- 
ments. Had  our  ingenious  engineer  possessed  the  nautical  knowl- 
edge which  experienced  seamen  have  at  command,  as  it  were  by  in- 
stinct, the  engineering  remedy,  the  fatal  brake,  would  not  have  been 
applied  without  making  account  of  the  nautical  risk  of  such  an  act, 
engendered  by  the  rate  of  the  ship's  progress  and  the  surging  of  the 
sea.  "We  learn  by  mistakes.  My  object  is  by  no  means  to  censure 
the  past,  but  to  hint  a  remedy  for  the  future. 

"  Have  we  not  gained  as  well  as  lost  by  this  check  ?  We  have 
demonstrated  that  the  cable,  so  far  as  strength  and  capability  of 
being  paid  out  is  concerned,  is  well  devised  and  well  made.  No 
change  for  the  present  is  desirable,  although  future  cables  may 
doubtless  be  better  constructed  to  accomplish  better  telegraphic 
results  by  taking  advantage  of  the  discoveries  and  additions  of 
science. 

"  We  have  demonstrated  that  either  of  the  two  plans  of  splicing 
in  mid-ocean  is  practicable. 

"  We  have  demonstrated  that  the  cable,  once  paid  out  from  the 
ship,  is  not  recoverable  with  any  certainty  by  the  means  at  present 
devised  on  board. 

"  We  have  demonsti-ated  that  the  cable  can  be  laid  out. 

"  Now  with  regard  to  the  future  : 


POSTPONEMENT  NECESSARY.  663 

"  The  advanced  state  of  the  season  opposes  an  obstacle  to  any 
further  attempt  at  laying  the  cable  this  year. 

"  Before  a  supply  of  the  quantity  lost  can  be  had  and  coiled  on 
board  ship  the  season  of  rough  weather  sets  in,  adding  untried  diffi- 
culties to  the  undertaking.  Hence  a  postponement  till  the  mild 
season  of  June  or  July  of  another  year  would  seem  desirable.  There 
may  be  inconveniences,  but  there  are  also  advantages  in  the  delay. 
Not  the  least  of  the  latter  is  the  furnishing  our  worthy  electrician, 
Dr.  Whitehouse,  with  his  other  scientific  associates,  an  opportunity 
to  experiment  during  the  winter  with  the  entire  cable,  and  to  devise 
means  for  more  rapid  transmission  and  in  greater  quantity  in  a  given 
time.  Compelled  as  I  am  to  return  to  my  home,  I  can  derive  no 
benefit  immediately  in  my  own  studies  from  this  arrangement,  but 
it  would  be  most  gratifying  to  me  if  this  accident,  so  called,  should 
prove  in  this  way  a  means  of  benefiting  the  company  to  an  amount 
far  exceeding  the  cost  of  the  entire  enterprise.  That  this,  with 
such  opportunities,  is  likely  to  be  the  result  of  scientific  investiga- 
tion, I  have  the  strongest  faith,  and,  should  this  happen  as  one  of 
the  effects  of  what  otherwise  is  a  disappiontment  and  seems  a  frown, 
we  shall  all  derive  a  most  salutary  lesson  to  trust  in  him  who  dis- 
poses of  all  events  for  the  greatest  good,  and  with  whom — if  we 
were  indeed  sincere  in  our  trust  and  in  our  submission  to  his  will — 
we  professed  to  leave  the  disposal  of  our  whole  enterprise.  With 
sincere  respect,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

"  To  George  Saward,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  etc." 

Professor  Morse's  letters  to  his  family  continue  the  history 
of  the  enterprise,  the  discouragements,  the  heroic  endeavors,  the 
perseverance,  and  hopes  of  its  friends.  In  September  he  returned 
to  New  York  in  the  steamer  Arabia.  The  London  directors 
ordered  seven  hundred  miles  of  cable  to  be  manufactured  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  what  had  been  lost.  Mr.  Field  returned  to  the 
United  States  and  secured  the  continued  assistance  of  our  Gov- 
ernment in  the  use  of  the  ships  to  repeat  the  experiment.  He 
then  went  to  London,  and  was  made  general  manager  of  the 
company.  This  office  he  accepted,  but  declined  to  receive  any 
salary  or  any  extra  compensation  for  his  services.  He  engaged 
the  efficient  services  of  Mr.  William  E.  Everett,  the  American 
engineer  of  the  steamship  Niagara.     Mr.  Everett  constructed  a 


664  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

machine  for  paying  out  the  cable,  which  promised  to  obviate  all 
the  difficulties  and  the  dangers  attending  th  e  one  in  use  the  year 
before.  The  American  ship,  the'  Susquehanna,  being  detained 
in  the  West  Indies  with  the  yellow  fever  on  board,  the  British 
Government  supplied  her  place  with  the  Valorous,  and  the  new 
squadron  sailed  from  Plymouth  May  29,  1858,  on  the  second 
Atlantic-Telegraph  expedition.  After  putting  out  to  sea  and 
making  a  few  experiments  by  way  of  testing  the  new  machinery, 
the  squadron  set  off  on  its  mission  June  10,  1858,  the  Niagara 
and  the  Agamemnon  being  followed  by  the  Yalorous  and  the 
Gorgon.  Three  days  of  fair  weather  were  succeeded  by  a  fear- 
ful storm.  A  series  of  gales  scattered  the  little  fleet.  Some  of 
the  vessels  narrowly  escaped  destruction.  On  the  25th  of  June 
they  found  each  other  again.  The  Agamemnon  had  suffered 
severely,  and  so  had  the  cable  on  board  of  her.  After  repairing 
damages  the  vessels  proceeded  to  mid-ocean.  The  Niagara  and 
the  Agamemnon,  having  joined  the  cable,  parted  company,  each 
steaming  away  with  its  portion  of  the  mighty  coil,  to  its  own 
country.  Fifty,  one  hundred,  two  hundred  miles  were  paid  out, 
and,  at  the  moment  when  all  doubt  of  success  had  disappeared, 
the  cable  gave  way  at  the  stern  of  the  Agamemnon ! 

The  fleet  returned  to  Queenstown.  But  Mr.  Field  and  his 
associates  would  not  abandon  the  attempt.  Every  failure  was 
met  with  fresh  resolution.  The  world  never  saw  sublimer  hero- 
ism. July  17, 1858,  the  third  expedition  left  the  Cove  of  Cork, 
with  the  agreement  among  the  commanders  of  the  several  ves- 
sels to  rendezvous  in  mid-ocean,  which  was  reached  by  the  last 
of  the  vessels  in  eleven  days.  The  splice  was  soon  effected,  and 
again  the  two  old  friends,  the  Niagara  and  Agamemnon,  bade 
each  other  a  brief  "good-by"  and  started  with  their  burdens 
for  their  own  lands.  Signals  were,  constantly  passed  between 
the  two  ships.  On  the  1th  day  of  August  the  Niagara  safely 
entered  Trinity  Bay,  Newfoundland,  with  her  precious  freight, 
and  on  the  next  day  the  cable  was  made  fast  to  the  American 
shore.  On  the  same  day  the  Agamemnon  landed  her  end  of  the 
cable  at  Yalentia,  and  the  continents  of  Europe  and  America 
were  united ! 

The  enthusiastic  joy  of  the  American  people  on  this  result 
found  expression  in  thanksgiving  to  him  who  rules  the  winds 


THE   CABLE   FAILS.  665 

and  waves.  Several  days  of  great  anxiety  were  passed  while 
preparations  were  made  for  the  practical  working  of  the  cable, 
and  on  the  16th  day  of  August,  1858,  a  message  from  the  Qeeen 
of  England  was  received,  addressed  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  Celebrations  followed.  In  the  city  of  New 
York  the  demonstration  was  on  a  scale  of  magnificence  rarely 
surpassed  by  festivities  that  have  signalized  the  most  important 
events  in  its  history.  The  successful  efforts  of  Mr.  Cyrus  "W. 
Field  were  acknowledged  with  every  token  of  grateful  recog- 
nition. 

In  the  midst  of  these  rejoicings  the  Atlantic  cable  suddenly 
ceased  to  do  its  duty.  It  died  and  made  no  sign.  Consterna- 
tion, then  distrust,  filled  the  public  mind.  Several  private  and 
a  few  public  messages  had  been  received  by  it  from  Europe. 
On  the  27th  day  of  August  intelligence  was  received  of  a  British 
treaty  with  China,  allowing  the  Christian  religion.  But  on  the 
1st  day  of  September  the  cable  ceased  to  speak.  The  cause  of 
this  sad  failure  has  been  a  mystery  to  the  public.  It  was  even 
asserted  that  the  cable  was  never  operated  at  all,  and  many  still 
believe  that  no  messages  were  received  by  it  from  the  other  side. 
But  the  cable  did  work,  although  very  imperfectly  and  irregularly, 
twenty  days.  In  that  time  129  messages  were  received  at  New- 
foundland from  Yalentia,  containing  1,474  words  and  7,253  let- 
ters, and  a  still  larger  number  were  sent  from  this  to  the  other 
side  and  there  received.  The  intended  return  of  two  regiments 
of  the  British  army  from  Canada  was  countermanded  by  a  cable 
message,  saving  to  the  Government  the  sum  of  £250,000.,  Mr. 
George  B.  Prescott,  the  eminent  American  electrician,  attributes 
the  failure  to  the  imperfect  mode  in  which  the  cable  was  manu- 
factured, and  the  improper  manner  in  which  it  was  cared  for 
afterward,  the  conducting  wire  being  left  so  much  exposed  by 
the  melting  and  breaking  of  the  gutta-percha  that  its  insulation 
was  destroyed. 

In  January,  1864,  Mr.  Field  was  once  more  on  his  way  to 
England.  In  the  mean  time  he  had  toiled  with  indefatigable 
perseverance,  to  serve  an  enterprise  which  to  all  appearance  was 
as  dead  as  the  host  of  Pharaoh  in  the  Red  Sea.  When  public 
confidence  began  to  revive,  and  it  was  believed  that  the  British 
Government  would  guarantee  the  interest  on  the  stock  of  the 


666  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Telegraph  Company,  if  their  cable  should  he  laid  successfully, 
the  Red-Sea-Telegraph  cable,  which  had  been  laid  by  a  company 
having  a  government  guarantee,  died  suddenly  in  its  bed,  as  the 
Atlantic  cable  had  perished.  But  the  British  Government  was 
always  disposed  to  promote  the  Atlantic  Telegraph,  and  did 
engage  to  pay  eight  per  cent,  on  £600,000  of  new  capital,  for 
twenty-five  years,,  if  the  cable  were  successfully  laid,  and  made 
to  operate  during  that  time.  Mr.  Field  enlisted  Mr.  Thomas 
Brassey  in  the  great  work,  with  Mr.  John  Pender,  Mr.  John 
Chatterton,  and  others,  and,  by  a  union  of  the  Gutta-Percha 
Company  with  Glass,  Elliot  &  Co.,  a  new  cable  was  made. 
The  Great  Eastern,  the  largest  steamship  in  the  world,  was  pur- 
chased ;  the  cable  was  put  on  board,  and  the  command  was  given 
to  Captain  Anderson.  On  the  15th  day  of  July,  1865,  the 
Great  Eastern  set  off  for  Yalentia  Bay ;  there  the  cable  was 
secured  to  the  shore,  and  on  the  23d  day  of  July  she  left  for 
the  New  World.  The  expedition  had  reached  a  point  within  six 
hundred  miles  of  Newfoundland,  when  the  cable  parted,  and 
twelve  hundred  miles  of  it  were  left  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 
To  recover  it  seemed  the  most  hopeless  of  all  human  undertak- 
ings. The  attempt'  was  made  ;  three  times  it  was  caught  and 
raised  toward  the  surface,  but  as  often  the  ropes  by  which  it  was 
drawn  up  failed  to  bear  the  strain,  and  the  cable  sank  again  into 
its  ocean-bed.  The  Great  Eastern  returned  to  England.  A 
new  company  was  formed,  called  the  Anglo-American  Telegraph 
Company.  A  new  cable  was  made.  The  Great  Eastern  received 
it,  and  on  Friday,  July  13,  1866,  after  solemn  religous  ser- 
vices in  which  the  favor  of  God  was  heartily  invoked,  once 
more  it  left  Yalentia  Bay  for  the  Bay  of  Newfoundland. 
The  work  proceeded  daily  without  interruption  by  accident. 
Messages  from  all  parts  of  Europe  and  the  East  were  daily 
received  on  the  Great  Eastern.  On  Friday,  July  27, 1866,  the 
cable  was  safely  landed  on  the  American  shore.  Again  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Hemispheres  were  united.  The  great 
work  was  successfully  accomplished.  From  that  day  to  this  the 
Atlantic  cable  has  done  its  duty. 


OHAPTEE    XIX. 

1858-1859. 

RETURN  TO  AMERICA — WINTER  IN  NEW  TORE — BRIDAL  PARTY  AND  FESTIVITIES 
— INVITED  TO  PARIS — PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  JOURNEY — INSTRUCTION  TO 
FARMER  AND  COACHMAN — VOYAGE — REMARKABLE  PREDICTION  AND  FUL- 
FILLMENT— PARIS— ^BANQUET — MEMORIAL  TO  FOREIGN  POWERS — HON. 
LEWIS  CASS — HON.  JOHN  Y.  MASON — THE  FRENCH  GOVERNMENT — CON- 
VENTION CALLED — GOVERNMENTS  REPRESENTED — COUNT  WALEWSKl's  LET- 
TER TO  PROFESSOR  MORSE — PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CONVENTION — AMOUNT 
OF  AWARD — PROPORTION  OF  THE  SEVERAL  GOVERNMENTS — SUMMARY  OF 
FOREIGN  DISTINCTIONS — VISIT  TO  THE  WEST  INDIES — ERECTION  OF  A  TELE- 
GRAPH—SOUTHERN     ATLANTIC       TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENCE LETTER 

FROM  PROFESSOR  STEINHEIL — MORSE'S  REPLY — PROPOSAL  TO  RAISE  A  TES- 
TIMONIAL TO  STEINHEIL — PROFESSOR  MORSE'S  RETURN — RECEPTION  AT 
POUGHKEEPSIE. 

THE  official  connection  of  Professor  Morse  with  the  Atlantic 
cable  enterprise  was  terminated  when  the  new  company 
was  organized  in  London,  in  1857.  He  was  not  elected  an 
honorary  director.  The  reason  assigned  for  his  omission  was 
that  he  had  taken  no  stock  in  the  new  company.  As  the  com- 
pany was  not  formed  nntil  after  he  had  left  England,  and  he  had 
no  opportunity  to  subscribe,  the  reason  was  not  satisfactory  to 
him.  In  the  midst  of  rivalries  and  jealousies  among  companies, 
capitalists,  scientists,  and  others  interested,  it  is  possible  that 
his  services  in  the  board,  and  as  electrician,  were  dispensed  with 
for  some  other  reason  than  the  one  assigned.  Whatever  was 
the  real  cause,  the  fact  was  personally  mortifying  to  the  great 
inventor  of  the  enterprise,  if  it  were  not  also  injurious  to  the 
interests  of  the  new  company. 

Arriving  in  New  York  early  in  October  from  England,  he 


668  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MOESE. 

passed  a  few  weeks  at  his  country-seat,  and  then  removed  to  the 
city,  where  he  spent  the  winter.  His  correspondence  occupied 
all  the  time  that  he  could  save  from  public  and  social  duties. 
Among  the  many  and  curious  applications  made  to  him  at  this 
moment  was  one  from  a  French  countess,  who  claimed  that  in 
1832,  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  she  had  consigned  a  number 
of  prints  to  his  care,  with  a  request  that  he  would  place  them  in 
the  hands  of  some  dealer  in  New  York,  to  be  sold  for  her  bene- 
fit. He  had  forgotten  to  whom  he  confided  them,  and  had  no 
means  of  knowing  whether  they  had  ever  been  sold  or  not.  As 
he  was  informed  that  the  countess  was  in  distress,  he  sent  her 
the  full  amount  of  her  claim  for  the  value  of  the  prints,  placing 
the  matter  upon  grounds  of  personal  obligation,  so  that  there 
should  be  no  hesitation  on  her  part  in  receiving  the  money.  He 
says  to  the  consul  who  had  brought  the  subject  to  his  notice : 
"The  letter  of  the  countess  which  you  have  obligingly  for- 
warded to  me,  informs  me  that  she  is  in  distress,  having  lost  her 
sister  and  her  fortune.  There  are  other  obligations  than  those 
of  an  equitable  pecuniary  character,  which  prompt  me  to  view 
her  claim  upon  me  as  more  than  equitable.  I  have  grateful 
recollections  of  kindness  shown  to  me  by  these  amiable  ladies 
during  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera  scourge  in  Paris  in  1832, 
and  I  feel  happy  in  having  an  opportunity  of  showing  my  sense 
of  that  kindness." 

The  spring  and  early  summer  of  1858  at  Locust  Grove  were 
enlivened  by  a  wedding-party  from  New  Orleans  ;  Mrs.  Morse's 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Goodrich,  coming  North  with  his  bride. 
Professor  "Wier,  of  West  Point,  who  had  won  the  honor,  which 
Professor  Morse  had  so  ardently  desired,  of  painting  the  picture 
for  the  Potunda  of  the  Capitol,  was  invited  to  his  house,  with 
Gouverneur  Kemble,  Esq.,  of  Cold  Spring,  and  others.  The 
mansion  was  a  scene  of  prolonged  festivity,  and  the  most  refined 
and  elegant  hospitalities. 

At  this  time,  a  congress  of  European  Governments  was  dis- 
cussing at  Paris  the  question  of  giving  to  this  private  citizen,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson  Piver,  a  pecuniary  testimonial  of  the 
distinguished  benefits  which  those  foreign  peoples  had  received 
from  his  invention  of  the  Telegraph. 

The  Hon.  J.  T.  Mason,  Minister  of  the  United  States  to 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  ABSENCE.  669 

France,  wrote  to  Professor  Morse,  advising  him  to  come  imme- 
diately to  Paris.  He  says :  "  The  prospects  of  success  are 
brighter  than  ever ;  come  over  as  soon  as  yon  can."  Yielding 
to  this  suggestion,  he  made  preparations  for  the  jonrney,  and  for 
a  protracted  absence,  shonld  he  find  it  desirable  to  remain  abroad. 
If  it  has  been  supposed  that  his  mind  was  absorbed  in  the  Tele- 
graph to  the  exclusion  of  the  petty  details  of  ordinary  life,  the 
idea  will  be  dispelled  by  observing  the  minute  instructions  which 
he  left  in  writing  for  the  management  of  his  farm  while  he  was 
absent.  He  rented  the  mansion  and  immediate  grounds  to  B. 
Hinckley,  Esq.,  and  in  a  note  to  him  says :  "  May  I  ask  your 
attention  to  the  condition  of  my  carriages,  wagons,  sleighs,  etc., 
occasionally  asking  Thomas  Bennett  about  them,  simply  to  show 
that  he  has  one  supervising  him  ?  And  so  of  the  others."  To 
his  hired  men  he  gave  written  directions,  going  into  the  most 
minute  details  of  the  farm  and  stock.  A  few  extracts  will  illus- 
trate his  prudent  care : 

"  Instructions  to  Mr.  Luckey. 

"  In  the  conduct  of  the  farm  while  I  am  gone,  I  wish  the  old  bay 
horse  and  old  cream  horse  to  be  under  your  care  and  use  for  farm- 
ing purposes,  and  for  Thomas  the  gardener's  service  for  the  garden 
and  grapery.  I  do  not  wish  your  son  Frank  to  use  or  drive  any  of 
my  horses.  The  hay  and  grain  I  wish  to  have  estimated,  and  an  ac- 
curate account  kept  of  their  use,  to  be  shown  me  when  I  return. 
The  hogs,  after  being  slaughtered  at  the  proper  time,  may  be  sold 
for  me.  So  also  those  cattle  it  may  be  advisable  to  fatten  for  sale. 
Oifer  them  to  Messrs.  Pine  &  Spencer,  and,  if  they  will  give  a  fair 
price,  let  them  take  them  on  account.  I  leave  funds  and  directions 
with  Mr.  Hinckley  to  pay  you  every  month.  In  case  of  any  emer- 
gency, ask  advice  of  Mr.  Hinckley,  who  is  authorized  by  me  to 
direct  respecting  all  matters  about  the  place.  The  milk,  cream, 
and  butter,  dispose  of  for  me  to  Mr.  Hinckley's  family,  or  others,  if 
he  does  not  take  all.  Keep  account  also  of  these  articles,  and  all 
the  produce  of  the  farm.  Store  away  potatoes  enough  to  last  me 
from  May  until  potatoes  come  in  again.  In  winter  see  to  having 
the  ice-house  filled  with  good  ice,  with  the  assistance  of  Thomas 
Bennett  and  Thomas  Devoy.  Cut  down  dead  trees  and  remove 
stumps.  Put  the  embankment  against  the  fence  in  good  order. 
Select  out  the  larger  stone  from  the  wall  that  was  taken  away,  such 


670  LIFE   or  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

as  will  do  for  building-stone,  and  draw  them  into  the  yard,  piling 
them  up  for  future  use.  The  smaller  stone  may  remain  and  be 
broken  up  for  a  foundation  for  a  pathway  on  the  road.  Leave  a 
culvert  through  it  and  a  drain  (open),  for  the  water  to  flow  off  on 
the  south  side  of  the  road  down  the  north  dell.  You  may  get  from 
Collinwood  the  usual  quantity  of  coal  (four  tons),  and  have  it 
charged  to  me.  I  have  given  orders  to  that  effect,  and  for  Thomas 
Devoy  also  (two  tons).  When  the  time  comes  for  paying  tax,  direct 
the  collector  to  call  on  Mr.  Hinckley  for  mine,  as  he  is  authorized  to 
pay  it  for  me.  Thomas  Bennett  and  Thomas  Devoy  will  both  be 
paid  by  Mr.  Hinckley,  who  has  funds  of  mine  for  the  purpose." 

"  Thomas  Devoy. 

"  I  wish  you  to  take  care  of  the  garden  and  grapery,  and  lawns, 
as  usual ;  and  you  may  dispose  of  the  produce  of  the  garden  to  the 
best  advantage  to  Messrs.  Carpenters  &  Brothers,  Main  Street,  or 
to  Mr.  Pine,  or  to  others,  if  better  terms  can  be  had.  Send  to  my 
son  Charles,  through  Mr.  Luckey,  by  the  barge,  corn,  squashes,  beets, 
and  early  potatoes,  and  also  a  few  grapes.  I  have  requested  Mr. 
Luckey  to  allow  you,  as  you  can  agree  with  each  other,  as  to  time, 
the  use  of  the  old  cream,  horse,  and  the  old  bay  horse,  to  draw  muck 
and  bones,  and  manure  for  the  garden  and  grapery.  I  wish  that 
there  may  be  mutual  helping  of  each  other  in  this  and  other  res- 
pects, and,  in  case  of  needing  advice,  advise  with  Mr.  Hinckley, 
who,  while  he  rents  my  house,  is  chief  supervisor  of  the  place. 
When  melons,  and  corn,  squashes,  beets,  and  grapes,  are  ripe,  make 
up  a  liberal  parcel  in  a  large  basket,  and  send  same  to  the  directress 
of  the  '  Home  of  the  Friendless.'  And  send  also  a  basket  of  veg- 
etables and  fruits  occasionally  to  Rev.  Mr.  Ludlow,  while  he  is  in 
Poughkeepsie.  You  may  get  from  Mr.  Haggerty  three  hundred 
asparagus-plants  of  the  best  kind,  say  about  a  dollar  per  hundred, 
and  twelve  hyacinth-flower  bulbs,  at  not  over  twenty-five  cents 
apiece,  and  one  hundred  tulip-bulbs,  at  not  over  seventy-five  cents 
per  hundred.  Take  good  care  of  the  tools,  and  every  thing  in  your 
department." 

"  Thomas  Bennett. 

'"  I  wish  you  to  take  charge  of  the  span  of  horses  while  I  am  ab- 
sent, letting  them  rest,  except  such  exercise  as  may  be  good  for 
them,  taking  off  their  shoes  and  letting  them  run  when  proper  in 
the  field.     Also  take  under  your  charge  the  pony  in  the  same  way ; 


DEPARTURE  FOR  EUROPE.  671 

and  old  bay  (Tommy)  keep  for  the  use  of  Mr.  Hinckley,  who,  if  he 
uses  him,  will  be  at  the  expense  of  his  feed.  Look  after  the  car- 
riages, wagons,  and  sleighs ;  see  that  they  are  housed  in  good  or- 
der. Assist  Mr.  Luckey  on  the  farm,  and  Thomas  Devoy  in  the  gar- 
den, as  you  and  they  can  arrange  to  the  best  advantage.  In  case 
of  any  difficulty,  apply  to  Mr.  Hinckley  for  advice,  who  has  the 
chief  supervision  of  my  place  while  he  rents  my  house.  I  know 
that  you  are  an  industrious  man,  and  I  have  full  confidence  that 
you  will  lend  your  aid  cheerfully  in  any  labors  on  the  farm  and  in 
the  garden,  as  well  as  about  the  horses  and  barns.  Mr.  Hinckley 
has  funds  to  pay  you  your  monthly  wages  on  the  1st  of  each  month, 
according  to  a  schedule  I  have  left  with  him." 

July  24,  1858,  Professor  Morse,  with  his  family  and  other 
relatives,  making  a  party  of  fifteen,  sailed  from  New  York,  in 
the  steamer  Fulton,  for  Havre.  On  the  steamer  with  him  was 
one  of  his  neighbors  from  Poughkeepsie,  who  has  furnished  a 
remarkable  incident  illustrating  the  penetration  and  judgment 
of  the  Professor.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Atlantic  cable 
was  landed  on  both  shores  of  the  ocean  on  the  same  day,  Au- 
gust 5,  1858,  and  that  after  messages  had  passed  through  the 
cable  about  twenty  days,  each  way,  it  suddenly  ceased  to  speak, 
and  has  remained  dumb  to  this  day.  On  the  day  that  messages 
began  to  pass,  the  steamer  Fulton,  with  Mr.  Morse  on  board,  was 
approaching  the  coast  of  England.  Jacob  S.  Jewett,  Esq.,  in  a 
letter  to  the  author  of  this  memoir,  dated  March  18,  1874, 
writes :   • 

"  I  thought  it  might  interest  you  to  know  when  and  how  Pro- 
fessor Morse  received  the  first  tidings  of  the  success  of  the  Atlantic 
cable.  I  accompanied  him  to  Europe  on  the  steamer  Fulton,  which 
sailed  from  New  York  July  24, 1858.  We  were  nearing  Southamp- 
ton, when  a  sail-boat  was  noticed  approaching,  and  soon  our  vessel 
was  boarded  by  a  young  man  who  sought  an  interview  with  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  and  announced  to  him  that  a  message  from  America 
had  just  been  received,  the  first  that  had  passed  along  the  wire 
lying  upon  the  bed  of  the  ocean.  Professor  Morse  was,  of  course, 
greatly  delighted,  but,  turning  to  me,  said, '  This  is  very  gratifying r, 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  many  more  messages  will  be  received? 
and  gave  as  his  reason  that '  the  cable  had  been  so  long  stored  in 
an  improper  place,  that  much  of  the  coating  had  been  destroyed, 


672  LIFE   or   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  the  cable  was  in  other  respects  injured.'     His  prediction  proved 
to  be  true." 

Probably  Professor  Morse  was  the  only  man  living  who  enter- 
tained that  opinion  at  that  time.  But  with  the  evidence  before 
him  that  the  cable  had  been  successfully  laid ;  that  a  message, 
fulfilling  his  early  predictions,  had  been  received ;  with  every 
motive  for  wishing  it  to  be  permanently  successful;  and  at 
a  crisis  when  he  was  hoping  for  a  testimonial  from  the  Euro- 
pean powers,  which  might  be  defeated  by  the  failure  of  the 
cable,  he  expressed  his  belief  that  the  cable  would  not  continue 
to  do  its  work,  and  that  the  first  few  messages  would  be  the  last. 
Had  he  been  in  the  Board  of  Direction,  had  his  judgment  and 
experience  as  electrician  been  employed,  that  great  calamity 
which  cost  millions  of  money  and  eight  years  of  delay  in  the 
use  of  the  Ocean  Telegraph  would,  in  all  human  probability, 
have  been  averted. 

Landing  at  Southampton,  he  went  to  the  Continent.  On  his 
arrival  in  Paris  he  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by  his  country- 
men residing  there.  They  tendered  him  the  honor  of  a  banquet, 
saying  in  their  note  that  they  desired  to  give  him  "  some  special 
mark  of  their  exalted  appreciation  of  his  personal  character,  and 
the  achievements  of  his  genius."  At  this  banquet  Colonel  John 
S.  Preston  presided.  The  vice-president  was  the  Hon.  Hamilton 
Fish,  and  the  guests  especially  invited  were  Hon.  J.  T.  Mason, 
Hon.  J.  P.  Chandler,  and  Pev.  P.  H.  Seeley,  of  the  American 
chapel.  Senator  Charles  Sumner  was  in  Paris,  but,  his  physician 
not  allowing  him  to  attend  any  public  occasions  of  excitement, 
he  sent  a  letter  to  Professor  Morse,  in  which  he  said :  "  Through 
you,  civilization  has  made  one  of  her  surest  and  grandest  tri- 
umphs, beyond  any  ever  won  on  any  field  of  blood ;  nor  do  I  go 
beyond  the  line  of  most  cautious  truth,  when  I  add  that,  if  man- 
kind had  yet  arrived  at  a  just  appreciation  of  its  benefactors,  it 
would  welcome  such  a  conqueror  with  more  than  a  marshal's  ba- 
ton." The  speeches  that  were  made  on  this  occasion  by  Mr.  Pish, 
Mr.  Seeley,  and  others,  have  been  referred  to  already  in  the  testi- 
mony which  they  furnished  as  to  the  time  when  Professor  Morse 
first  brought  his  Telegraph  into  actual  operation.  In  his  own 
remarks  Professor  Morse  took  occasion  to  speak  in  warm  terms 


TESTIMONY   TO   STEINHEIL.  673 

of  commendation  of  other  inventors,  and  especially  of  the  mag- 
nanimous and  amiable  Bavarian  philosopher,  Steinheil.  "  He 
alone,"  said  Professor  Morse,  "  of  all  the  projectors,  entertained 
the  thought  in  1837  of  a  recording  Telegraph.  It  is  to  the 
magnanimity  of  Steinheil  that  I  owe  much  of  my  European 
fame." 

THE   EUROPEAN   TESTIMONIAL. 

In  the  year  1857,  by  the  advice  of  friends  holding  high  official 
stations,  Professor  Morse  had  issued  a  memorial,  setting  forth 
the  grounds  on  which  he  based  a  claim  to  some  indemnity  from 
the  different  governments  of  the  European  states  within  whose 
territories  his  Telegraph  was  in  use.  General  Cass,  Secretary  of 
State,  with  great  kindness,  sent  copies  of  the  memorial  to  the 
several  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  United  States  at  the 
courts  in  Europe,  with  a  personal  letter  intimating  to  each  of 
the  ministers  that  no  objection  is  entertained  to  their  forwarding 
Mr.  Morse's  views  by  means  of  unofficial  oral  communications, 
and  other  personal  good  offices  with  the  authorities  of  the  sev- 
eral governments.  Hon.  John  Y.  Mason,  American  Minister  in 
France,  entered  very  heartily  into  the  service,  and  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Cass,  dated  August  22,  1857,  recites  the  steps  that  were 
taken  to  bring  about  a  convention  of  the  several  powers  to  take 
the  subject  into  consideration,  and  secure  substantial  justice  to 
Professor  Morse.     Mr.  Mason  wrote : 

"  Mr.  Morse  submitted  his  claim  to  the  French  Government 
through  the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  He  presented  a  statement 
of  facts  prepared  by  himself,  which  was  so  equitable  that  it  was 
hardly  possible  for  the  emperor's  Government  to  deny  relief.  He 
showed  that  he  complied  with  the  French  law,  paid  the  usual 
charges  and  obtained  a  patent ;  that  this  patent  gave  to  him  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  invention  in  France ;  that  the  Government  had 
forbidden  his  putting  it  in  operation  for  reasons  of  state  policy, 
which  destroyed  his  privilege ;  that  the  Government  had  subse- 
quently adopted  the  invention,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  modes 
of  telegraphic  communication,  openly  acknowledging  it  as  the  Morse 
system,  without  arrangement  with  him  or  making  compensation  for 
thus  taking  his  acknowledged  private  property  for  public  use.  The 
use  of  his  system  had  promoted  facility  and  accuracy  in  transmission 
of  telegraphic  communications,  and  produced  great  economy.  The 
43 


674  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Minister  of  the  Interior,  who  has  charge  of  the  whole  system  of 
telegraphing,  of  which  the  Government  is  a  monopolist,  after  con- 
sidering his  petition  for  many  months,  announced  to  Mr.  Morse  that 
the  French  Government  would  confer  with  the  different  govern- 
ments of  Europe,  and  unite  in  a  compensation  to  him  bearing  some 
proportion  to  the  benefits  conferred  by  the  result  of  his  genius. 

"  The  minister  suggested  that  this  should  be  done  at  Paris.  This 
decision  necessarily  implied  that  Mr.  Morse  was  to  be  rewarded  ;  that 
the  French  Government  would  make  compensation,  and  that  other 
governments  ought  to  do  the  same.  But  it  presented  a  serious 
difficulty  in  this,  that  the  ministers  representing  other  governments 
in  Paris  would  not  engage  in  the  execution  of  the  proposed  plan 
without  instructions  of  their  respective  governments ;  he  could  not 
approach  them,  and  I  could  not  aid  him  in  promoting  such  co- 
operation, and  thus  a  modest  and  meritorious  citizen,  whose  genius 
had  produced  an  invention,  by  general  consent  his  property,  which 
reflected  honor  on  him  and  on  his  country,  was  likely  to  lose  an 
acknowledged  demand  simply  because  the  suggested  plan  for  his 
relief  was  impracticable  to  him.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  instruc- 
tions which  you  have  given  will  relieve  him  of  these  difficulties, 
thrown  in  his  way  by  a  suggestion  generously  and  in  good  faith 
made  by  the  French  minister.  Believing  that  the  reward  is  well 
deserved,  I  shall  be  gratified  to  contribute  to  its  accomplishment. 
But  I  will  take  care  to  observe  strictly  the  caution  and  keep  within 
the  limits  prescribed  by  your  instruction." 

More  than  a  year  elapsed,  and  Mr.  Mason  again  wrote  to  Mr. 
Cass,  announcing  the  result. 

Mr.  Mason  to  Mr.  Cass. 
"  Legation  of  the  United  States,  Paeis,  September  9,  1858. 
"  Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  /State : 

"  Sir  :  After  receiving  your  dispatch  No.  122,  which  you  ad- 
dressed to  me  under  date  of  July  31,  1857,  I  availed  myself  of  the 
first  opportunity,  in  conversation  with  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, to  inform  him  of  my  precise  position  in  reference  to  the  affair 
of  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  in  which  I  was  assured  that  the  Impe- 
rial Government  had  generously  manifested  an  interest.  His  excel- 
lency appreciated  the  reasons  which  had  influenced  my  Government 
in  its  instructions  to  the  ministers  of  the  United  States  in  Europe. 

"  I  have,  in  the  progress  of  the  affair,  more  than  once  conversed 


THE  FRENCH   GOVERNMENT.  675 

with  Count  Walewski,  in  regard  to  it,  but  always  at  his  own  in- 
stance, and  have  been  happy  to  find  that  ten  of  the  European  gov- 
ernments have,  without  solicitation,  united  in  an  act  not  more  hon- 
orable to  Professor  Morse  than  to  themselves.  Professor  Morse  is 
at  present  in  Switzerland.  A  few  days  since  the  chef  du  cabinet 
of  Count  Walewski  called  at  my  house,  and  informed  me  that  the 
final  sitting  of  the  ministers  had  taken  place,  and  his  excellency  de- 
sired to  know  if  it  would  be  agreeable  to  me  to  receive  and  com- 
municate to  Mr.  Morse  a  letter  and  a  proces-verbal  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  conference.  I  replied  that  it  always  gave  me  pleas- 
ure to  comply  with  his  excellency's  wishes,  and  never  more  so  than 
when  made  the  organ  of  a  communication  showing  that  the  Impe- 
rial Government  has  generously  and  earnestly  interested  itself  in 
doing  honor  to  a  distinguished  and  esteemed  fellow-citizen.  I  have 
since  received  from  Count  Walewski  a  letter,  of  which  I  send  you 
a  copy.  I  have  placed  the  letter  addressed  to  him  and  the  proces- 
verbal  intended  for  him  in  the  hands  of  Professor  Morse's  agent 
here,  and  the  professor  will,  I  presume,  acknowledge  their  receipt 
directly  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  If  he  desires  me  to  do 
so,  I  will  transmit  his  reply.  I  am  gratified  at  the  result  of  an 
affair  which  seemed,  and  would  have  been,  hopeless,  but  for  the 
action  and  generous  support  voluntarily  given  to  Mr.  Morse  by  the 
Imperial  Government. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  Y.  Mason." 

The  letter  of  Count  Walewski  to  Professor  Morse,  and  the 
proceedings  of  the  convention,  form  the  most  brilliant  chapter 
in  the  life  of  a  private  individual. 

Letter  of  Count  Waleicski  to  Professor  Morse. 

"Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Paris,  September  1,  1858. 
"  Sir  :  It  is  with  a  lively  satisfaction  that  I  have  the  honor  to 
announce  to  you  that  a  sum  of  four  hundred  thousand  francs  will  be 
remitted  to  you,  in  four  annuities,  in  the  name  of  France,  of  Aus- 
tria, of  Belgium,  of  the  Netherlands,  of  Piedmont,  of  Russia,  of  the 
Holy  See,  of  Sweden,  of  Tuscany,  and  of  Turkey,  as  an  honorary 
gratuity,  and  as  a  reward,  altogether  personal,  of  your  useful  labors. 
Nothing  can  better  mark,  than  this  collective  act  of  reward,  "the 
sentiment  of  public  gratitude  which  your  invention  has  so  justly 
excited. 


676  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  The  emperor  has  already  given  you  a  testimonial  of  his  high 
esteem,  when  he  conferred  upon  you,  more  than  a  year  ago,  the 
decoration  of  a  Chevalier  of  his  order  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 
You  will  find  a  new  mark  of  it  in  the  initiative  which  his  Majesty 
wished  that  his  Government  should  take  in  this  conjuncture ;  and 
the  decision  that  I  charge  myself  to  bring  to  your  knowledge  is  a 
brilliant  proof  of  the  eager  and  sympathetic  adhesion  that  his  prop- 
osition has  met  with  from  the  states  I  have  just  enumerated. 

"  I  pray  you  to  accept  on  this  occasion,  sir,  my  personal  congrat- 
ulations, as  well  as  the  assurance  of  my  sentiments  of  the  most 
distinguished  consideration.  A.  Walewski. 

"  Monsieur  Morse."  * 

[translation.] 

"  Report  of  proceedings  at  the  meeting  of  the  representatives 
of  Austria,  Belgium,  France,  the  Netherlands,  Piedmont,  Russia,  the 
Holy  See,  Sweden,  Tuscany,  and  Turkey,  held  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  the  proposition  made  in  behalf  of  Dr.  Morse. 

"  Sitting  of  April  27,  1858. 

'•'•Present — For  Austria,  Baron  Hubner;  for  Belgium,  Mr.  Fir- 
med Rogier;  for  France,  Count  Walewski;  for  the  Netherlands, 
Mr.  Lightenveet  ;  for  Piedmont,  Count  Villamarena  ;  for  Russia, 
Count  Kisseleff  ;  for  the  Holy  See,  his  Grace  Mr.  Sacconi  ;  for 
Sweden,  Count  de  Piper  ;  for  Tuscany,  Marquis  Tanat  de  Nerli; 
for  Turkey,  Haidar  Effendi. 

"  Count  Walewski  stated,  in  the  first  place,  the  reasons  which 
had  induced  the  emperor's  Government  to  support,  along  with  other 
governments,  the  claim  advanced  by  Mr.  Morse,  with  the  view  of 
procuring  a  pecuniary  remuneration  to  be  made  to  him  for  the  ser- 
vices which  the  process  of  his  electro-magnetic  telegraph  has  already 
rendered  in  the  greater  part  of  the  European  states.  The  discov- 
ery of  the  principles  upon  which  the  process  that  has  received  the 
name  of  Mr.  Morse  rests,  unquestionably,  said  Count  Walewski, 
does  not  belong  to  him ;  but  he  was  the  first  to  contrive  to  carry 
this  discovery  out  of  the  speculative  dominion  of  reason  into  that 
of  material  application.  It  is  owing  to  labors  and  studies,  the  honor 
of  which  belongs  indisputably  to  him,  that  electric  communication, 
which,  previous  to  him,  was  only,  so  to  speak,  a  simple  affirmation 
of  science,  has  become  a  reality,  and  one  of  the  most  useful  acqui- 
sitions that  our  epoch  has  made,  and  that  must  bind  it  to  the  future. 


THE   CONGRESS   OF  EUROPEAN  POWERS.  677 

Results  have  already  spoken  sufficiently  loud,  and  the  admiration 
which  they  have  excited  has  been  too  universal  for  it  to  be  neces- 
sary to  insist  on  the  importance  of  the  service  that  Mr.  Morse  has 
rendered  to  everybody,  private  persons  and  governments.  But  the 
more  manifest  this  service  is,  the  more  equitable  does  it  seem  that 
it  should  not  be  left  without  a  recompense  proportionate  to  its  mag- 
nitude. Now,  if  Mr.  Morse  has  seen  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  establish,  by  a  patent,  his  right  to  the  invention  of 
the  process  which  has  taken  his  name,  and  if  he  has  been  able,  con- 
sequently, to  derive  some  profit  from  its  application  in  that  country, 
it  has  not  been  the  same  with  that  which  has  been  made  of  it  in 
Europe.  Nearly  all  the  governments  here  having  reserved  to  them- 
selves the  exclusive  use  of  the  Telegraph,  or  the  faculty  of  alone 
conceding  its  employment  to  private  persons  or  to  companies,  the 
knowledge  which  they  have  had  of  Mr.  Morse's  process  could  not 
obtain  for  him  the  material  advantages  which  would  not  have  failed 
to  follow,  had  an  invention  of  a  different  character  been  in  question. 
The  honorary  distinctions  which  several  of  the  sovereigns  have 
deigned  to  confer  on  him  have,  beyond  any  doubt,  been  to  him  val- 
uable marks  of  a  lofty  esteem ;  but  they  have  been  insufficient  to 
supply  the  place  of  the  pecuniary  compensations  which  his  sacrifices 
and  his  labors  seemed  destined  to  assure  to  him,  and  which  are  so 
much  the  more  justly  called  for,  since  electro-magnetic  telegraph- 
ing, independently  of  the  immense  services  which  it  renders  by  the 
rapidity  of  transmitting  news  and  correspondence,  also  obtains,  by 
its  operation  under  the  governments  having  the  monopoly  of  it, 
profits  in  money,  already  considerable,  and  which  must  continue  to 
increase.  It  is,  therefore,  under  a  conviction  that  there  is  justice  as 
well  as  generosity  in  acceding  to  the  claim  of  Mr.  Morse,  whom 
the  infirmities  of  age  have  now  reached,  after  he  has  entirely  de- 
voted his  small  fortune  to  experiments  and  voyages  necessary  to 
arrive  at  the  discovery  and  application  of  his  process,  that  the  em- 
peror's Government  has  solicited  various  states,  to  whose  gratitude 
Mr.  Morse  has  acquired  rights,  to  join  in  the  remuneration  which  is 
due  to  him.  The  answer  to  this  appeal  must  permit  a  hope  that  an 
agreement  will  easily  be  established,  in  regard  to  the  collection 
itself  which  it  will  be  expedient  to  adopt. 

"After  unfolding  these  considerations,  Count  Walewski  indi- 
cated the  two  questions  which,  when  the  principle  of  indemnity  is 
once  admitted,  must  invite  the  attention  of  the  meeting  : 

"  1.  What  ought  to  be  the  amount  of  the  indemnity,  and   in 


678  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

what  manner  should  the  payment  be  made?  Shall  it  be  in  the 
shape  of  a  pension  for  life,  or  in  that  of  a  sum  paid  at  once  ? 

"2.  What  is  the  most  equitable  mode  of  apportionment  to  be 
established  among  the  various  governments  which  will  contribute 
to  the  payment  of  the  indemnity  ? 

"  The  meeting,  having  heard  this  statement,  entered  into  discus- 
sion, under  a  reservation  that  the  determinations  should  only  be 
accepted  ad  referendum  by  each  of  its  members. 

"  Count  Walewski  proposed  that,  for  indemnity,  there  be  allowed 
to  Mr.  Morse  either  a  pension  for  life  of  sixty  to  seventy  thousand 
francs,  or  a  single  sum  of  four  hundred  thousand  francs,  payable  in 
four  annuities. 

"  Baron  Hubner  declared  himself  in  favor  of  the  latter  mode  of 
allowance,  in  preference  to  the  establishment  of  a  pension  for  life. 
This  opinion  met  with  general  assent. 

"  In  regard  to  the  amount  of  the  indemnity,  his  Grace  Mr.  Sac- 
coni  observed  that,  from  the  moment  in  which  various  governments 
united  for  the  purpose  of  recompensing  a  discovery,  it  was  necessary 
that  a  suitable  sum  should  evince  this  union  of  several  states  in  a 
measure  of  remuneration. 

"  The  meeting  having  consulted  in  regard  to  the  sum  of  four 
hundred  thousand  francs  proposed,  in  case  the  system  of  a  sum  to 
be  given  at  once  should  be  chosen,  no  objection  was  offered  to  this 
assessment. 

"  In  regard  to  the  question  of  apportionment,  two  systems  were 
proposed :  to  fix  the  apportionment  by  the  number  of  apparatuses 
employed  in  each  country,  or  to  determine  it  according  to  the  pop- 
ulation and  extent  of  each  state. 

"  Count  de  Kisseleff,  after  remarking  that,  in  the  view  of  his 
government,  the  Morse  process  is  an  improvement  of  electric  tele- 
graphing, and  not  the  invention  itself,  declared  that  it  was,  however, 
disposed,  in  consideration  of  the  practical  utility  of  this  process, 
and  of  the  personal  use  which  was  made  of  it,  to  concur  in  a  rea- 
sonable and  collective  remuneration  of  it,  apportioning  the  remu- 
neration in  each  country  by  the  number  of  apparatuses  which  are 
in  use  therein.  There  was,  in  fact,  in  each  state  employing  the 
Morse  process,  a  question  of  revenue  ;  but  the  greater  the  number 
of  apparatuses  in  use,  the  more  considerable  the  revenue  must  be. 

"  Baron  Hubner  earnestly  concurred  in  the  opinion  expressed  by 
Count  Kisseleff.  The  number  of  apparatuses  was,  in  his  judgment, 
the  most  practical  basis  to  adopt  for  an  apportionment,  for  it  cor- 


DISCUSSIONS  IN  CONGRESS.  679 

responded  exactly  with  the  expenses  and  profits  of  which  the 
electro-magnetic  Telegraph  was  the  source  for  every  government. 
There  was,  in  the  establishment  of  the  Morse  process,  an  amount 
of  capital  invested,  of  which  the  number  of  machines  in  use  must 
represent  the  interest.  It  was  on  that  number,  therefore,  that  it 
was  just  to  rely  in  the  apportionment. 

"  The  Marquis  of  Villamarina  thought  that  his  government 
would  also  prefer,  in  the  assessment  of  its  share  in  a  collective 
remuneration,  a  proportion  based  on  the  number  of  apparatuses,  as 
being  more  in  accordance  with  the  advantages  obtained  by  employ- 
ing the  process  in  question. 

"  Count  "Walewski  was  of  the  same  opinion,  and  again  adduced, 
in  its  favor,  the  consideration  that  the  Morse  process  has,  besides  the 
increase  of  celerity  in  the  transmission  of  dispatches  which  is  due  to 
it,  produced,  by  being  substituted  for  previous  systems  of  telegraph- 
ing, remarkable  savings  to  all  the  governments,  and  that  the  num- 
ber of  apparatuses  gives  the  measure  of  the  savings  realized  by  each 
government ;  and  this  furnishes  the  surest  means  of  proving  what 
proportionate  part  it  ought  to  bear  in  a  collective  remuneration. 

"  His  Grace  Mr.  Sacconi  did  not  think  that  this  mode  of  valua- 
tion would  answer  the  purpose  intended.  He  rather  inclined  to  the 
other  system.  He  feared  that  the  number  of  apparatuses  would  not 
furnish  a  basis  of  apportionment  as  equitable  as  had  been  said, 
inasmuch  as  a  state  of  less  importance,  relatively,  might  find  that  it 
was  its  lot  to  pay  more  than  a  more  considerable  state,  because  it 
had  more  apparatuses  than  the  latter. 

"  Mr.  Firmin  Rogier  likewise  thought  that  the  number  of  appa- 
ratuses was  not  the  most  just  basis  to  adopt.  He  preferred  that 
account  should  be  taken  of  the  distance  to  be  run  by  the  telegraphic 
lines,  or  of  the'  amount  of  the  population,  and  of  the  extent  of  the 
territory.  There  would  then  be  no  liability  of  a  state  with  a  smaller 
number  of  inhabitants  paying  more  than  a  state  which  was  mani- 
festly more  populous. 

"  The  Marquis  de  Nerli  was  also  of  opinion  that  the  share  of 
each,  in  the  indemnity  to  be  allowed,  should  be  proportionate  to  the 
extent  of  territory,  and  to  the  number  of  the  population.  What 
seemed  to  him  most  satisfactory  would  be  an  apportionment  which 
should  take  into  account  the  number  only  of  those  who  availed 
themselves  of  telegraphing — the  very  considerable  agricultural  pop- 
ulation of  Tuscany  making  no  use  of  it. 

"  Mr.  Lightenvelt  limited  himself  to  stating  that  the  concurrence 


680  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.  B.  JHORSE. 

of  his  government  was  obtained  in  the  measure  of  remuneration 
solicited  by  Mr.  Morse,  provided  that  the  various  governments  which 
profited  by  the  discovery  of  his  process  contributed  simultaneously 
to  recompense  it. 

"Haidar  Effendi  and  Count  de  Piper  were  in  like  manner  satis- 
fied by  declaring  that  their  governments  would  accede  to  any  equi- 
table proposition  of  remuneration.  Their  personal  opinion  as  to 
the  mode  of  apportionment  was,  however,  in  favor  of  the  number 
of  apparatuses. 

"  His  Grace  Mr.  Sacconi  and  Mr.  Firmin  Rogier,  in  the  course  of 
the  discussion,  again  advanced  the  idea  of  adopting  a  middle  term 
between  the  sum  resulting  from  the  number  of  apparatuses  and  that 
afforded  by  the  population  and  extent  of  territory. 

"  Baron  Hubner  proposed  to  take  into  consideration  the  opinion 
of  the  majority,  by  rallying  in  favor  of  the  mode  of  apportionment 
by  the  number  of  apparatuses,  except  that  each  one  should  consult 
his  government  on  this  subject,  and  bring  forward  subsequently  the 
observations  thereon,  when  he  shall  have  gathered  the  information 
which  this  mode  of  assessment  requires. 

"  This  opinion  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  it  was  decided,  con- 
sequently, that  the  members  of  the  meeting  should  transmit  ad 
referendum  to  their  respective  governments  the  proposition  for  an 
indemnity  of  four  hundred  thousand  francs,  payable  in  four  annui- 
ties, the  apportionment  of  which  to  each  state  should  be  made  in  the 
ratio  of  the  number  of  apparatuses.  It  was,  moreover,  understood 
that,  if  on  account  of  new  applications  of  his  process  Mr.  Morse 
should  hereafter  think  proper  to  make  other  claims,  he  would  have  to 
make  them  himself  of  the  governments  or  companies  from  which  he 
should  claim  compensation. 

"  After  these  resolutions,  the  meeting  adjourned  until  the  time 
when  the  members  should  have  received  an  answer  from  their 
governments. 

"The  present  report  of  proceedings  having  been  read  at  the 
second  sitting  of  the  meeting,  on  the  23d  of  August,  1858,  it  was 
signed  —  Ottenfels,  A'ustria ;  Baron  de  Beyens,  Belgium  ; 
Count  Walewtski,  France;  Lightentelt,  Netherlands;  Marquis 
DE  Villamarina,  Sardinia;  Balabeste,  Russia;  Archbishop  of 
Nice,  Holy  See ;  E.  de  Piper,  Sweden ;  Marquis  Tanay  de 
Nerli,  Tuscany ;  Haidar  Effendi,  Turkey. 

"  Count  Walewski,  after  the  proceedings  of  the  first  sitting  had 


THE   MSCUSSION   CONTINUED.  681 

been  read,  consulted  the  various  members  of  the  meeting  in  regard 
to  the  answers  which  they  had  received  from  their  governments  on 
the  matters  contained  in  the  resolutions  previously  adopted  ad 
referendum.  The  members  of  the  meeting,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Minister  of  the  Netherlands,  stated  that  their  governments  con- 
curred in  the  mode  of  the  proposed  apportionment,  and  in  the  sum 
of  four  hundred  thousand  francs. 

"  Mr.  de  Balabine  observed  that,  only  having  positive  instruct 
tions  to  concur  in  the  mode  of  apportionment,  he  awaited,  so  far  as 
concerned  the  amount  of  the  indemnity,  the  opinion  of  his  govern- 
ment. 

"  The  Minister  of  the  Netherlands  regretted  that  he  was  unable, 
in  his  answer,  to  unite  entirely  in  the  statements  of  the  other 
members  of  the  meeting.  His  government,  while  accepting  the 
proposed  basis  of  apportionment,  considered  the  amount  of  the  remu- 
neration as  too  high.1  It  feared  that  it  might  call  forth,  on  the  part 
of  its  people,  similar  claims  for  inventions  of  a  different  character. 

"  Count  Walewski,  on  declaring  that,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Minister  of  the  Netherlands,  all  the  members  of  the  meeting  agreed 
on  the  same  mode  of  apportionment,  and,  no  objection  being  made 
to  the  sum  brought  forward,  proposed  to  order  an  apportionment 
based  on  the  figures  which,  after  an  exchange  of  their  respective 
reports  of  investigation,  should  indicate  the  exact  number  of 
apparatuses  in  use  in  each  country.  The  comparative  estimate 
which  results  therefrom  is  contained  in  the  table  herewith  annexed. 
It  was  understood  that,  if  the  Government  of  the  Netherlands  should 
still  think  of  reducing  the  amount  of  the  sum  placed  to  its  account 
in  the  common  ap|)ortionment,  the  apportionment  should  not  be 
affected  thereby,  but  that  it  would  only  result  in  a  reduction  of  the 
allowance  made  to  Mr.  Morse. 

"  Count  Walewski  called  to  mind  that  Mr.  Morse  could,  moreover, 
make  direct  application  to  the  governments  which  have  not  joined 
in  the  generous  measure  adopted  by  the  present  meeting. 

"  On  motion  of  his  Grace  the  Nuncio  of  the  Holy  See,  it  was 
agreed  that  the  time  for  the  payments  should  be  fixed,  and  it  was 
arranged  that  they  should  be  made  in  four  annuities  commencing  on 
the  1st  of  January,  merely  in  order  to  leave  to  the  various  govern- 
ments the  care  of  regulating  this  expenditure  according  to  the  con- 
stitutional requirements  to  which  they  have  to  pay  attention. 

1  Subsequently  the  Minister  of  the  Netherlands  acceded  to  the  arrangement,  and 
the  vote  was  unanimous. 


682 


LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 


"  It  was,  moreover,  agreed  that  the  payment  of  each  state  should 
be  made  at  said  periods,  to  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  at 
Paris,  which  would  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  delivering  to  Mr. 
Morse,  in  the  name  of  all  the  governments,  the  actual  amount  of 
the  annuity  falling  due. 

"Done  at  Paris,  on  the  23d  of  August,  1858." 

The  signatures  follow. 

Table  of  the  Proportionate  Distribution. 

The  total  number  of  apparatuses  being  twelve  hundred  and 
eighty-four,  if  the  indemnity  of  four  hundred  thousand  francs  to  be 
allowed  be  divided  by  this  number,  the  sum  which  each  government 
has  to  contribute  is  three  hundred  and  eleven  francs  fifty-five  cen- 
times for  each  apparatus,  which  gives  the  following  proportions : 


Countries. 


Austria .... 
Belgium  . . . 
France 
Netherlands 
Piedmont  . 
Russia  .... 
Holy  See  . . 
Sweden .... 
Tuscany . . . 
Turkey. . . . 


Number  of 
Appara- 
tuses. 


224 

52 
462 

72 

73 
110 

17 
191 

14 

69 


Amount  to  be  paid 
in  Pour  Annuities. 


$69,787  20 
16,200  60 

143,936  10 
22,431  60 
22,743  15 
34,270  50 
5,296  35 
59,506  05 
4,361  70 
21,496  95 


1,284     |      $400,030  20 


This  result  was  communicated  to  Mr.  Morse  by  Mr.  Mason, 
and  the  gratified  recipient  immediately  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  the  French  Minister : 

Professor  Morse  to  Count  Walewshi. 

"Paris,  Grand  Hotel  du  Louvre,  September  15,  185S. 

"  Monsieur  le  Ministre  :  On  my  return  to  Paris  from  Switz- 
erland, I  have  this  day  received  from  the  Minister  of  the  United 
States  the  most  gratifying  information  which  your  Excellency  did 
me  the  honor  to  send  to  me  through  him,  respecting  the  decision 
of  the  congress  of  the  distinguished  diplomatic  representatives  of 
ten  of  the  august  Governments  of  Europe,  held  in  special  reference 
to  myself. 

"  You  have  had  the  considerate  kindness  to  communicate  to  me 


MR.  MORSE'S  GRATITUDE.  683 

a  proceeding  which  reflects  the  highest  honor  upon  the  Imperial 
Government  and  its  noble  associates,  and  I  am  at  a  loss  for  lan- 
guage adequately  to  express  to  them  my  feelings  of  profound  grat- 
itude. 

"  But  especially,  your  Excellency,  do  I  want  words  to  express 
toward  the  august  head  of  the  Imperial  Government  and  to  your 
Excellency  the  thankful  sentiments  of  my  heart  for  the  part  so 
prominently  taken  by  his  Imperial  Majesty,  and  by  your  Excellency, 
in  so  generously  initiating  this  measure  for  my  honor  in  inviting 
the  governments  of  Europe  to  a  conference  on  the  subject,  and  for 
so  zealously  and  warmly  advocating  and  perseveringly  conducting 
to  a  successful  termination  the  measure  in  which  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment so  magnanimously  took  the  initiative. 

"  I  accept  the  gratuity  thus  tendered  on  the  basis  of  an  honorary 
testimonial,  and  a  personal  reward,  with  tenfold  more  gratification 
than  could  have  been  produced  by  a  sum  of  money,  however  large, 
offered  on  the  basis  of  a  commercial  negotiation. 

"  I  beg  your  Excellency  to  receive  my  thanks,  however  inade- 
quately expressed,  and  to  believe  that  I  appreciate  your  Excellency's 
kind  and  generous  services,  performed  in  the  midst  of  your  high 
official  duties,  consummating  a  proceeding  so  unique,  and  in  a  man- 
ner so  graceful,  that  personal  kindness  has  been  beautifully  blended 
with  official  dignity. 

"  I  will  address  respectively  to  the  honorable  ministers  who  were 
your  Excellency's  colleagues  a  letter  of  thanks  for  their  participa- 
tion in  this  act  of  high  honor  to  me. 

"  I  beg  your  Excellency  to  accept  the  assurances  of  my  lasting 
gratitude,  and  highest  consideration,  in  subscribing  myself 

'  "  Your  Excellency's  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 

"We  may  fittingly  close  this  portion  of  the  history  with  a  list 
of  the  nations  which  acknowledged  the  Telegraph  as  the  inven- 
tion of  Professor  Morse,  and  the  mode  of  acknowledgment : 

France. —  The  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  convened  in  Paris  in 
1858  a  special  congress,  inviting  the  different  nations  to  concur  in 
a  united  testimonial  to  the  inventor,  at  the  same  time  conferring 
upon  him  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  The  result  of  the 
congressional  deliberations  was  an  honorary  gratuity,  from  ten  of 
the  principal  powers,  of  four  hundred  thousand  francs. 


684  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Prussia. — The  King  of  Prussia  sent  him  the  "  Scientific  Gold 
Medal "  of  Prussia,  set  in  the  lid  of  a  gold  snuff-box. 

Austria. — A  contributor  to  the  "  honorary  gratuity,"  and,  from 
the  Emperor,  the  "  Scientific  Gold  Medal "  of  Austria. 

JRussia. — A  contributor  to  the  "honorary  gratuity." 

Spain. — The  Queen  of  Spain  conferred  upon  him  the  Cross  of 
"  Knight  Commander  de  Numero,"  of  the  Order  of  Isabella  the 
Catholic. 

Portugal. — The  King  of  Portugal  conferred  upon  him  the  Cross 
of  a  "  Knight  of  the  Tower  and  Sword." 

Italy. — A  contributor  to  the  "  honorary  gratuity,"  and  the 
King  of  Italy  conferred  upon  him  the  Cross  of  a  "  Knight  of  Saints 
Lazaro  and  Mauritio." 

Holy  See. — A  contributor  to  the  "honorary  gratuity." 

Belgium. — A  contributor  to  the  "  honorary  gratuity." 

Holland. — A  contributor  to  the  "  honorary  gratuity." 

Denmark. — The  King  Frederick  VII.  conferred  upon  him  the 
Cross  of  "  Knight  of  the  Dannebrog." 

Sweden. — A  contributor  to  the  "  honorary  gratuity." 

Turkey. — A  contributor  to  the  "  honorary  gratuit}^,"  and  the 
late  Sultan  conferred  upon  him  the  decoration  in  diamonds  of  the 
"  Nishan  Iftichar,"  or  Order  of  Glory. 

Great  Britain. — Nationally,  nothing.  The  telegraph  compa- 
nies in  1856  gave  him  a  grand  banquet  in  London,  presided  over 
by  the  inventor  of  the  English  semaphore,  the  distinguished  Wil- 
liam Fothergill  Cooke. 

Sioitzerland. — Nationally,  nothing. 

Saxony. — Nothing. 

The  Great  Convention  in  Paris  in  March  and  April,  1865,  con- 
vened to  arrange  telegraphic  correspondence  between  the  European 
nations,  was  formed  from  representative  delegates  from  Austria, 
Baden,  Bavaria,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Spain,  France,  Greece,  Ham- 
burg, Hanover,  Italy,  Holland,  Portugal,  Prussia,  Russia,  Saxony, 
Sweden  and  Norway,  Switzerland,  Turkey,  and  Wilrtemberg.  Ar- 
ticle third  of  this  convention  is  in  these  words :  The  Morse  appa- 
ratus is  provisionally  adopted  for  the  use  of  all  the  international 
lines  ! 

Having  received  the  first  installment  of  the  indemnity 
awarded  him  by  the  congress  of  European  powers,  and  surfeited 
with  honors  and  attentions,  Professor  Morse  left  Europe.     By 


MR.  MORSE   IN   THE   WEST  INDIES.  685 

steamer  from  Southampton,  November  17,  1858,  he  went  with 
his  family  to  Arroyo,  Porto  Rico,  in  the  West  Indies,  where 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Lind,  had  been  residing  for  several  years. 
In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Morse's  mother,  he  gives  a  picture  of  the 
new  scenes  to  which  he  was  now  introduced  for  the  first  time : 

"  In  St.  Thomas  we  received  every  possible  attention.  The 
Governor  called  on  us  and  passed  an  evening,  and  invited  Edward 
and  myself  to  breakfast  (at  10|-  o'clock)  the  day  we  left.  He  lives 
in  a  fine  mansion  on  one  of  the  lesser  hills  that  inclose  the  harbor, 
having  directly  beneath  him  on  the  slope,  and  only  separated  by  a 
wall,  the  residence  of  Santa  Anna.  He  was  invited  to  be  present, 
but  he  was  ill  (so  he  said),  and  excused  himself.  I  presume  his 
illness  was  occasioned  by  the  thought  of  meeting  an  American  from 
the  States,  for  he  holds  the  citizens  of  the  States  in  perfect  hatred, 
so  much  so  as  to  refuse  to  receive  United  States  money  in  change 
from  his  servants  on  their  return  from  market. 

"  A  few  days  in  change  of  latitude  make  wonderful  changes  in 
feelings  and  clothing.  When  we  left  England  the  air  was  wintry, 
and  thick  woolen  clothing  and  fires  were  necessary.  The  first  night 
at  sea  blankets  were  in  great  demand.  With  two  extra,  and  my 
great-coat  over  all,  I  was  comfortably  warm.  In  twenty-four  hours, 
the  great-coat  was  dispensed  with,  then  one  blanket,  then  another, 
until  a  sheet  alone  began  to  be  enough ;  and,  the  two  or  three 
last  nights  on  board,  this  slight  covering  was  too  much.  When  we 
got  into  the  harbor  of  St.  Thomas,  the  temperature  was  oppressive. 
Our  slightest  summer  clothing  was  in  demand.  Surrounded  by 
pomegranate-trees,  magnificent  oleanders,  cocoa-nut  trees,  with  their 
large  fruit  some  thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  the  aloe,  and  innumer- 
able, and  to  me  strange,  tropical  plants,  I  could  scarcely  believe  it 
was  December.  I  felt  at  first  somewhat  debilitated  from  the  heat, 
for  St. -Thomas  harbor  is  surounded  by  conical  hills,  facing  the 
south,  and  the  sun  has  full  play  upon  the  city,  which  is  built  on  the 
slopes  of  three  hills,  the  houses  rising  from  the  shore  and  occupying 
about  one-quarter  of  the  height. 

"  We  arrived  on  Thursday  morning  and  remained  until  Monday 
evening.  Edward  "  (his  son-in-law)  "  having  engaged  a  Long-Island 
schooner,  which  happened  to  be  in  port  to  take  us  to  Arroyo,  at 
four  o'clock  the  Governor  sent  his  official  barge,  under  the  charge 
of  the  captain  of  the  port,  a  most  excellent,  intelligent,  scientific 
gentleman,  who  had  breakfasted  with  us  at  the  Governor's  in  the 


686  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

morning,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  were  rowed  alongside  of  the 
schooner  Estelle,  and  before  dark  were  under  .way  and  out  of  the 
harbor.  Our  quarters  were  very  small  and  close,  but  not  so  uncom- 
fortable. At  daylight  in  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  we  were  sailing 
along  the  shores  of  Porto  Rico,  and  at  sunrise  we  found  we  were  in 
sight  of  Guayama  and  Arroyo,  and  with  our  glasses  we  saw  at  a 
distance  the  buildings  on  Edward's  estate.  Susan  "(his  daughter) 
"  had  been  advised  of  our  coming,  and  a  flag  was  flying  on  the  house 
in  answer  to  the  signal  we  made  from  the  vessel.  In  two  or  three 
hours  we  got  to  the  shore,  as  near  as  was  safe  for  the  vessel,  and 
then,  in  the  doctor's  boat,  which  had  paid  us  an  official  visit  to  see 
that  we  did  not  bring  yellow  fever  or  other  infectious  disease,  the 
kind  doctor,  an  Irishman,  educated  in  America,  took  us  ashore  at  a 
little  temporary  landing-place,  to  avoid  the  surf.  On  the  shore 
there  were  some  handkerchiefs  shaking,  and  in  a  crowd  we  saw 
Susan,  and  Leila,  and  Charlie,  who  were  waiting  for  us  in  carriages, 
and  in  a  few  moments  we  embraced  them  all.  The  sun  was  hot 
upon  us,  but,  after  a  ride  of  two  or  three  miles,  we  came  to  the 
*  Henrietta,'  my  dear  Edward  and  Susan's  residence,  and  were  soon 
under  the  roof  of  a  spacious,  elegant,  and  most  commodious  man- 
sion. And  here  we  are  with  midsummer  temperature  and  .vegeta- 
tion, but  a  tropical  vegetation,  all  around  us.  Well,  we  always 
knew  that  Edward  was  a  prince  of  a  man,  but  we  did  not  know,  or 
rather  appreciate,  that  he  has  a  princely  estate,  and  in  as  fine  order 
as  any  in  the  island.  When  I  say  '  fine  order,'  I  do  not  mean  that 
it  is  laid  out  like  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  nor  is  there  quite  so  much 
picturesqueness  in  a  level  plain  of  sugar-canes  as  in  the  trees  and 
shrubbery  of  the  gardens  of  Versailles,  but  it  is  a  rich  and  well-cul- 
tivated estate  of  some  fourteen  hundred  acres,  gradually  rising  for 
two  or  three  miles  from  the  sea-shore  to  the  mountains,  including 
some  of  them,  and  stretching  into  the  valleys  between  them." 

While  here  in  the  West  Indies,  Professor  Morse  received  a 
letter  of  great  value  and  interest  to  himself  from  the  distin- 
guished Professor  Steinheil.  It  has  the  same  significance  with 
the  letter  of  Dr.  Page,1  as  a  disclaimer  of  any  part  of  the  inven- 
tion peculiar  to  the  Morse  instrument.  Writing  to  Mr.  Ken- 
dall, December  22,  1858,  Professor  Morse  said  : 

"  I  have  received  from  Professor  Steinheil  the  letter  of  which 

1  Bee  page  559,  ante. 


DR.  STEINHEIL  TO  MORSE.  687 

the  following*  is  a  translation,  and  I  send  it  to  you,  that,  if  possible, 
in  this  day  of  rewards,  the  delicate  and  righteous  hint  contained  in 
the  latter  part  may  lead  to  some  grateful  acknowledgment  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  profiting  by  his  discovery.  Every  line  in  the 
United  States  is  saved  by  it  one-half  the  expense  of  the  conductors 
upon  their  poles.  He  has  no  patent  that  enables  him  to  demand 
compensation,  but  his  claims  are  no  less  just  on  that  account ;  they 
appeal  rather  with  more  force  to  men  whose  sense  of  right  is 
not  confined  to  the  letter  of  a  statute,  and  w7ho  have  any  feeling  of 
magnanimity.  I  know  of  no  public  attention  which  could  be  shown 
to  me  either  by  the  telegraph  companies  of  the  United  States,  or  by 
the  American  public  generally,  so  personally  gratifying  to  me  as 
the  setting  on  foot  an  appropriate  testimonial  for  Professor  Stein- 
heil's  labors  in  the  cause  of  telegraphy.     But  to  the  letter : 

'"Munich,  October  30,  1858. 

"'Dear  Sir:  Accept,  first  of  all,  my  sincere  and  cordial  con- 
gratulations on  the  beautiful  results  which  have  followed  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  your  invention,  and  which  bears  your  name,  and- 
which  has  at  last  extended  the  only  important  system  of  telegraph- 
ing (as  I  believe)  over  the  whole  world. 

" '  When  you,  at  the  moment  of  receiving  the  well-merited  reward 
of  much  pains,  called  to  the  minds  of  your  countrymen  in  so  friendly 
a  manner  my  services  for  the  Telegraph,  as  your  speech  announces 
(which  was  yesterday  sent  to  me  by  M.  Violliet,  American  consul 
in  Geneva),  I  regard  it  as  the  finest  testimony  your  heart  could 
give,  and  it  is  new  proof  that  united  powers  can  effect  more  than 
when  from  selfish  considerations  they  act  separately.  "What  we 
both  have  done  for  telegraphy  stands  side  by  side.  The  contribu- 
tions of  the  one  do  not  encroach  on  the  contributions  of  the  other 
— do  not  make  the  other  superfluous.  You  have  contributed  the 
quickest,  simplest,  and  most  beautiful  mode  of  communication.  I 
have  reduced  to  one-half  the  conducting  wire,  and  also  made  it 
surer  and  cheaper.  Now  it  will  be  a  satisfaction  to  me  if  this  my 
contribution  toward  solving  the  great  problem  should  be  rewarded 
by  my  friends  in  Europe.  But  I  cannot  suppress  the  w7ish  that  as 
I  contributed  to  procure  the  acknowledgment  of  your  invention  in 
Europe,  so  you  may  be  inclined  to  procure  my  portion  of  reward  in 
America.  It  would  certairrfy  be  a  noble  example,  seldom  seen  in 
the  world's  history,  the  example  of  two  men  who  had  spent  a  great 
part  of  their  lifetime  in  solving  the  same  problem,  appearing,  not 


688  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

as  rivals,  but  as  friends,  each  striving  that  the  services  of  the  one 
should  be  rewarded  in  the  land  of  the  other. 

" '  With  the  expression  of  the  sincerest  respect  and  esteem, 

"  '  Dr.  C.  A.  Steikheil, 
"  '  Ministerial  Councilor  and  Academician. 
"  '  To  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse.' 

"  The  above  noble  letter  from  one  of  Nature's  noblemen  has  ex- 
cited the  strongest  desires  that  some  testimonial  from  our  country, 
appropriate  and  delicate,  should  be  sent  to  Professor  Steinheil. 
Many  modes  have  occurred  to  me,  but  I  wish  your  judgment,  well 
knowing  that  in  my  desires  in  this  respect  your  feelings  are  in  uni- 
son with  my  own.  I  now  merely  throw  out  hints.  Steinheil's  dis- 
covery of  the  earth's  circuit,  which,  as  I  have  said,  and  he  has 
also  said,  has  reduced  the » expense  of  the  conductor  one-half,  is  in 
use  by  every  telegraph-line  in  the  country  as  well  as  in  Europe. 
No  patent  secures  to  him  his  just  and  natural  right  to  compensa- 
tion. In  this  he  stands  in  the  same  position  that  I  do  before  the 
European  Governments.  See  what  Europe  has  done  for  me !  I 
personally  cannot  adequately  return  the  honor  upon  Steinheil,  but 
would  it  not  be  a  beautiful  reciprocation  if  an  American  testimonial, 
proposed  by  me,  if  you  please,  to  take  from  it  any  appearance  of 
antagonism,  should  be  made  by  the  American  public,  but  especially 
by  the  telegraph  companies  of  the  United  States,  for  all  the  lines, 
legitimate  or  illegitimate,  are  using  his  discovery,  and  are  therefore 
under  obligations  in  equity  to  Steinheil  ?  Whatever  plan  shall  be 
proposed,  I  wish  to  contribute  to  it,  and  will  most  cheerfully  do  so. 
Another  plan  would  be  the  adoption  by  the  telegraph  companies 
of  a  mode  of  compensation  which  I  have  often  thought  would  be 
a  feasible  one  for  remunerating  an  inventor,  such  as  Fulton,  for 
example.  Suppose,  in  the  case  of  Fulton's  heirs,  it  is  desired  to  give 
them  the  benefit  of  the  compensation  of  which  he  has  been  de- 
prived ;  let  one  cent  be  added  to  the  fare  of  every  passenger  in 
every  steamboat,  for  a  limited  number  of  years,  to  constitute  the 
inventor's  fund,  and  to  be  paid  over  annually  or  semi-annually  for 
the  benefit  of  his  heirs.  This  is  a  simple  plan,  easily  adopted,  and 
look  at  the  results  !  First,  it  is  a  tax  so  light,  that  no  individual, 
however  poor,  would  feel  it  burdensome  ;  it  is  levied  exactly  upon 
those  who  are  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  inventor's  labors  ;  it  does 
not  burden  the  companies,  for  it  is  additional  to  their  tariff  rates, 
and  by  every  man  who  has  the  least  gratitude  in  his  composition 


MR.  MORSE   TO   STEINHEIL.  689 

would  be  given,  not  grudgingly,  but  with  a  hearty  good-will ;  and 
what  would  be  the  aggregate  f  Sufficient  amply  for  all  purposes 
of  compensation  to  those  who  have  an  equitable  claim  to  public 
gratitude,  and  produced  in  the  most  equitable  way,  burdensome  to 
none.  Now,  to  apply  the  plan  for  the  creation  of  a  Steinheil  fund : 
Let  it  be  ordained  by  every  telegraph  company  that,  for  a  certain 
number  of  years,  one  cent  additional  upon  every  message  shall  be 
levied,  and  the  thing  is  done.     Please  think  of  this." 

On  the  same  day  when  be  addressed  this  letter  to  Mr.  Ken- 
dall, Professor  Morse  wrote  to  Dr.  Steinheil  these  words : 

"Arroyo,  Porto  Rico,  West  Indies,  December  22,  1858. 

"  My  dear  Professor  Steinheil  :  Your  letter  of  the  30th  of 
October  I  have  this  moment  received  at  this  place,  it  having  been 
forwarded  to  me  from  New  York  by  my  brother. 

"  I  am  passing  the  winter  in  these  tropical  regions,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  my  son-in-law,  Edward  Lind,  Esq.,  a  planter  of  this  island, 
and  my  address  until  March  1,  1859,  will  be  to  his  care. 

"  Your  courteous  acknowledgment  of  my  poor  attempt  to  do 
you  justice  at  the  honorary  dinner  given  me  in  Paris,  is  exceedingly 
grateful.  I  had  long  wished  for  the  opportunity  thus  publicly  to 
acknowledge  your  great  kindness.  I  intended  to  do  it  in  London, 
in  1856,  when  the  telegraph  companies  gave  me  a  public  reception, 
but  I  was  there  fettered  by  the  apprehension  that  I  might  be  tread- 
ing upon  delicate  ground,  in  the  country  of  Wheatstone.  In  Paris, 
before  my  own  countrymen,  I  had  no  such  fear,  and  therefore 
carried  out  my  long-cherished  wish  toward  you. 

"  The  suggestion  you  make  in  regard  to  some  acknowledgment 
from  America,  for  your  important  discovery  in  telegraphy,  is  not 
new  to  me,  but  the  means  of  bringing  any  feasible  plan  to  a  result 
are  environed  with  some  peculiar  difficulties,  which  I  will  briefly 
state. 

"  Such  a  testimonial  as  has  been  conceded  to  me  by  the  con- 
gress of  powers  convened  in  Paris,  could  not  be  enacted  in  the 
United  States,  principally  on  this  ground :  Telegraphs  on  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe  are  a  government  monopoly,  and  are  therefore 
wholly  under  the  control  of  the  governments  of  the  several  states ; 
hence  the  propriety  of  government  action  in  awarding  me  the 
recent  testimonials.  On  the  contrary,  telegraphs  in  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  in  Great  Britain,  are  managed  and  are  under  the 
control  of  joint-stock  companies,  who  regulate  their  doings  at 
44 


g90  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

pleasure,  independent  of  the  government,  except  in  some  very 
general  particulars. 

"  The  government  itself  is  subject  to  the  tariff  rates  and  regula- 
tions of  the  companies.  Hence,  you  will  see,  the  British  and  United 
States  Governments  are  not  the  parties  against  whom  any  equitable 
claims  can  be  set  up  by  the  inventor  of  a  telegraph. 

"  The  patent  granted  by  these  governments  assumes  to  protect 
the  right  of  the  inventor  to  compensation,  and  leaves  him  to  make 
such  terms  for  his  own  compensation  with  joint-stock  companies 
as  he  and  they  can  agree  upon. 

"  The  absence  of  a  patent  on  your  part  for  your  valuable  dis- 
covery, which  you  so  generously  threw  open  to  the  world,  deprives 
you,  therefore,  of  all  legal  right  to  claim  compensation  for  it,  but  it 
by  no  means  lessens  your  equitable  right  to  it,  from  those  who  are 
benefited  by  its  use ;  on  the  contrary,  in  my  view,  it  enhances  it, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  difficulties  in  realizing  a  just  compen- 
sation are  increased  tenfold. 

"  For  it  must  be  through  appeals  to  a  sense  of  justice  lying  back 
of  legal  enactment,  and  which,  to  the  shame  of  human  nature,  is 
dormant,  if  not  dead,  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  look  at  an  enter- 
prise only  in  the  light  of  a  lucrative  investment.  Yet  I  am  proud 
to  believe  that  there  is  a  great  majority  of  those  capitalists  in  the 
United  States  who  have  invested  their  funds  in  the  Telegraph  en- 
terprise, whose  hearts  will  respond  promptly  to  an  appeal  to  their 
magnanimity,  if  a  judicious  plan  be  presented  to  them,  especially 
with  such  a  noble  example  as  Europe  has  set,  in  respect  to  me. 

"  At  any  rate,  my  dear  Dr.  Steinheil,  your  hint  shall  be  fruit- 
ful, if  any  efforts  of  mine  can  make  it  so.  I  have  already  indited  a 
letter  to  my  friends  in  the  United  States,  on  the  subject.  I  have 
suggested  several  modes  of  attaining  a  favorable  result,  and  I  can- 
not but  hope  something  may  be  done.  I  would  not  wish  to  raise 
expectations  which  may  be  disappointed,  but  I  will  say  to  you  that 
what  I  have  thus  initiated  I  will  not  allow  to  rest. 

"  Some  months  must  elapse  before  I  return  to  my  home  at 
Poughkeepsie,  New  York.  In  the  mean  time  I  have  set  my  friends 
in  the  United  States  to  thinking  upon  the  subject,  and  on  my  return 
I  may  find  them  prepared  for  some  decisive  action,  which  I  may  aid 
in  consummating,  and  of  which  you  shall  be  duly  advised.  In  the 
mean  time,  my  dear  sir,  accept  the  assurance  of  my  cordial  esteem 
and  friendship,  Samuel  F.  B.  Moese. 

"  Dr.  C.  A.  Steinheil,  Councilor  and  Academician,  Munich,  Bavaria." 


MR.  MORSE   TO   MR.  MASON.  691 

Professor  Morse  was  intensely  gratified  also,  while  in  the 
"West  Indies,  by  receiving  notice  of  his  election  as  a  member  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Stockholm,  Sweden.  The 
secretary,  in  sending  the  diploma,  said,  "  The  Academy  is  happy, 
sir,  to  offer  you  this  testimony  of  the  lively  interest  with  which 
your  scientific  merits  have  inspired  it,  and  it  hopes  you  will 
unite  your  efforts  to  those  which  it  has  itself  made  for  the 
advance  of  the  sciences."  This  was  the  more  acceptable  to  the 
Professor,  at  this  moment,  because  it  was  at  the  time  when 
persistent  efforts  were  made  in  his  own  country  to  depreciate  his 
merits  as  a  man  of  science,  and  the  value  of  his  contributions. 
A  few  days  afterward  came  to  him  the  intelligence  that  the 
Queen  of  Spain  had  conferred  upon  him  the  honor  of  Knight 
Commander  of  the  Royal  Order  of  Isabella  the  Catholic. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  J.  Y.  Mason,  United  States  Minister 
in  France,  Professor  Morse  describes  his  progress  in  telegraphic 
enterprise,  while  on  his  visit  of  pleasure  in  the  West-India 
islands : 

"  I  have  just  had  the  pleasure  of  completing  the  first  line  oi 
Telegraph  in  this  beautiful  island,  from  my  son-in-law's  house  to 
his  place  of  business,  on  the  bay,  about  two  miles.  It  excites 
much  interest,  and  I  have  been  requested  to  partake  of  an  honorary 
breakfast  by  the  intendente  and  the  military  commandant  and  offi- 
cials of  Gruayama  and  Arroyo  to-morrow.  This  too  initiates  the  grand 
enterprise  of  uniting  our  American  Telegraph  lines  with  Europe  by  a 
southern  route,  from  Cape  St.  Vincent,  through  Madeira,  the  Cana- 
ries, Cape  de  Verde,  and  Cape  St.  Roque  in  Brazil,  thence  along 
the  coast,  and  connecting  Barbadoes,  Martinique,  St.  Thomas,  Porto 
Rico,  Jamaica,  Cuba,  and  Florida.  My  friends  Sir  James  Carmi- 
chael,  Mr.  Brett,  and  Mr.  Perry,  of  Madrid,  are  the  energetic, 
efficient,  and  active  projectors  and  promoters  of  this  grand  enter- 
prise, in  connection  with  myself,  and  in  a  few  years  I  hope,  if  my 
life  is  spared,  to  see  this  perfectly  feasible  plan  of  telegraphic  union 
accomplished." 

The  1st  of  March,  1859,  was  a  great  day  in  the  little  island, 
and  in  one  of  his  familiar  letters  Professor  Morse  describes  his 
own  feelings  of  pleasure  in  the  events  which  were  celebrated. 

"  Arroyo,  Porto  Rico,  March  2,  1859. 
"  I  have  just   completed  with   success   the   construction   and 


692  L^E   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

organization  of  the  short  telegraphic  line,  the  first  in  this  island ; 
initiating  the  great  enterprise  of  the  Southern  Telegraph  route  to 
Europe  from  our  shores,  so  far  as  to  interest  the  Porto  Ricans  in 
the  value  of  the  invention.  Yesterday  was  a  day  of  great  excite- 
ment here,  for  this  small  place.  The  principal  inhabitants  of  this 
place  and  Guayama  determined  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  this 
little  line,  in  which  they  take  a  great  pride,  as  being  the  first  in  the 
island,  and  so  they  complimented  me  with  a  public  breakfast,  which 
was  presided  over  by  the  lieutenant-colonel  commandant  of 
Guayama,  the  commandant  and  alcalde,  the  collector  and  captain 
of  the  Port,  with  all  the  officials  of  the  place,  and  the  clergy  of 
Guayama  and  Arroyo,  and  gentlemen  planters  and  merchants  of  the 
two  towns,  numbering  in  all  about  forty.  "We  sat  down  at  one 
o'clock  to  a  very  handsome  breakfast,  and  the  greatest  enthusiasm 
and  kind  and  generous  feeling  were  manifested.  My  portrait  was 
behind  me  upon  the  wall,  draped  with  the  Spanish  and  American 
flags.  I  gave  them  a  short  address  of  thanks,  and  took  the  opportu- 
nity to  interest  them  in  the  great  Telegraph  line  which  will  give 
them  communication  with  the  whole  world.  I  presume  accounts 
will  be  published  in  the  United  States,  from  the  Porto-Rico  papers. 
Thus  step  by  step  (shall  I  not  rather  say,  stride  by  stride  f)  the  Tele- 
graph is  compassing  the  world. 

"My  accounts  from  Madrid  assure  me  that  the  Government  will 
soon  have  all  the  papers  prepared  for  granting  the  concession  to 
Mr.  Perry,  our  former  secretary  of  legation  at  Madrid,  in  connection 
with  Sir  James  Carmichael,  Mr.  John  W.  Brett,  the  New  York,  New- 
foundland, and  London  Telegraph  Company,  and  others.  The  re- 
cent consolidation  plan  in  the  United  States  has  removed  the  only 
hesitation  I  had  in  sustaining  this  new  enterprise,  for  I  feared  that 
I  might  unwittingly  injure,  by  a  counter-plan,  those  it  was  my  duty 
to  support.  Being  now  in  harmony  with  the  American  company, 
and  the  Newfoundland  company,  I  presume  all  my  other  companies 
will  derive  benefit  rather  than  injury  from  the  success  of  this  new 
and  grand  enterprise.  At  any  rate,  I  feel  impelled  to  support  all 
plans  that  manifestly  tend  to  the  complete  circumvention  of  the 
globe,  and  the  bringing  into  telegraphic  connection  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  this  when  I  am  not  fully  assured  that  present 
personal  interests  may  not  temporarily  suffer.  I  am  glad  to  know 
that  harmonious  arrangements  are  made  between  the  various  com- 
panies in  the  United  States,  although  I  have  been  so  ill-used.  But 
let  it  go.     I  will  have  no  litigation  if  I  can  avoid  it.     Even may 


GREETINGS  OF  HIS  NEIGHBORS.  693 

have  the  field  in  quiet,  unless  he  has  presented  a  case  too  flagrantly 
unjust  to  leave  unanswered." 

He  endeavored  to  possess  his  soul  in  patience,  and,  in  a  letter 
to  one  of  his  near  relatives,  he  said,  in  regard  to  one  of  his  se- 
verest opponents :  "  Of  the  nature  of  this  attack,  I  am  as  yet  in 
profound  ignorance ;  but  it  is  rather  a  damper  upon  the  joy  with 
which  I  usually  return  to  my  loved  native  land,  that  I  have  to 
encounter  the  attacks  of  the  envious,  and  the  annoyance  of  the 
sordid,  and  to  know  that,  instead  of  rest  in  my  old  age,  I  must 
yet  buckle  on  my  armor  for  self-defense.  Well,  this  is  all  or- 
dered in  wisdom.  '  Shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hands  of  the 
Lord,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  ? '  I  would  rather  ask  for 
proper  submission,  than  be  anxious  to  defeat  those  opposed  to 
me."  And  to  another  he  wrote,  at  the  same  time :  "  When 
I  return  to  Poughkeepsie,  it  will  be  sad  without  your  cheer- 
ful faces.  But  all  in  God's  good  time.  He  has  purposes  to 
accomplish,  of  more  wisdom,  and  vaster  benefit  to  his  rational 
universe,  than  any  we,  with  our  selfish  hearts,  can  devise.  I 
return  from  honors  abundant  in  Europe,  to  encounter  attacks  in 
various  shapes  at  home ;  but  I  am  not  cast  down  by  the  pros- 
pect. I  am  most  anxious  that  nothing  I  may  be  obliged  to  do, 
in  self-def  ense,  shall  dishonor  my  Master ;  and  all  my  hope,  all 
my  strength,  is  in  Him.  If  He  undertakes  for  me — and  He  cer- 
tainly will — victory  of  the  highest  kind  is  sure,  even  if  it  does 
not  come  exactly  in  the  shape  I  might  wish  now." 

After  this  delightful  visit,  the  only  one  that  he  was  ever  able 
to  make  to  the  home  of  his  beloved  daughter,  Professor  Morse 
embarked,  in  the  middle  of  April,  in  a  sailing-vessel,  with  his 
family,  and  returned  to  ISTew  York.  A  few  days  afterward,  he 
went  to  his  country-seat  in  Poughkeepsie.  His  old  neighbors 
and  friends  gave  him  a  welcome,  as  if  he  were  a  conquering 
general  returning  from  war.  The  Daily  Press  of  the  city 
records : 

"  For  some  time  previous  to  the  hour  at  which  the  train  was  to 
arrive,  hundreds  of  people  were  seen  flocking  from  all  directions  to 
the  railroad-depot,  both  in  carriages  and  on  foot;  and,  when  the 
train  did  arrive,  and  the  familiar  and  loved  form  of  Professor  Morse 
was  recognized  on  the  platform  of  the  car,  the  air  was  rent  with  the 


694  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

cheers  of  the  assembled  multitude.  As  soon  as  the  cheers  subsided, 
Professor  Morse  was  approached  by  the  committee  of  reception, 
and  welcomed  to  the  country  of  his  birth,  and  to  the  home  of  his 
adoption.  A  great  procession  was  then  formed,  composed  of  the 
carriages  of  citizens.  The  sidewalks  were  crowded  with  people  on 
foot,  the  children  of  the  public  schools,  which  had  been  dismissed 
for  the  occasion,  being  quite  conspicuous  among  them.  Amid  the 
ringing  of  bells,  the  waving  of  flags,  and  the  gratulations  of  the 
people,  the  procession  proceeded  through  a  few  of  the  principal 
streets,  and  then  drove  to  the  beautiful  residence  of  Professor 
Morse,  the  band  playing,  as  they  entered  the  grounds,  '  Sweet 
Home,'  and  then  '  Auld  Lang  Syne.'  The  gate-ways  at  the  en- 
trance had  been  arched  with  evergreens  and  wreathed  with  flowers. 
As  the  carriage  containing  their  loved  proprietor  drove  along  the 
graveled  roads,  we  noticed  that  several  of  the  domestics,  unable  to 
restrain  their  welcomes,  ran  to  his  carriage,  and  gave  and  received 
salutations.  After  a  free  interchange  of  salutations,  and  a  general 
*  shake  hands,'  the  people  withdrew,  and  left  their  honored  guest  to 
the  retirement  of  his  own  beautiful  home.  So  the  world  reverences 
its  great  men,  and  so  it  ought.  In  Professor  Morse  we  find  those 
simple  elements  of  greatness  which  elevate  him  infinitely  above  the 
hero  of  any  of  the  world's  sanguinary  conflicts,  or  any  of  the  most 
successful  aspirants  after  political  power.  He  has  benefited  not 
only  America  and  the  world,  but  has  dignified  and  benefited  the 
whole  race." 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

1860-1870. 

at  home — views  on  secession  and  the  "war — education  of  his  chil- 
dren— letters  to  them — applications  for  aid — last  visit  to  eu- 
rope— dusseldorf  and  artists — paris — attentions  paid  to  him — re- 
ception at  court — the  great  exhibition — habit  of  life  in  paris 
— labors  in  the  committee  on  telegraphs — isle  of  "wight — dres- 
den— presentation  at  court — berlin  and  the  telegraph  corps — 
return  to  america — purchase  of  allston's  "  jeremiah  "  and  pres- 
ent to  tale  college— allston's  portrait  by  leslie  he  presents 
to  academy  of  design — donation  to  theological  department  of 
yale  college — to  new  york  union  theological  seminary — banquet 
in  new  york — chief-justice  chase's  remarks — professor  morse's — 
mr.  Huntington's — summer  at  poughkeepsie — his  leg  is  broken — 

prostrate  for  three  months  —  statue  of  humboldt statue  of 

morse — erected  by  telegraph-operators — ceremonies  in  the  cen- 
tral park — academy  of  music — address  by  professor  morse. 

OK  his  return  from  Europe  in  1859,  Professor  Morse  saw 
distinctly  the  signs  of  approaching  war  between  the  North- 
ern and  Southern  portions  of  the  American  Union.  To  prevent 
the  impending  conflict,  and  preserve  the  peace  of  the  country, 
was  the  intense  desire  of  his  heart.  He  was  an  ardent  patriot. 
In  England,  dining  the  War  of  1812-14,  he  had  on  all  occa- 
sions been  the  outspoken  defender  of  his  country.  In  his  sub- 
sequent career,  the  recipient  of  distinguished  honors  from  for- 
eign powers,  and  the  guest  of  princes,  he  was  still  the  unchanged, 
simple  republican  citizen,  and  a  thorough  American.  To  him 
the  prospect  of  a  civil  war  was  terrible,  and  he  was  willing  to 
make  any  sacrifice  to  avert  it.  As  the  months  and  years  of 
fierce  controversy  passed  along,  and  the  cloud  burst  in  a  fearful 


696  LIFE  OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

storm,  lie  sought  to  arrest  its  course.  He  was  decidedly  op- 
posed to  secession.  Of  the  abstract  right  of  it  under  the  Con- 
stitution, he  had  doubts,  but  none  as  to  its  justice  or  expediency. 
Associated  with  men  of  high  standing  in  social  and  political  life, 
he  sought,  by  the  diffusion  of  tracts  and  books  on  the  relations 
of  the  States  to  the  Federal  Government,  to  reconcile  contend- 
ing parties,  and  preserve  the  peace  of  the  country.  These  ef- 
forts, made  in  the  spirit  of  the  purest  patriotism,  subjected  him 
to  severe  reproach.  But  he  bore  it  with  his  characteristic  pa- 
tience and  equanimity,  believing  the  time  would  come  when 
his  motives  would  be  understood.  And,  if  they  never  should 
be,  he  had  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience  that  all  the  ends 
he  aimed  at  were  his  countries  and  God's. 

The  education  of  his  children  occupied  a  large  share  of  his 
attention.  When  they  were  at  home  he  was  their  teacher; 
when  they  were  away  at  school  he  wrote  to  them  constantly, 
entering  into  their  feelings,  studying  their  tastes,  and  aiming  at 
the  inculcation  of  those  principles  which  were  the  basis  of  his 
own  character.  Writing  from  Poughkeepsie  to  one  of  them, 
August  17,  1862,  he  gave  a  description  of  another  visit  to  his 
native  place : 

"  My  dear  Arthur  :  Here  we  are  again  safely  at  home,  after 
our  journeyings  of  two  weeks.  After  we  left  you  at  Newport,  we 
arrived  in  Boston  the  same  evening,  and  went  to  the  Tremont 
House.  It  was  very  warm  on  Saturday  and  Sunday,  but  on  Satur- 
day your  dear  mamma  and  sister  went  with  me  over  to  Charlestown, 
to  see  the  town  where  your  good  grandfather  was  so  long  pastor  of 
the  first  church  of  Charlestown,  and  where  your  father  was  born.  I 
showed  them  the  house,  and,  knocking  at  the  door,  a  neat  and 
pleasant  young  woman  opened  it,  and  on  telling  her  my  errand  she 
very  kindly  conducted  us  up-stairs,  and  then  we  were  in  the  room 
where  your  father  first  saw  the  light.  The  house  is  a  large  double 
house  of  wood,  on  the  main  street,  one  door  opening  on  the  street, 
and  the  other,  at  which  we  knocked  and  entered,  on  the  east  side, 
to  which  we  had  to  pass  through  a  gate  and  small  grass-plot.  The 
other  part  of  the  house  is  occupied  by  the  family  of  Captain  Edes  ; 
they  were  all  out  of  town.  From  thence  we  went  upon  Bunker's 
Hill,  and  to  the  monument,  which  is  within  gunshot  of  the  house  in 
which  I  was  born.     Notwithstanding  the  day  was  so  warm,  your 


ALL   GONE.  697 

sister  and  I  mounted  the  two  hundred  and  ninety  steps  to  the  top. 
I  was  not  fatigued,  but  your  mother  was  fearful  that  the  ascent 
would  be  too  fatiguing  for  her,  so  she  did  not  go  up  with  us.  The 
next  day,  Sunday,  Cornelia  and  I  went  over  again  to  Charlestown, 
as  I  wished  to  attend  ohurch,  on  the  spot  and  among  the  congre- 
gation where  my  excellent  father  preached.  We  attended  church 
there,  heard  an  excellent  sermon  from  a  stranger,  the  regular  cler- 
gyman being  out  of  town.  I  looked  round  to  see  if  there  was  a 
single  face  I  knew,  and  not  one  could  I  find ;  every  face  was  strange, 
but  there  were  two  or  three  old  ladies  who  looked  constantly  very 
curiously  at  me  and  whispered  together.  So,  when  church  was  over, 
I  put  myself  in  their  way,  and  they  said  they  were  sure  they  knew 
me.  When  I  told  them  who  I  was,  the  son  of  their  old  pastor,  they 
all  crowded  around  me  and  said,  '  Oh,  we  must  shake  hands  with 
you,  then ; '  and  they  seemed  overjoyed  to  see  me,  invited  me  to 
dinner,  and  would  scarcely  take  no  for  an  answer.  I  thanked  them, 
but  declined,  leaving  nvy  kind  regards  for  any  of  my  father's  friends 
who  were  still  living. 

"On  Monday  we  all  left  Boston  for  Nantasket  Beach,  about ., 
nineteen  miles  from  Boston,  and  found  a  most  beautiful  sand-beach, 
superior  in  many  respects  to  the  beach  at  Newport ;  it  is  some  five 
miles  in  extent,  reaching  to  a  point  opposite  Boston  Light-house. 
The  views  here  are  more  extensive  and  more  varied  than  at  New- 
port, islands  and  peninsulas  varying  the  view,  Boston,  Charlestown, 
and  other  suburban  villages,  in  the  distance,  and  the  light-house, 
with  a  beacon,  looking  like  the  posts  of  the  great  gates  forming  the 
entrance  to  Boston  harbor,  between  which  all  the  great  ships  pass 
in  and  out  of  the  port.  The  surf  is  like  that  at  Newport,  on  quite 
as  shallow  and  gradual  a  beach,  but  the  water  was  purer,  without 
the  slimy  weeds  of  the  Newport  beach ;  yet  the  water  was  much 
colder ;  most  of  the  bathers  preferred  it  thus,  I  did  not.  I  bathed  but 
once,  and  think  I  took  cold  then,  but  I  have  recovered  from  its  effects. 
We  returned  to  Boston  after  two  days ;  the  last  day,  however,  we 
went  on  a  fishing-excursion.  Mother,  Cornelia,  and  I,  got  up  at 
five  o'clock,  and,  with  two  gentlemen  besides,  went  off  in  a  large 
yacht,  furnished  wTith  lines  and  bait,  about  two  miles,  where  we 
caught  in  about  two  hours  some  dozen  of  fish  ;  cod,  perch,  flounders, 
and  sculpions.  I  caught  the  largest,  a  cod,  weighing  about  eight 
pounds.  We  left  Boston  on  Thursday  morning,  to  return  home  by 
way  of  Springfield  and  Hudson.  We  passed  Thursday  night  at 
Springfield,  and  the  next  day  left  for  Hudson,  by  the  way  of  Chat- 


698  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

ham  Four  Corners,  where  we  went  to  take  a  branch  train  to  Hudson, 
but,  not  being  notified  when  we  arrived  at  Chatham  Four  Corners,  we 
were  taken  some  miles  on  the  way  to  Albany  before  we  discovered 
our  mistake,  so  we  told  the  conductor  to  keep  on  and  we  would  go 
to  Albany ;  so  we  went  to  Albany  while  our  trunks  and  other  bag- 
gage went  to  Hudson  ;  but,  on  our  arrival  at  Albany,  the  Telegraph 
came  to  my  help,  and  a  few  words  to  Hudson  secured  the  safety  of 
the  stray  luggage.  "We  dined  in  Albany,  and  took  the  cars  at  four 
o'clock,  and  reached  home  just  as  soon  as  if  no  mistake  had  occurred. 
We  were  all  rejoiced  to  meet  again,  thankful  to  Him  who  kept  us 
in  health  and  safety  in  our  separation,  and  brought  us  together 
again  in  so  much  comfort,  while  others,  no  less  deserving,  have  been 
subjected  to  all  the  horrors  of  this  lamentable  war.  Many  inquiries 
were  made  after  Arthur,  and  we  are  all  looking  forward  to  October 
with  the  hope  of  having  you  with  us  for  a  while.  Good-by,  my 
dear  boy ;  God  bless  you ;  and  keep  you  from  all  harm  to  body  and 
soul,  and  early  make  you  one  of  his  chosen  ones  !  You  little  know 
how  much  we  love  you,  and  how  anxious  we  are  to  have  you  in 
6, the  way  of  true  happiness.  I  leave  a  space  for  your  dear  mother 
to  fill.     Again  good-by. 

"  Your  affectionate  father,  Samuel  F.  B.  Moese. 

"  Master  S.  Arthur  B.  Morse." 

Another  letter  to  two  of  bis  sons  shows  the  father,  indul- 
gent and  judicious : 

"  Poughkeepsie,  July  11,  1864. 

"  Mv  dear  Boys  :  William  goes  to-morrow  morning,  and  he 
takes  '  Ponce,'  the  pony,  for  Willie ;  and  little  '  Nix,'  the  terrier, 
for  Arthur,  from  papa,  and  I  believe  there  are  some  other  things 
for  Mrs.  Choules. 

"  Arthur,  I  bought  the  terrier  for  you ;  he  is  young,  about  seven 
months  old.  He  is  playful,  but  has  very  sharp  teeth  ;  you  will  have 
to  coax  him,  for  I  find  he  does  not  come  readily  when  called.  If 
you  are  gentle  with  him,  and  feed  him  yourself,  I  think  he  will  soon 
get  attached  to  you,  and,  as  he  grows  older,  will  come  at  your  call. 
Don't  tease  him,  nor  let  the  boys  tease  him,  for  it  spoils  his  temper, 
and  he  may  be  savage  and  bite  you. — And,  Willie,  I  hope  you  will 
use  your  dear  little  pony  very  kindly  and  gently ;  animals  love 
kindness  as  well  as  men.  Don't  whip  him  or  drive  him  at  a  racing 
pace  this  hot  weather,  or  you  may  lose  him.  I  hope  you  will  have 
him  where  he  will  be  well  taken  care  of. 


SYMPATHY  WITH   INVENTOES.  699 

"  You  see,  my  dear  boys,  what  pains  and  expense  we  cheerfully 
incur  to  make  you  happy,  when  we  see  you  have  good  reports  from 
your  teachers.  It  is  on  this  account  we  grant  these  favors  to  you. 
If  you  use  them  properly  and  do  not  let  them  take  you  away  from 
your  studies,  we  can  indulge  you  in  your  reasonable  wishes  ;  but,  if 
we  find  you  abuse  these  favors,  we  shall  request  Mr.  Fay  to  deprive 
you  of  them,  because  it  will  be  necessary  for  your  good.  But  I 
won't  believe  my  dear  boys  will  abuse  these  favors,  for  they  love 
their  father  and  mother,  and  I  think  they  won't  intentionally  pain 
them,  by  misusing  their  kindness.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

"  To  Arthur  and  Willie."  ' 

How  patiently  he  bore  the  burden  of  applications  for  coun- 
sel and  aid  which  were  often  made  to  him.  by  men  laboring  as 
he  once  labored  with  an  unborn  invention !  To  such  a  man  he 
wrote : 

"  "Were  I  a  younger  man,  with  less  of  the  cares  of  a  large  family, 
I  should  feel  strongly  disposed  to  examine  and  understand  your 
project,  and,  if  satisfactory,  to  aid  you  with  all  the  means  I  could 
spare  ;  but  I  am  now  beyond  the  allotted  age  of  man,  and  already 
burdened  with  as  many  cares  as  I  can  well  sustain. 

"  Should  you  visit  New  York,  however,  in  the  course  of  the  win- 
ter, I  expect  to  be  at  my  house,  5  West  Twenty-second  Street,  and 
should  be  happy  to  understand  your  discovery  and  to  put  you  in 
the  way  of  aid,  by  introducing  you  to  those  who  may  be  able  to  as- 
sist you,  and  whose  avocations  would  lead  them  to  be  interested  in 
it,  more  than  it  can  interest  me,  as  I  am  more  interested  in  it  indi- 
rectly, and  as  a  general  benefit,  than  directly. 

"  Inventors  are  apt  to  be  sanguine,  and  often  yield  too  much  to 
their  imagination.  Many  projects  appear  well  on  paper,  which  fail 
in  practice  from  some  unlooked-for  mechanical  difficulty.  But  these 
matters  you  have  doubtless  considered.  If  you  have  indeed  dis- 
covered a  more  economical  motive-power  than  is  now  in  use,  and 
have  so  far  tested  it  as  to  be  certain  of  success,  you  can  scarcely 
exaggerate  its  importance,  and  no  one  would  feel  more  gratified 
than  myself  to  know  that  its  discoverer  is  amply  rewarded  by  fame 
and  fortune." 

His  children  being  now  of  an  age  when  he  thought  it  would 
be  for  their  advantage  to  study  in  Europe,  he  went  abroad  once 
more.     He  crossed  the  ocean  with  his  family  in  June,  1866, 


700  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

and  spent  part  of  the  summer  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  Yisiting 
Diisseldorf,  lie  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm  by  the  artists 
whose  favorite  seat  was  in  that  city.  He  was  now  in  circum- 
stances to  be  a  patron  of  art,  and  he  must  have  taken  peculiar 
pleasure  as  he  remembered  his  own  struggles  as  an  artist,  in 
purchasing  of  various  artists  five  pictures,  which  he  sent  home 
to  the  care  of  Mr.  Huntington,  President  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Design,  with  permission  to  exhibit  them.  A  very 
pleasant  incident  at  Diisseldorf  he  mentions  in  a  letter  to  a 
relative : 

"  When  at  Diisseldorf  it  so  happened  that,  while  at  the  hotel, 
there  was  a  society  having  its  annual  dinner  in  the  salle  d  manger. 
It  was  composed  of  some  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Diisseldorf. 
The  door  being  open  to  the  reading-room,  where  I  was  reading  the 
papers,  I  could  hear  (although  said  in  German)  the  words  America 
and  telegraph,  which  were  never  mentioned  but  with  loud  ap- 
plause. It  seems  Mr.  Liech  had  informed  the  landlord,  on  my  ar- 
rival, of  my  connection  with  the  Telegraph  ;  so,  when  the  speeches 
were  receiving  great  applause,  the  landlord  whispered  to  the  presi- 
dent that  the  American  inventor  of  the  Telegraph  was  at  that  mo- 
ment a  guest  in  the  hotel.  Immediately  there  was  a  stir,  the 
president  left  his  seat,  and  came  out  to  me,  and,  apologizing  for  his 
liberty,  he  asked  if  I  had  any  objection  to  present  myself  at  the 
table ;  on  replying  that,  if  it  would  give  them  any  gratification,  I 
would  cheerfully  comply,  he  led  me  into  the  room,  where  I  was 
greeted  in  the  most  uproarious  manner ;  every  one  at  table  rose, 
three  cheers  were  given,  all  insisting  on  touching  glasses  with  mine, 
which  they  had  filled  with  champagne.  On  the  first  subsidence  of 
this  greeting,  I  was  led  to  the  chair  by  the  side  of  the  president, 
who  rose,  and  in  a  brief  speech  paid  me  and  the  United  States  some 
handsome  compliments,  to  which  I  briefly  replied  by  thanks  in 
English,  which  he  rendered  into  German  ;  I  then  begged  leave  to 
retire,  but  could  not  until  the  ceremony  of  once  more  touching 
glasses  had  been  performed,  by  every  one  at  table,  about  forty 
persons." 

The  remainder  of  the  summer  was  spent  in  Switzerland. 
In  the  autumn  he  went  to  Paris,  and  took  apartments  at  !No.  10 
Avenue  du  Roi  de  Pome.  His  arrival  was  recognized  by  such 
attentions  as  are  only  extended  to  the  most  distinguished  per- 


ATTENTIONS   IN  PARIS.  701 

sonages.  The  Emperor  of  the  French,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his 
glory,  omitted  no  opportunity  to  do  him  honor.  Professor 
Morse  was  invited  on  all  state  occasions,  and  the  best  places 
were  reserved  for  him  and  his  family.  At  the  court  parties, 
they  were  placed  with  the  imperial  family  and  the  diplomatic 
corps. 

This  (1867),  the  year  of  the  great  Exposition  in  Paris,  he 
spent  with  his  family,  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  which  a  good, 
prosperous,  and  great  man  could  desire.  Identifying  himself 
with  American  society — contributing  freely  to  the  support  of 
the  American  chapel,  with  which  he  and  his  family  were  con- 
nected— he  sought  to  be  useful  in  the  various  departments  of 
society,  as  he  would  be  if  he  were  in  his  own  country,  and  at 
home.  He  was  now  at  the  summit  of  human  fame.  It  has 
oftentimes  been  said,  and  with  truth,  that  no  private  individ- 
ual was  ever  more  highly  honored  among  men  than  he.  His 
name  was  familiar  as  that  of  the  great  benefactor  of  his  race  in 
all  countries  of  the  civilized  world.  Strangers  of  distinction, 
visiting  Paris,  sought  him,  to  pay  their  respects.  Members  of 
royal  families  sent  to  know  when  it  would  be  convenient  for 
him  to  receive  them ;  and,  at  the  hour  appointed,  they  called  in 
state,  to  express  to  him  the  honor  in  which  he  was  held.  It 
was  his  custom  to  devote  the  morning  of  every  day  to  his  study. 
At  this  time,  he  prepared  a  pamphlet  of  nearly  a  hundred  pages, 
containing  a  defense  of  himself,  as  the  inventor  of  the  Tele- 
graph, in  reply  to  attacks  which  were  made  upon  him  by  Eng- 
lish claimants.  He  consulted  his  friends,  in  relation  to  his  duty 
in  this  matter.  He  had  now  reached  that  period  in  life,  and 
that  position  in  the  esteem  of  the  world,  when  he  was  far  more 
disposed  to  rest  quietly  upon  the  good  sense  and  intelligent 
judgment  of  mankind,  and  to  consider  the  question  as  to  his 
claims  as  fairly  settled  by  the  verdict  of  the  world,  than  to  pro- 
long the  controversy,  and  to  reiterate  the  evidence  which  had 
been  so  frequently  produced  and  published.  But  the  advice 
which  he  received  from  all  those  with  whom  he  conferred  upon 
the  subject  encouraged  him  to  take  up  his  pen,  and  to  give  a 
history  of  the  steps  by  which  he  accomplished  the  great  work 
of  his  life.  This  pamphlet  was  printed  and  published  in  Paris, 
circulated  among  the  scientific  societies  of  Europe,  and  placed  in 


702  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  hands  of  thoughtful  men,  who  were  competent  to  weigh  the 
evidence,  and  to  judge  candidly  as  to  the  claims  of  the  inventor. 
No  attempt  was  ever  afterward  made  to  interfere  with  the  just 
claims  of  Mr.  Morse  to  the  honor  which  he  had  firmly  claimed, 
as  his  own  right,  and  that  of  the  country  which  he  loved.  Ex- 
tracts from  this  pamphlet,  giving  the  process  of  the  invention, 
with  numerous  drawings,  form  an  Appendix  to  this  volume, 
and  should  be  studiously  examined  by  every  intelligent  reader. 

His  morning  studies  being  completed,  he  was  in  the  habit, 
daily,  of  visiting  the  great  Exposition,  and  spending  several 
hours  in  the  examination  of  an  almost  infinite  variety  of  me- 
chanical inventions.  He  was  one  of  the  committee  upon  tele- 
graphic instruments.  He  earnestly  desired  to  be  excused  from 
serving,  from  the  fact  that  his  prejudices  were,  naturally,  greatly 
influenced  by  his  relations  to  the  various  inventions  which  were 
before  the  public,  and  were  now  upon  exhibition.  But  it  was 
pressed  upon  him,  as  he  was,  of  all  men,  the  most  thoroughly 
qualified  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  comparative  merits  of 
the  several  contrivances.  He  consented  to  serve;  and,  with 
industry  and  patience,  he  devoted  himself  to  an  investigation  of 
the  several  instruments,  and  prepared  a  report  at  great  length — 
exhaustive  in  its  research  and  comparisons — which  was  pub- 
lished with  the  official  reports  of  the  Exhibition. 

At  the  close  of  the  Exposition,  Mr.  Morse  made  another  tour 
on  the  Continent.  Now,  as  before,  wherever  he  went,  he  was 
received  with  marks  of  attention  from  governments  and  people, 
as  if  he  himself  were  the  representative  of  a  nation,  or  a  royal 
personage  upon  his  travels.  His  modesty  was  equal  to  his 
merit.  Honored  with  marks  of  distinction  from  the  various 
governments  of  Europe,  which  would  have  made  him  more 
conspicuous,  in  the  midst  of  public  assemblies,  than  any  other 
individual,  of  whatever  official  rank,  he  steadily  avoided,  in 
his  dress  and  equipage,  any  thing  which  might  attract  to  him- 
self the  notice  of  the  public,  or  which,  in  any  manner,  would 
distinguish  him  from  his  countrymen.  On  one  occasion,  he 
was  called  to  a  consultation  with  the  official  representatives  of 
several  European  countries,  in  relation  to  telegraphic  matters ; 
and  he  asked  me  whether  it  would  be  proper  for  him,  on  this 
occasion,  to  wear  the  insignia  which  had  been  conferred  upon 


ON  THE  CONTINENT.  703 

him,  by  the  several  governments,  on  account  of  his  inven- 
tion. He  said  that  there  were  two  reasons  why  it  seemed 
to  him  that  it  might  be  desirable  for  him,  on  such  an  occa- 
sion, to  display  them.  In  the  first  place,  it  would  mark,  in 
the  presence  of  the  representatives  of  these  governments,  his 
sense  of  the  honor  which  he  had  received  from  their  several 
sovereigns;  and,  in  the  second  place,  such  was  the  estimate  of 
these  marks  of  distinction  in  Europe,  that  he  would  be,  perhaps, 
more  respected,  and  therefore  more  influential,  in  the  confer- 
ence in  which  he  was  to  engage.  I  concurred  in  this  opinion, 
and  advised  him  that  it  would  be,  not  only  proper,  but  useful, 
to  put  them  on.  But  his  native  modesty  controlled  his  action, 
and,  when  I  asked  him,  afterward,  whether  he  wore  his  decora- 
tions, he  laughingly  replied  that,  when  it  came  to  the  point,  he 
was  unable  to  be  reconciled  to  what  he  thought  was  a  humilia- 
tion rather  than  an  enviable  distinction,  and  he  went  in  ordinary 
citizen's  dress — perhaps  with  nothing  more  than  the  ribbon  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor  in  his  button-hole. 

After  passing  a  few  months  on  the  Isle  of  "Wight,  the  Pro- 
fessor and  family  went  to  Dresden  for  the  winter  of  1867. 
Three  months  were  spent  in  that  delightful  city.  His  presenta- 
tion at  the  court  of  the  King  of  Saxony  was  a  compliment  paid 
to  his  distinguished  services. 

From  Dresden,  Professor  Morse  repaired  to  Berlin,  where 
he  was  specially  honored  by  those  who  were  the  best,  qualified 
to  appreciate  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  his  work.  From 
Mr.  Bancroft,  the  United  States  Minister,  and  members  of  the 
Prussian  Government,  he  received  constant  attentions.  He  re- 
mained but  a  few  days  in  Berlin,  and  was  obliged  to  decline  a 
presentation  at  court  which  was  tendered  him. 

But  anxious  to  learn  the  latest  views  in  the  science  of  teleg- 
raphy, he  called  upon  General  (then  Colonel)  von  Chauvin,  the 
distinguished  chief  of  the  German  telegraphic  system,  which,  as 
inmost  European  countries,  is  a  government  monopoly  and  ad- 
ministered by  government  officials.  Before  the  interview  was  con- 
cluded, a  messenger  came  in  and  spoke  in  German  to  the  chief, 
who,  as  Mr.  Morse  was  about  to  depart,  said  that  the  "  opera- 
tors "  had  heard  of  his  presence  in  the  building,  and  exceedingly 
desired  to  see  him.     Having  kindly  assented  to  the  presentation, 


704:  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Mr.  Morse  was  led  by  the  chief  into  a  neighboring  apartment, 
and  there  f onnd  himself  facing  several  hundred  gentlemen  seated 
in  a  vast  hall,  the  largest  operating-room  in  the  world.  At  a 
signal,  the  instruments  ceased  clicking,  and  each  person  stood 
erect  and  a  la  militaire. 

"  Gentlemen,"  began  Colonel  von  Chauvin,  "  you  have  the 
honor  to  see  before  you  the  Father  of  the  Telegraph." 

All  bowed  profoundly  again  and  again  with  such  reverence 
that,  as  says  a  letter  writer,  who  relates  the  incident,  "  the  fond 
parent  was  quite  embarrassed  in  the  presence  of  so  much  of 
his  children.". 

Not  to  recount  the  many  tributes  of  esteem  and  respect  paid 
him  by  Dr.  Siemens  and  other  gentlemen  eminent  in  the  specialty 
of  telegraphy,  one  other  unexpected  compliment  may  be  men- 
tioned. The  Professor  was  presented  to  the  accomplished  Gen- 
eral Director  of  the  Posts  of  the  North-German  Bund,  Privy- 
Councilor  von  Phillipsborn,  in  whose  department  the  telegraph 
had  been  comprised  before  Prussia  became  so  great,  and  the 
centre  of  a  powerful  confederation.  At  the  time  of  their  visit, 
the  director  was  so  engaged,  and  that,  too,  in  another  part  of 
the  Post-Amt,  that  the  porter  said  it  was  useless  to  trouble  him 
with  the  cards.  The  names  had  not  been  long  sent  up,  however, 
before  the  director  himself  came  hurriedly  down  the  corridor 
into  the  antechamber,  and,  scarcely  waiting  for  the  hastiest  of 
introductions,  enthusiastically  grasped  both  the  Professor's  hands 
in  his  own,  asking  whether  he  had  "  the  honor  of  speaking  to 
Doctor  Morse,"  or,  as  he  pronounced  it,  "  Morzey." 

When,  after  a  brief  conversation,  Mr.  Morse  rose  to  go,  the 
director  said  that  he  had  just  left  a  conference  over  a  new  post 
and  telegraph  treaty  in  negotiation  between  Belgium  and  the 
Bund,  and  that  it  would  afford  him  great  pleasure  to  be  per- 
mitted to  present  his  guest  to  the  assembled  gentlemen,  includ- 
ing the  Belgian  envoy  and  the  Belgian  postmaster-general. 

There  followed,  accordingly,  a  formal  presentation,  with  an 
introductory  address  by  the  director,  who,  in  excellent  Eng- 
lish, thanked  Mr.  Morse,  in  the  name  of  Prussia  and  of  all  Ger- 
many, for  his  great  services  ;  and  speeches  by  the  principal  per- 
sons present,  the  Belgian  envoy,  Baron  de  Nothomb,  very  felici- 
tously complimenting  the  Professor  in  French. 


GERMAN   TELEGRAPH   OPERATORS.  705 

Succeeding  the  hand-shaking,  the  director  spoke  again,  and, 
in  reply,  Mr.  Morse  gratefully  acknowledged  the  courtesy  shown 
to  him,  adding :  "  It  is  very  gratifying  to  me  to  hear  you  say 
that  the  Telegraph  has  been  and  is  a  means  of  promoting  peace 
among  men.  Believe  me,  gentlemen,  my  remaining  days  shall 
be  devoted  to  this  great  object." 

Before  Mr.  Morse  withdrew,  the  director  said  he  had  a 
further  request  to  make  :  In  the  adjoining  room  was  the  Coun- 
cilor   ,  the  principal   adviser    of    the  department  in  legal 

questions  connected  with  the  Telegraph,  especially  in  reference 
to  international  relations ;  and  the  councilor  would  consider  it 
an  event  in  his  life  to  be  presented  to  Mr.  Morse.  The  gen- 
tleman was  therefore  summoned,  and  soon  entered ;  suppos- 
ing, doubtless,  that  his  professional  assistance  was  required. 
When  told  that  the  venerable  gentleman  before  him  wTas  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  he  gave  expression  to  his  surprise  and  pleasure. 
The  director  then  led  his  visitors  into  a  small,  cozily  furnished 
room,  saying  as  they  entered,  "  Here  I  have  so  often  thought 
of  you,  Mr.  Morse,  but  I  never  thought  I  should  have  the  honor 
of  receiving  you  in  my  own  private  room." 

After  they  were  seated,  the  host,  tapping  upon  a  small  table, 
continued,  "  Over  this  passed  the  important  telegrams  of  the 
War  of  1866."  Then,  approaching  a  large  telegraph-map  on 
the  wall,  he  added :  "  Upon  this  you  can  see  how  invaluable 
was  the  telegraph  in  the  war.  Here,"  pointing  with  the  fore- 
finger of  his  right  hand,  "  here  the  crown  prince  came  down 
through  Silesia.  This,"  indicating,  with  the  other  forefinger, 
a  passage  through  Bohemia,  "  was  the  line  of  march  of  Prince 
Friedrich  Carl.  From  this  station,  the  crown  prince  telegraphed 
Prince  Friedrich  Carl,  always  over  Berlin,  '  Where  are  you  % ' 
The  answer  from  this  station  reached  him  also  over  Berlin. 

"  The  Austrians  were  here,"  placing  the  thumb  on  the  map 
below,  and  between  the  two  fingers.  "  The  next  day  Prince 
Friedrich  Charles  comes  here,"  the  left  forefinger  joined  the 
thumb,  "  and  telegraphs  the  fact,  always  over  Berlin,  to  the 
crown  prince,  who  hurries  forward  here,"  the  forefinger  of 
the  right  hand  slipped  quickly  under  the  thumb  as  if  to  pinch 
something,  and  the  narrator  looked  up  significantly.  Perhaps 
the  patriotic  director  thought  of  the  July  afternoon,  whe% 
45 


706  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

eagerly  listening  at  the  little  mahogany-topped  table,  over  which 
passed  so  many  momentous  messages,  he  learned  that  the  royal 
cousins  had  effected  a  junction  at  Konigsgratz,  a  junction  that 
decided  the  fate  of  Germany  and  secured  Prussia  its  present 
proud  position, — a  junction  which,  but  for  his  modest  visitor's 
invention,  the  telegraph  "  always  over  Berlin,"  would  have  been 
impossible. 

Leaving  Berlin,  Professor  Morse  came  to  Paris,  and  passed  a 
few  weeks  before  embarking  for  New  Tork.  While  here  he  had 
the  great  pleasure  of  receiving  his  portrait  of  Thorwaldsen,  and 
of  forwarding  it  to  General  Raastoff,  the  Danish  Minister  of 
War.  In  his  letter  to  the  minister  he  begged  him  to  present 
the  portrait  to  the  king  as  "  an  acknowledgment  on  my  part  of 
Danish  hospitality  in  1856,  and  a  mark  of  my  own  personal 
veneration  for  the  names  and  labors  of  those  noble  Danes, 
Thorwaldsen  and  Oersted."  He  was  now  turning  his  face 
toward  the  west,  to  the  setting  sun  ;  the  close  of  his  career  on 
earth  he  felt  to  be  necessarily  not  far  off.  The  honors  that 
came  from  men  had  been  enjoyed  throughout  this  journey.  In 
every  city  his  presence  had  been  marked  with  the  attentions  of 
men  of  learning  and  position.  If  justice  had  not  been  done  in 
bestowing  pecuniary  rewards  that  he  deserved,  the  full  measure 
of  honor  had  been  awarded,  and  he  was  prepared  to  go  home, 
with  the  assurance  that  the  world  had  at  last  given  Morse  and 
America  the  credit  of  inventing  the  Recording  Telegraph. 

He  left  Havre  in  the  St.-Laurent,  in  the  latter  part  of  May, 
1868,  and  in  early  June  was  once  more  welcomed  by  his  neigh- 
bors and  friends  in  Poughkeepsie.  Never  was  his  rural  home 
more  lovely  and  inviting  than  when  he  entered  again  into  its  de- 
lights, and,  far  from  palaces,  courts,  and  kings,  he  sat  down  to  its 
quiet  enjoyment.  He  was  not  to  be  idle,  though  free  from  the 
cares  of  office  and  business.  He  was  one  to  whom  men  came 
for  advice  and  aid,  in  every  variety  of  useful  work.  One  let- 
ter to  an  applicant  for  pecuniary  assistance  and  counsel  might 
serve  as  a  circular  to  be  addressed  to  many  others  seeking  the 
same  favors.  To  a  gentleman  in  Yirginia  he  wrote  a  few  days 
after  he  arrived  at  home : 

"  I  received  this  morning  your  letter  of  yesterday,  with  its  in- 
cisures, and,  while  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  details  of  your 


LETTER  TO   AN   INVENTOR.  707 

beautiful  invention,  I  could  not  but  regret  that  it  is  entirely  out  of 
my  power  to  give  you  the  aid  you  desire.  You  would  understand 
my  position  in  regard  to  applications  from  all  quarters  for  aid 
toward  projects  of  every  kind,  if  you  could  see  the  pile  of  letters  so- 
liciting aid,  which  daily  accumulates  upon  my  table.  It  has  become 
utterly  impossible  to  answer  favorably  the  tenth  part  of  these  appli- 
cations made  to  me.  You  could  scarcely  have  taken  a  more  unfor- 
tunate time  to  solicit  me  at  this  moment  of  my  return  when,  from 
the  condition  of  my  property,  after  an  absence  of  two  years,  I  am 
compelled  to  disburse  some  thousands  to  put  it  in  repair,  and  this 
after  having,  as  late  as  the  16th  instant,  subscribed  to  the  utmost 
of  my  ability,  a  large  sum,  which  will  require  the  utmost  care  and 
economy  on  my  part  to  pay  during  the  remainder  of  my  life. 

"  Let  me  say,  nevertheless,  that  I  consider  your  discovery,  and 
the  invention  based  upon  it,  as  one  of  great  value,  as  one  which,  in 
an  eminent  degree,  has  demands  upon  the  attention  of  the  Govern- 
ment^ in  the  departments  having  care  of  the  public  lands  and  the 
protection  of  our  navigation.  Have  you  made  it  known  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior?"  Each  one  of  these  departments  is  directly  interested  in 
the  results  of  your  invention,  and,  if  they  have  a  contingent  fund  at 
their  disposal,  so  small  a  sum  comparatively  as  you  desire  could  not 
be  better  bestowed  than  in  enabling  you  to  bring  it  before  the 
world  in  its  perfected  shape.  You  have,  at  least,  my  hearty  wishes 
for  your  success." 

He  was  a  willing  and  loving  patron  of  art.  Especially  dear 
to  him  were  the  memories  of  Allston  and  Leslie,  his  teacher  and 
his  fellow-student  in  the  days  of  his  early  struggles.  Before  he 
went  abroad  on  his  last  visit,  he  had  learned  that  a  project  was 
on  foot  to  purchase  Allston's  portrait  by  Leslie,  to  be  presented 
to  the  National  Academy  of  Design.  Instantly  he  determined 
to  purchase  the  picture  of  his  teacher,  painted  by  his  friend,  and 
to  give  it  to  the  Academy  which  he  founded  and  cherished  with 
parental  affection  and  pride.  In  his  letter  to  the  committee  hav- 
ing it  in  charge,  he  said:  "There  are  associations  in  my  mind 
with  those  two  eminent  and  beloved  names  which  appeal  too 
strongly  to  me  to  be  resisted.  Now  I  have  a  favor  to  ask  which 
I  hope  will  not  be  denied.  It  is  that  I  may  be  allowed  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Academy  that  portrait  in  my  own  name.     Yon  can 


708  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.    B.    MORSE. 

appreciate  the  arguments  which  have  influenced  my  wishes  in 
this  respect.  Allston  was  more  than  any  other  person  my  mas- 
ter in  art.  Leslie  was  my  life-long  cherished  friend  and  fellow- 
pupil,  whom  I  loved  as  a  brother.  We  all  lived  together  for 
years  in  the  closest  intimacy  and  in  the  same  house.  Is  there 
not,  then,  a  fitness  that  the  portrait  of  the  master  by  one  distin- 
guished pupil  should  be  presented  by  the  surviving  pupil  to  the 
Academy  over  which  he  presided  in  its  infancy,  as  well  as  as- 
sisted in  its  birth  %  and,  although  divorced  from  art,  cannot  so 
easily  be  divorced  from  the  memories  of  an  intercourse  with 
these  distinguished  friends,  an  intercourse  which  never  for  one 
moment  suffered  interruption,  even  from  a  shadow  of  estrange- 
ment. I  inclose  you  my  check  for  five  hundred  dollars,  leaving 
you  and  the  gentlemen  in  charge  of  the  purchase  to  act  your 
pleasure  in  the  matter." 

While  Professor  Morse  was  in  Europe  in  1866,  the  cele- 
brated painting  of  "  Jeremiah,"  by  Allston,  came  before  the 
public  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  interest.  In  consequence 
of  the  death  of  a  lady  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  for  whom  it 
was  painted  fifty  years  before,  it  was  placed  in  the  Redwood 
Library  at  Newport,  with  a  view  to  its  being  sold ;  when  a  lady 
and  gentleman  of  New  Haven  happened  to  see  it,  who  brought 
back  word  that  this  prize  might  be  secured  for  the  Tale  School 
of  Art  at  the  price  of  seven  thousand  dollars.  This  matter  was 
accordingly  taken  up,  and,  after  some  subscriptions  for  the  pur- 
chase had  been  obtained,  the  council  of  the  school,  through 
the  great  liberality  of  ex-Governor  Gibbs,  of  Newport,  admin- 
istrator of  the  estate  to  which  the  picture  belonged,  were  al- 
lowed to  have  possession  of  it  for  a  limited  time,  in  the  hope 
that  the  proceeds  of  exhibition,  together  with  such  subscriptions 
as  might  be  added  by  visitors,  would  make  up  the  amount  re- 
quired for  the  purchase.  The  painting  represents  the  prophet, 
seated  in  "  the  court  of  the  prison,"  where  he  was  shut  up  for 
the  testimony  which  he  bore  against  the  lying  prophets  and  re- 
creant priests  of  his  generation,  and  is  supposed  to  be  trans- 
ported with  a  vision  of  the  capture  and  spoiling  of  Jerusalem  by 
the  King  of  Babylon.  After  the  picture  had  been  exhibited  for 
some  time  at  New  Haven,  subscriptions  were  solicited  for  the 
purpose  of  purchasing   it   for   the   college.     When  Professor 


THE  TWO   GIFTS.  709 

Morse  returned  from  Europe  (in  1868)  the  subject  was  brought 
to  his  attention,  and  he  requested  permission  to  present  the  pict- 
ure to  the  college.  With  the  consent  of  those  who  had  sub- 
scribed already,  he  assumed  the  entire  expense,  and,  purchasing 
the  picture  by  his  beloved  teacher,  for  seven  thousand  dollars, 
gave  it  to  his  Alma  Mater. 

Thus,  by  these  two  gifts  in  honor  of  his  teacher,  he  endowed 
his  child,  the  Academy,  and  the  College,  his  mother,  with  memo- 
rials of  Allston.  This  gift  of  the  picture  was  soon  followed  by  a 
donation  of  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  building  fund  of  the  The- 
ological Department  of  Yale  College.  President  "Woolsey  wrote 
to  the  Professor  July  27,  1868,  and  said  :  "I  write  as  instructed 
by  the  corporation  of  Yale  College,  to  express  their  gratitude  to 
you  for  your  very  generous  subscription  to  the  fund  for  the 
Theological  building.  Permit  me  also  to  add  my  own  personal 
sense  of  your  munificence.  I  had  the  honor  last  commencement 
to  convey  the  thanks  of  the  Fellows  to  you  for  your  gift  of  All- 
ston's  picture,  afid  I  did  not  think  that  this  would  be  followed 
by  a  still  greater  gift." 

To  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  he  also  presented  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  endow- 
ing a  lectureship  on  the  "  Relation  of  the  Bible  to  the  Sciences," 
and  to  be  named  in  honor  of  his  father,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morse, 
whose  labors  in  the  cause  of  theological  education  and  geographi- 
cal science  rendered  the  testimonial  peculiarly  appropriate. 

BANQUET    m   NEW   YORK. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year  (1868)  his  fellow-citizens  in- 
vited Professor  Morse  to  meet  them  at  a  public  dinner.  The 
letter  of  invitation  was  addressed  to  him  by  a  large  number 
of  distinguished  gentlemen,  who  united  in  saying :  "  Many  of 
your  countrymen,  and  numerous  personal  friends,  desire  to  give 
a  definite  expression  of  the  fact  that  this  country  is  in  full  ac- 
cord with  European  nations  in  acknowledging  your  title  to  the 
position  of  the  Father  of  the  Modern  Telegraphs,  and  at  the 
same  time,  in  a  fitting  manner,  to  welcome  you  to  your  home." 
The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  the  day  designated  for  the 
banquet  was  December  30, 1868.  It  was  designed  as  the  crown- 
ing honor  of  the  great  inventor's  life,  by  his  own  countrymen. 


710  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

The  Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States,  who  had  been  the  lead- 
ing counsel  against  Professor  Morse  in  the  first  lawsuit  brought 
to  defend  his  rights,  was  now  called  to  preside  at  a  banquet 
which  was  to  testify  that,  in  the  judgment  of  his  country  and  the 
world,  the  Telegraph  was  the  child  of  Morse  and  America.  The 
dinner  was  given  at  Delmonico's,  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  Ave- 
nue and  Fourteenth  Street,  New  York.  Some  of  the  most  emi- 
nent persons  in  the  country  were  present ;  the  speeches  and  gen- 
eral proceedings  were  marked  with  good  sense  and  good  feeling. 
The  Hon.  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Chief-Justice,  presided,  having  on 
his  right  Professor  Morse,  and  on  his  left  Sir  Edward  Thornton, 
H.  B.  M.  Minister  to  the  United  States.  About  two  hundred 
gentlemen  sat  down  at  the  dinner.  After  the  blessing  had  been 
invoked  by  the  Rev.  "William  Adams,  D.  D.,  the  banquet  en- 
joyed, and  thanks  returned  by  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Yinton,  D.  D., 
Mr.  Field  presented  letters  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  from  General  Grant ;  from  Speaker  Colfax  ;  from  Admi- 
ral Farragut,  and  others,  and  then  read  a  telegrara  from  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  the  State  in  which  Professor  Morse  was 
born : 

"  Massachusetts  honors  her  two  sons — Franklin  and  Morse.  The 
one  conducted  the  lightning  safely  from  the  sky ;  the  other  con- 
ducts it  beneath  the  ocean,  from  continent  to  continent.  The  one 
tamed  the  lightning ;  the  other  makes  it  minister  to  human  wants 
and  human  progress.  Alexander  H.  Bullock,  Governor." 

"  This  morning,"  said  Mr.  Field,  "  I  sent  a  telegram  to  Lon- 
don, giving  information  that  we  were  to  meet  this  evening  to 
honor  our  fellow-citizen,  Professor  Morse."  The  following  re- 
ply was  received :  , 

"  'London,  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  December  29,  1868. 

"  '  Cyrus  W.  Field,  New  York :  The  members  of  the  Joint  Com- 
mittee of  the  Anglo-American  and  Atlantic  Telegraph  Companies 
hear  with  pleasure  of  the  banquet  to  be  given  this  evening  to  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  and  desire  to  greet  that  distinguished  telegraphist, 
and  wish  him  all  the  compliments  of  the  season.' 

':  This  telegram  was  sent  from  London  at  four  o'clock  this  af- 
ternoon, and  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  your  committee  at 
12.50."     (Applause  and  laughter.) 


THE   CHIEF-JUSTICE   SPEAKS.  711 

The  speeches  that  followed  were  made  by  men  representing 
various  countries  and  interests.  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  the 
British  Minister,  said  that  he  "  had  great  satisfaction  in  being 
able  to  contribute  his  mite  of  that  admiration  and  esteem  for 
Professor  Morse  which  must  be  felt  by  all  for  so  great  a  bene- 
factor of  his  fellow-creatures  and  of  posterity."  When  Chief- 
Justice  Chase  was  about  to  introduce  the  guest  of  the  evening, 
he  made  a  few  remarks,  in  which  he  said  : 

"Many  shining  names  will  at  once  occur  to  any  one  at  all 
familiar  with  the  history  of  the  Telegraph.  Among  them  1  can 
pause  to  mention  only  those  of  Volta,  the  Italian,  to  whose  dis- 
coveries the  battery  is  due  ;  Oersted,  the  Dane,  who  first  discovered 
the  magnetic  properties  of  the  electric  current ;  Ampere  and  Arago, 
the  Frenchmen,  who  prosecuted  still  further  and  most  successfully 
similar  researches ;  then  Sturgeon,  the  Englishman,  who  may  be 
said  to  have  made  the  first  electro-magnet ;  next,  and  not  least  il- 
lustrious among  these  illustrious  men,  our  countryman,  Henry,  who 
first  showed  the  practicability  of  producing  electro-magnetic  effects 
by  means  of  the  galvanic  current,  at  distances  indefinitely  great ; 
and  finally,  Steinheil,  the  German,  who,  after  the  invention  of  the 
Telegraph  in  all  its  material  parts  was  complete,  taught,  in  1837, 
the  use  of  the  ground  as  a  part  of  the  circuit.  These  are  some  of 
those  searchers  for  truth  whose  names  will  be  long  held  in  grateful 
memory,  and  not  among  the  least  of  their  titles  to  gratitude  and 
remembrance  will  be  the  discoveries  which  contributed  to  the  possi- 
bility of  the  modern  Telegraph. 

"  But  these  discoveries  only  made  the  Telegraph  possible.  They 
offered  the  brilliant  opportunity ;  there  was  needed  a  man  to  bring 
into  being  the  new  art  and  the  new  interest  to  which  they  pointed. 
And  it  is  the  providential  distinction  and  splendid  honor  of  the 
eminent  American  who  is  our  guest  to-night  that,  happily  prepared 
by  previous  acquirements  and  pursuits,  he  was  quick  to  seize  the 
opportunity  and  give  to  the  world  the  first  recording  Telegraph. 
Fortunate  man !  thus  to  link  his  name  forever  with  the  greatest 
wonder  and  the  greatest  benefit  of  the  age  !  "  (Great  applause.) 
"  I  give  you, '  Our  guest,  Professor  S.  B.  Morse — the  man  of  science, 
who  explored  the  laws  of  Nature,  wrested  electricity  from  her  em- 
brace, and  made  it  a  missionary  in  the  cause  of  human  progress.'  " 

The  venerable  Professor,  the  father  of -the  Telegraph,  arose, 
under  emotion  too  strong  to  be  concealed,  and  his  rising  was 


\ 


712  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

hailed  with  deafening  applause.  The  whole  company,  on  their 
feet,  gave  cheer  after  cheer,  and  when  the  applause  had  in  a 
measure  subsided  it  broke  out  again  and  again,  as  the  opportu- 
nity was  taken  by  the  entire  assembly  to  express  their  grateful 
admiration  of  the  illustrious  man  before  them.  And  in  that 
body  of  eminent  men,  had  he  been  unknown,  he  would  have 
been  distinguished  by  his  majestic,  patriarchal  appearance  and 
bearing.  At  last  silence  was  obtained  and  the  Professor  began. 
As  much  that  he  said  in  his  sketch  of  the  invention  and  prog- 
ress of  the  Telegraph  has  been  already  rehearsed,  a  few  passages 
only  from  his  speech  will  be  given  : 

"  Various  and  conflicting  memories  crowd  upon  me  at  this  mo- 
ment— memories  which  this  demonstration  has  quickened  into  life. 
What  train  of  thought,  what  incidents  of  the  past,  in  the  brief  mo- 
ments allotted  to  me,  can  I  select  from  this  mass  of  recollections 
which  may  contribute  either  to  your  profit  or  your  pleasure  ? " 

He  then  recounted  the  evidences  he  had  rqceived  from  for- 
eign countries  of  their  sense  of  indebtedness  to  him ;  he  told 
the  story  of  the  invention  of  the  Telegraph  on  board  the  Sully 
in  1832 ;  of  its  exhibition  in  1835  and  1837,  and  its  final  triumph 
in  1844.  He  spoke  of  the  great  scientific  men  whose  discov- 
eries made  the  Telegraph  possible,  and  acknowledged  his  own 
indebtedness  to  them  ;  of  his  early  struggles,  of  the  reluctance 
of  the  Government  to  aid  the  experiment ;  of  the  debate  in  Con- 
gress ;  of  his  offer  to  the  Government  of  the  Telegraph  for  pos- 
tal service ;  of  the  services  of  Alfred  Yail  and  Amos  Kendall 
and  others  who  had  sustained  him  in  his  labors,  and  he  concluded 
his  address  by  saying : 

"  I  have  claimed  for  America  the  origination  of  the  modern 
telegraph  system  of  the  world.  Impartial  history,  I  think,  will  sup- 
port that  claim.  Do  not  misunderstand  me  as  disparaging  or  dis- 
regarding the  labors  and  ingenious  modifications  of  others  in  various, 
countries,  employed  in  the  same  field  of  invention.  Gladly,  did 
time  permit,  would  I  descant  upon  their  great  and  varied  merits. 
Yet,  in  tracing  the  birth  and  pedigree  of  the  modern  Telegraph, 
'  American '  is  not  the  highest  term  of  the  series  that  connects 
the  past  with  the  present ;  there  is  at  least  one  higher  term,  the 
highest  of  all,  which  cannot  and  must  not  be  ignored.     If  not  a 


MR.  HUNTINGTON'S   SPEECH.  713 

sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  a  definite  purpose  in  the  plans 
of  Infinite  Wisdom,  can  the  creation  of  an  instrumentality,  so  vitally 
affecting*  the  interests  of  the  whole  human  race,  have  an  origin  less 
humble  than  the  Father  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift  ?  I  am  sure 
I  have  the  sympathy  of  such  an  assembly  as  is  here  gathered,  if,  in 
all  humility  and  in  the  sincerity  of  a  grateful  heart,  I  use  the  words 
of  inspiration  in  ascribing  honor  and  praise  to  Him  to  whom  first  of 
all  and  most  of  all  it  is  preeminently  due.  '  Not  unto  us,  not  unto 
us,  but  to  God  be  all  the  glory.'  Not  what  hath  man,  but  '  What 
hath  God  wrought  f '  " 

The  Professor  resumed  his  seat  in  the  midst  of  long-con- 
tinued and  hearty  applause.  Speeches  were  then  made  by  Pro- 
fessor Goldwin  Smith,  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts,  A.  A.  Low, 
Esq.,  William  Cuilen  Bryant,  Esq.,  William  Orton,  Esq.,  David 
Dudley  Field,  Esq.,  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge,  Hugh  Allan,  Esq., 
Daniel  Huntington,  Esq.,  and  Governor  Curtin,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr.  Huntington,  the  artist,  a  former  pupil  of  Morse, 
alluded  in  beautiful  terms  to  his  early  associations  with  the 
Professor : 

"  Every  studio,"  he  said,  "  is  more  or  less  a  laboratory.  The 
painter  is  a  chemist,  delving  into  the  secrets  of  pigments,  varnishes, 
mixtures  of  tints,  and  mysterious  preparations  of  grounds  and  over- 
laying of  colors ;  occult  arts,  by  which  the  inward  light  is  made  to 
gleam  from  the  canvas  and  the  warm  flesh  to  glow  and  palpitate. 
The  studio  of  my  beloved  master,  in  whose  honor  we  have  met  to- 
night, was  indeed  a  laboratory.  Vigorous,  life-like  portraits,  poetic 
and  historic  groups,  occasionally  grew  upon  his  easel ;  but  there 
were  many  hours — yes,  days — when,  absorbed  in  study  among  gal- 
vanic batteries  and  mysterious  lines  of  wire,  he  seemed  to  us  like 
an  alchemist  of  the  middle  ages  in  search  of  the  philosopher's  stone. 
I  can  never  forget  the  occasion  when  he  called  his  pupils  together 
to  witness  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  successful  experiment 
with  the  electric  Telegraph.  It  was  in  the  winter  of  1835-'36.  I 
can  now  see  that  rude  instrument,  constructed  with  an  old  stretch- 
ing-frame, a  wooden  clock,  a  home-made  battery,  and  the  wire 
stretched  many  times  round  the  walls  of  the  studio.  With  eager 
interest  we  gathered  about  it,  as  our  master  explained  its  operation, 
while  with  a  click,  click,  the  pencil,  by  a  succession  of  dots  and 
lines,  recorded  the  message  in  cipher.     The  idea  was  born.     The 


714  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

words  circled  that  upper  chamber  as  they  do  now  the  globe.  But 
we  had  little  faith.  To  us  it  seemed  a  dream  of  enthusiasm.  "We 
grieved  to  see  the  sketch  upon  the  canvas  untouched.  We  longed 
to  see  him  again  calling  into  life  events  in  our  country's  history, 
but  it  was  not  to  be.  God's  purposes  were  being  accomplished,  and 
now  the  world  is  witness  to  his  triumph.  Yet  the  love  of  art  still 
lives  in  some  inner  corner  of  his  heart,  and  I  know  he  can  never 
enter  the  studio  of  a  painter  and  see  the  artist  silently  bringing 
from  the  canvas  forms  of  life  and  beauty,  but  he  feels  a  tender 
twinge  as  one  who  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  beautiful  girl  he  loved 
in  his  youth  whom  another  has  snatched  away. 

"  Finally,  my  dear  master  and  father  in  art,  allow  me,  in  this  mo- 
ment of  your  triumph  in  the  field  of  discovery,  to  greet  you  in  the 
name  of  your  brother  artists  with  '  All  hail ! '  As  an  artist  you 
might  have  spent  life  worthily  in  turning  God's  blessed  daylight 
into  sweet  hues  of  rainbow  colors  and  into  breathing  forms  for  the 
delight  and  consolation  of  men,  but  it  has  been  his  will  that  you 
should  train  the  lightnings,  the  sharp  arrows  of  his  anger,  into  the 
swift  yet  gentle  messengers  of  peace  and  love." 

When  Mr.  Huntington  had  concluded,  the  ladies,  who  had 
graced  the  banquet  by  their  presence,  began  to  retire.  The 
president,  however,  announced  the  last  toast,  "  The  Ladies," 
and  said :  "  This  is  the  most  inspiring  theme  of  all ;  but  the 
theme  itself  seems  to  be  vanishing  from  us — indeed"  (after 
a  pause),  "has  already  vanished"  (after  another  pause  and  a 
glance  around  the  room),  "  and  the  gentleman  who  was  to  have 
responded  seems  also  to  have  vanished  with  his  theme.  I  may 
assume,  therefrom,  that  the  duties  of  the  evening  are  performed, 
and  its  enjoyments  are  at  an  end." 

This  testimonial  by  his  own  countrymen,  calling  forth,  as  it 
did,  expressions  from  the  press  and  from  men  of  science  and 
practical  knowledge  of  the  Telegraph  in  all  parts  of  his  own 
country  and  in  distant  lands,  was  justly  regarded  by  Professor 
Morse  as  the  final  verdict  in  his  case.  He  accepted  it  with 
grateful  appreciation,  esteeming  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  as 
well  as  pleasing  testimonies  to  the  greatness  and  usefulness  of 
his  labors.  He  had,  however,  no  relaxation  from  the  work  of 
his  life.  The  report  of  his  examination  of  the  telegraphic  in- 
struments at  the  Paris  Exposition  was  still  unfinished.     He  had' 


HIS   LEG  BROKEN.  715 

begun  it  in  Paris  and  continued  it  on  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where 
he  fled  for  rest.  He  wrought  upon  it  in  Dresden.  He  brought 
it  home  with  him  and  spent  his  summer  days  upon  it  in  his 
rural  home  at  Poughkeepsie.  It  was  now  his  daily  task.  He 
completed  it  in  the  course  of  the  year  1869  and  it  was  published 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  making  a  document 
of  nearly  two  hundred  pages,  illustrated  with  numerous  drawings, 
and  stored  with  valuable  information.  JSTor  was  this  the  chief 
labor  with  which  the  man  of  nearly  fourscore  years  was  bur- 
dened. "  Such  is  the  weight  of  my  correspondence,"  he  writes 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  in  February,  1869,  "  I  have  the  pen  in 
my  hand  from  the  earliest  daylight  until  twelve  at  midnight." 
But  his  patience  and  perseverance  were  sufficient  for  the  day  and 
the  burden.  He  was  conscious  of  the  progress  of  time,  and  he 
worked  on  steadily,  that  when  the  end  came  he  might  be  found 
doing. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May  he  went  up  to  his  country-seat 
with  his  family,  and  enjoyed  again  the  delights  of  the  country 
he  so  much  loved.  The  summer  was  sadly  broken  in  upon  by 
an  accident  that  would  have  been  easily  fatal  to  most  men  of 
his  great  age.  His  foot  tripped  upon  the  stair  and  he  fell, 
breaking  both  bones  of  his  leg  below  the  knee.  It  was  sup- 
posed, almost  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  he  could  not  survive 
the  shock.  He  was  laid  upon  his  bed  for  three  months,  with 
his  leg  in  the  stocks.  But  the  months  were  cheerful  and  peace- 
ful. He  received  his  friends  with  cordiality.  He  made  no 
complaints,  but  quietly  waited  the  recuperating  powers  of  Nature. 
In  due  time  he  was  about  again  on  crutches  ;  then  these  were 
laid  aside  and  he  walked  erect,  firm  and  freely  as  ever.  This 
accident  prevented  him  from  assisting  at  the  inauguration  of  the 
statue  of  Alexander  Humboldt  in  the  Central  Park,  to  which 
he  had  contributed,  but  his  letter  was  deposited  in  the  pedi- 
ment. He  expressed  his  regret  at  being  unable  to  be  present, 
and  said : 

"  I  owed  my  personal  acquaintance  with  Humboldt  to  his  knowl- 
edge of  my  father  by  correspondence  many,  many  years  ago,  and 
when  I  was  a  student  in  the  arts  in  Paris,  in  the  years  1831,  1832, 
he  took  pains  to  find  me  out,  and  I  have  since  often  called  to  mind 
the  friendly  interest  he  manifested  in  the  progress  of  my  studies  of 


716  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  works  of  the  old  masters  in  the  Louvre.  It  was  his  custom,  for 
some  time  in  the  winter  of  the  years  1831-1832,  to  recreate  during  a 
portion  of  the  day  in  that  splendid  gallery,  and  more  than  once  did  he 
linger  by  my  easel,  and,  requesting  me  to  relieve  myself  awhile  from 
my  studies,  he  desired  me  to  accompany  him  in  the  examination  of 
some  of  the  masterpieces  of  art.  At  this  time  I  frequently  met  him 
at  the  soirees  of  the  Baron  Gerard,  where  not  merely  the  distin- 
guished artist,  but  men  illustrious  in  all  the  departments  of  science, 
and  of  various  nations,  weekly  assembled.  At  these  soirees  I  was 
first  struck  with  the  wonderful  readiness  of  the  learned  Humboldt, 
in  conversing  in  so  many  different  languages ;  Spaniards,  Turks, 
Swedes,  Danes,  Russians,  as  well  as  Germans,  French,  and  English, 
would  address  him  in  almost  the  same  breath,  and  the  prompti- 
tude of  his  passing  from  one  language  to  another,  and  the  fluency 
and  vivacity  with  which  he  alike  conversed  with  all  of  them,  were 
the  source  of  frequent  remark  and  admiration.  When,  after  an  in- 
terval of  six  years,  I  revisited  Paris  in  1838,  in  a  different  capacity, 
with  my  Telegraph  invention,  I  again  met  at  the  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences with  Baron  Humboldt.  Invited  by  the  Perpetual  Secretary, 
the  renowned  Arago,  to  a  seat  within  the  pale  of  assembled  mem- 
bers, I  sat  at  a  short  distance  from  Baron  Humboldt,  and  I  can  never 
forget  the  feelings  of  encouragement,  in  those  anxious  moments, 
when,  after  the  lucid  explanation  of  my  Telegraph  to  the  Academy 
by  M.  Arago,  the  Baron  Humboldt  arose,  and,  taking  my  hand,  con- 
gratulated me  and  thanked  me  before  them  all.  It  was  not  until 
the  summer  of  1856  that,  traveling  in  the  north  of  Europe,  I  visited 
Berlin,  and  again  saw,  and  for  the  last  time,  this  illustrious  man,  in 
one  of  his  homes  in  the  Royal  Palace  of  Potsdam.  I  was  received 
with  his  usual  kindness  of  manner.  He  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of 
the  probable  future  of  American  science,  and  warmed  with  more 
than  usual  enthusiasm  in  expatiating  with  praise  upon  the  scientific 
labors  of  Maury  and  Dana.  Of  the  latter,  he  said  that  his  then  re- 
cent work  was  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  science  of 
the  age.  In  parting  with  him,  he  alluded  to  his  advancing  years, 
spoke  with  feeling  of  the  probability  that  we  should  never  meet 
again,  and,  presenting  me  with  his  photographic  portrait,  and  his 
autograph  upon  it,  bade  me  farewell." 

STATUE    OF   MORSE. 

.Few  men  are  permitted  to  see  their  own  statues,  erected  by. 
their  grateful  contemporaries.     And  of  many  inventors  it  is  said 


THE   MORSE   STATUE.  717 

that,  wanting  bread,  they  receive  only  a  stone,  and  not  even 
that  until  long  after  they  have  been  starved  to  death.  It  was 
the  good  fortune  of  Professor  Morse  to  live  until  thousands  of 
his  f ellow-ereatures  were  enjoying  the  substantial  benefits  re- 
sulting from  his  labors.  The  affection  with  which  he  regarded 
all  those  who  were  employed  in  developing  and  using  his  inven- 
tion was  reciprocated  by  the  tens  of  thousands  of  operators  and 
officers  in  every  land,  and  especially  in  all  parts  of  his  native 
land.  To  a  vast  number  of  men  and  women,  his  Telegraph  fur- 
nished, as  means  of  support,  a  simple,  useful,  agreeable,  and  re- 
munerative employment.  It  was  an  invention  of  their  own  to 
make  some  testimonial  of  their  gratitude  and  appreciation  of  his 
service  to  them  as  well  as  to  the  whole  world.  In  the  year 
1869  an  organization  was  formed  in  Alleghany  City,  Pennsyl- 
vania, "  to  testify  to  Professor  Morse  the  veneration  and  respect 
entertained  for  him  by  the  operators,  and  others."  This  associa- 
tion was  soon  made  national,  with  Mr.  James  D.  Peid,  of  New 
York,  as  chairman ;  Mr.  John  Horner,  New  York,  treasurer ; 
and  Mr.  Robert  B.  Hoover,  who  originated  the  movement,  as 
secretary.  An  executive  committee,  covering  the  whole  coun- 
try, was  appointed.  The  Hon.  William  Orton,  President  of  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  issued  a  letter,  saying: 
"  The  movement  is  one  which  merits,  and  will  receive,  my 
warmest  sympathy,  and  most  hearty  encouragement.  The  ven- 
erable '  Father  of  all  the  Telegraphs '  has  long  since  passed  the 
meridian  of  life ;  and,  although  his  step  is  firm  and  his  eye  un- 
dimmed,  he  is  nearing  rapidly  the  verge  of  that  dark  river  from 
whose  farther  shore  no  message  ever  comes.  It  becomes,  there- 
fore, all  who  know  and  love  him,  as  all  who  know  him  do,  not 
to  delay  their  tributes  of  respect  and  affection.  And  I  am  con- 
fident that  all  connected  with  us  will  take  pleasure  in  rendering 
whatever  assistance  they  are  able."  The  shape  the  testimonial 
would  finally  take  was  not  then  determined. .  A  circular  was 
telegraphed  over  the  land  proposing  that  each  person  connected 
with  the  lines  should  contribute  one  dollar,  although  more  or 
less  would  be  received,  with  the  hope  that  every  one,  from  the 
president  to  the  messenger-boy,  might  have  a  share  in  the  work. 
The  subscriptions  began  to  come  in  with  the  usual  speed  of  the 
Telegraph.     Its  fitting  motto  would  be,  "  "What  is  to  be  done 


718  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

must  be  done  quickly."  The  cheerful  and  general  response  jus- 
tified the  contemplation  of  a  memorial  worthy  of  the  man  and 
the  country  that  would  do  him  honor.  It  was  decided  to  erect 
a  bronze  statue  of  Professor  Morse.  The  Central  Park  in  the 
city  of  New  York  was  selected  as  the  most  appropriate  place  for 
its  erection.  Permission  was  cheerfully  granted  by  the  Park 
Commission.  The  proposal  was  hailed  by  the  public  press  as  emi- 
nently becoming  and  deserved.  Within  two  years  of  the  concep- 
tion of  the  idea  to  make  the  testimonial,  the  money  was  raised  by 
these  small  contributions,  the  statue  was  completed,  and  the  day 
appointed  for  its  inauguration.  The  most  extensive  and  judicious 
arrangements  were  made  for  the  celebration  of  the  day.  Dele- 
gates, deputed  by  telegraphic  associations,  arrived  from  Penn- 
sylvania, Mississippi,  District  of  Columbia,  Maryland,  Connect- 
icut, Canada,  Louisiana,  Massachusetts,  Georgia,  Ohio,  Tennes- 
see, Illinois,  ISTew  Jersey,  Iowa,  North  Carolina,  Michigan,  Ken- 
tucky, California,  Nebraska,  Indiana,  Vermont,  Maine,  Rhode 
Island,  West  Virginia,  Virginia,  Minnesota,  and  Nova  Scotia. 
The  day  (June  10,  1871)  was  brilliant,  cool,  and  auspicious.  A 
thousand  telegraphic  visitors,  gentlemen  and  ladies  from  abroad, 
were  received  as  guests,  and  spent  the  forenoon  in  making  an 
excursion,  on  board  a  steamer,  around  the  city;  giving  three 
cheers  for  Professor  Morse  as  they  landed.  The  afternoon  saw 
the  park  alive  with  the  people  of  the  city  and  surrounding  coun- 
try, gathered  in  multitudes ;  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  town, 
and  masses  of  people  who  knew  and  prized  the  value  of  labor, 
thought,  and  patient  perseverance,  now  to  be  honored.  The 
statue  stood  in  the  angle  between  two  platforms  for  the  invited 
guests,  and  was  wrapped  in  the  folds  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
The  band  from  Governor's  Island  was  in  attendance  and  played 
a  selection  of  national  airs. 

Shortly  after  four  o'clock,  amid  cheers  from  the  multitude 
assembled,  Governor  John  T.  Hoffman  arose  and  delivered  an 
eloquent  address.  He  said :  "  If  the  inventor  of  the  alphabet  be 
deserving  of  the  highest  honors,  so  is  he  whose  great  achieve- 
ment marks  this  epoch  in  the  history  of  language — the  inven- 
tor of  the  Electric  Telegraph.  We  intend,  so  far  as  in  us  lies, 
that  the  men  who  come  after  us  shall  be  at  no  loss  to  discover 
his  name  for  want  of  recorded  testimony." 


CELEBRATION   IN   THE   ACADEMY.  719 

After  Governor  Hoffman  had  closed  his  address,  Governor 
Claflin  and  the  Hon.  ¥m.  Orton  threw  aside  the  drapery,  and 
displayed  the  statue.  A  tumultuous  outburst  of  applause  fol- 
lowed, the  band  playing  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner." 

The  statue  is  of  heroic  size,  and  was  modeled  by  Byron  M. 
Pickett,  and  cast  at  the  National  Fine- Art  Foundery  of  New 
York,  by  Maurice  I.  Power.  Professor  Morse  is  represented 
holding  the  first  message  sent  over  the  wires,  and  devoutly  rec- 
ognizing the  truth  of  its  language  :  "  What  hath  God  wrought ! " 
Addresses  were  then  delivered  by  William  Cullen  Bryant,  Esq., 
and  by  the  mayor  of  the  city,  A.  Oakey  Hall,  Esq.  Prayer  was 
offered  by  Rev.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  D.  D.  The  Christian  Dox- 
ology  was  sung  by  the  multitude. 

In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  the  Academy  of  Music  was 
thronged.  The  most  eminent  men  of  the  country  participated 
in  the  reception  given  to  the  venerable  Professor,  who  was 
greeted  with  applause  as  he  entered  and  took  his  seat  upon  the 
platform.  Hon.  William  Orton  presided.  Rev.  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby,  Chancellor  of  the  University,  offered  prayer.  Addresses 
were  made  by  Mr.  Orton,  Dr.  George  B.  Loring,  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  and  Rev.  Dr.  George  W.  Samson.  At  the  hour 
of  9  p.  m.,  the  chairman  announced  that  the  telegraphic  instru- 
ment now  before  him,  the  original  register  employed  in  actual 
service,  was  connected  with  all  the  wires  of  America,  and  the 
touch  of  the  finger  on  the  key  would  soon  vibrate  throughout 
the  continent.  Miss  Sadie  E.  Cornwell,  who  had  been  selected 
to  transmit  a  message,  was  then  conducted  to  her  place  by  Mr. 
Applebaugh,  and  sent  the  following  dispatch,  in  the  midst  of 
profound  silence : 

"  Greeting-  and  thanks  to  the  telegraph  fraternity 
throughout  the  land.  glory  to  god  in  the  highest,  on 
earth  peace,  good-will  to  men." 

At  the  last  click  of  the  instrument,  Professor  Morse,  es- 
corted by  Mr.  Orton,  approached  the  table  and  took  his  seat. 
As  his  fingers  touched  the  key,  tremendous  cheers  rung  through 
the  house,  but  were  stopped  by  a  gesture  from  Mr.  Orton. 
Again  impressive  silence  fell  on  the  house.  Slowly  the  sounder 
struck  "  S.  F.  B.  Morse ; "  the  Professor's  hand  fell  from  the 
key,  the  entire  audience  rose,  and  a  wild  storm  of  enthusiasm 


720  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

swept  through,  the  house,  which  was  continued  for  some  time, 
ladies  waving  their  handkerchiefs,  and  venerable  men  cheering 
as  joyously  as  the  youngest.  Professor  Morse,  visibly  affected, 
resumed  his  chair  beside  the  president,  and  for  several  moments 
pressed  his  brow  with  his  hands.  When  the  excitement  had 
subsided,  Mr,  Orton  said :  "  Thus  the  Father  of  the  Telegraph 
bids  farewell  to  his  children." 

The  current  was  then  switched  off  to  an  instrument  be- 
hind the  scenes.  Quickly  along  the  wires  came  responses  from 
Milwaukee,  Jacksonville,  Montreal,  Toronto,  Quebec,  Chicago, 
Washington,  New  Orleans,  Portsmouth,  Louisville,  Philadel- 
phia, Charleston,  Ottawa,  Ontario,  San  Francisco,  Pittsburg, 
Memphis,  Cincinnati,  Mobile,  Halifax,  Havana. 

Dispatches  were  received  later  in  the  night  from  the  Hong- 
Kong  Chamber  of  Commerce,  from  Bombay,  and  Singapore. 

General  1ST.  P.  Banks  then  made  an  address,  and  a  poem  by 
J.  H.  Watson  was  recited.  Mr.  W.  H.  Pope,  the  Rev.  H.  M. 
Gallagher,  J.  K.  Walcott,  Esq.,  Mr.  J.  D.  Reid,  the  chief  pro- 
moter of  the  whole  movement,  and  the  Hon.  Charles  P.  Daly, 
made  addresses,  the  latter  introducing  Professor  Morse. 

As  the  venerable  Professor  arose  to  respond,  the  whole  au- 
dience broke  into  a  warm  cheer  of  salutation.  His  long  white 
beard  falling  on  his  breast,  his  erect  and  graceful  form,  and  his 
evident  emotion,  commanded  the  admiring  sympathy  of  the  au- 
dience. After  a  few  words  of  introduction,  while  struggling 
to  control  his  emotions,  he  said : 

"  When  I  consider  that  he  who  rules  supreme  over  the  ways  and 
destinies  of  man  often  makes  use  of  the  feeblest  instruments  to  ac- 
complish his  benevolent  purposes  to  man,  as  if,  by  grandest  con- 
trast, to  point  the  mind  with  more  marked  effect  to  him  as  their  au- 
thor, I  cheerfully  take  my  place  on  the  lowest  seat  at  his  footstool. 
It  is  his  pleasure,  however,  to  work  by  human  instrumentality. 
You  have  chosen  to  impersonate,  in  the  statue  this  day  erected,  the 
invention  rather  than  the  inventor,  and  it  is  of  no  small  significance 
that  in  the  attitude  so  well  chosen,  and  so  admirably  executed  by 
the  talented  young  sculptor  whose  work  presents  him  so  promi- 
nently and  so  favorably  before  you,  he  has  given  permanence  to 
that  pregnant  and  just  sentence  which  was  the  first  public  utter- 
ance of  the  telegraph  :  '  What  hath  God  wrought ! ' 


ADDRESS  OF  PROFESSOR  MORSE.  721 

"  In  the  carrying  out  of  any  plan  of  improvement,  however 
grand  or  feasible,  no  single  individual  could  possibly  accomplish  it 
without  the  aid  of  others.  We  are,  none  of  us,  so  powerful  that 
we  can  dispense  with  the  assistance,  in  various  departments  of  the 
work,  of  those  whose  experience  and  knowledge  must  supply  the 
needed  aid  of  their  expertness.  It  is  not  sufficient  that  a  brilliant 
project  be  proposed,  that  its  modes  of  accomplishment  are  foreseen 
and  properly  devised ;  there  are,  in  every  part  of  the  enterprise, 
other  minds,  and  other  agencies  to  be  consulted  for  information  and 
counsel  to  protect  the  whole  plan.  The  Chief-Justice,  in  delivering 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  says  :  '  It  can  make  no  difference 
whether  he '  (the  inventor)  '  derives  his  information  from  books  or 
from  conversation  with  men  skilled  in  the  science' — and  '  the  fact 
that  Morse  sought  and  obtained  the  necessary  information  and 
counsel  from  the  best  sources,  and  acted  upon  it,  neither  impairs 
his  rights  as  an  inventor  nor  detracts  from  his  merits.'  The  invent- 
or must  seek  and  employ  the  skilled  mechanician  in  his  workshop, 
to  put  the  invention  into  practical  form,  and  for  this  purpose  some 
pecuniary  means  are  required,  as  well  as  mechanical  skill.  Both 
these  were  at  hand.  Alfred  Vail,  of  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  with 
his  father  and  brother,  came  to  the  help  of  the  unclothed  infant,  and 
with  their  funds  and  mechanical  skill  put  it  into  a  condition  cred- 
itably to  appear  before  the  Congress  of  the  nation.  To  these  New 
Jersey  friends  is  due  the  first  important  aid  in  the  progress  of  the 
invention.  Aided,  also,  by  the  talent  and  scientific  skill  of  Pro- 
fessor Gale,  my  esteemed  colleague  in  the  University,  the  Tele- 
graph appeared  in  Washington  in  1838,  a  suppliant  for  the  means 
to  demonstrate  its  power.  To  the  Hon.  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  then  chair- 
man of  the  House  Committee  of  Commerce,  belongs  the  credit  of  a 
just  appreciation  of  the  new  invention,  and  of  a  zealous  advocacy 
of  an  experimental  essay  and  the  inditing  of  an  admirably  written 
report  in  its  favor,  signed  by  every  member  of  the  committee.  It 
was,  nevertheless,  thrown  aside  among  the  unfinished  business  of 
the  session;  and  now  commenced  days  of  trial.  Years  of  delay 
were  yet  before  it.  It  was  not  till  1842  that  it  was  again  submit- 
ted to  Congress.  Ferris  and  Kennedy,  and  Winthrop  and  Aycrigg, 
McClay  and  Wood,  and  many  others  in  the  House,  far-seeing  states- 
men, rallied  to  its  support,  and  at  length,  by  a  bare  majority,  the 
bill  that  was  necessary  was  carried  through  the  ordinary  forms,  and 
sent  to  the  Senate,  where  it  met  with  no  opposition,  and  was  passed 
the  last  night  of  the  session. 
46 


722  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

"  Now  commenced  a  new  series  of  trials,  to  which  it  is  unneces- 
sary here  more  than  to  allude. 

"  To  Ezra  Cornell,  whose  noble  benefactions  to  his  State  and  the 
country  have  placed  his  name  by  the  side  of  Cooper  and  Peabody, 
high  on  the  roll  of  public  benefactors,  is  due  the  credit  of  early  and 
effective  aid  in  the  superintendence  and  erection  of  the  first  public 
line  of  telegraph  ever  established. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  success  of  the  experimental  essay,  an- 
other important  step  was  necessary  ere  the  invention  could  demon- 
strate its  vast  utility.  It  was  not  until  the  skill  and  experience  of 
the  best  Postmaster-General  that  had  ever  held  that  office,  the  Hon. 
Amos  Kendall,  were  brought  into  requisition,  that,  amid  many  dis- 
couragements, the  various  companies  were  organized,  and  in  the 
hands  of  such  enterprising  men  as  Sibley,  who  united  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific,  and  Swain,  and  Wade,  and  a  host  of  determined  men, 
whose  names  would  read  like  the  pages  of  a  dictionary,  this  vast 
country,  from  the  northern  boundaries  of  Canada  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  were 
webbed- with  telegraphic  wires."     (Applause.) 

"  Another  grand  stride  was  yet  to  be  taken,  ere  international 
communication  could  be  established. 

"  In  October,  1842,  the  first  submarine  telegraph  cable  was  laid 
by  me,  one  moonlight  night,  in  the  harbor  of  this  city,  which 
proved  experimentally  the  practicability  of  submarine  telegraphy, 
and  from  the  result  of  this  success  I  ventured,  the  year  after,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  predict  the  certainty  of 
an  Atlantic  Telegraph.  It  was  then  believed  to  be  a  visionary 
dream ;  and,  had  the  individual  carrying  out  of  so  bold  an  enter- 
prise depended  upon  me  alone,  it  might  still  have  been  a  dream. 
But  at  this  crisis  another  mind  was  touched  with  the  necessary  en- 
thusiasm, admirably  fitted  in  every  particular,  by  indomitable  ener- 
gy and  perseverance,  and  foresight,  as  well  as  financial  skill  and  in- 
fluence, to  undertake  the  novel  attempt.  To  Cyrus  W.  Field,  more 
than  to  any  other  individual,  belongs  the  honor  of  carrying  to  com- 
pletion this  great  undertaking.  Associating  with  himself  Cooper, 
and  Taylor,  and  Roberts,  and  White,  and  Hunt,  and  Dudley  Field, 
and  others,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and,  two  years  later,  Pea- 
body,  and  Brett,  and  Brooking-,  and  Lamson,  and  Gurney,  and  Mor- 
gan, and  others,  in  Great  Britain,  making  the  ocean  but  an  insig- 
nificant ferry  by  his  repeated  crossings,  undaunted  by  temporary 
failures  and  unforeseen  accidents,  he  rested  not  till  Britain  and 


TRIBUTES  TO  OTHERS.  723 

America  were  united  in  telegraphic  bonds — the  Old  and  the  New 
world  in  instantaneous  communication."     (Cheers.) 

"  If  modern  progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences  have  given  unpre- 
cedented facilities  for  the  diifusion  of  the  Telegraph  throughout  the 
world,  back  of  all  are  the  former  discoveries  and  inventions  of  the 
scientific  minds  of  Europe  and  America — Volta,  Oersted,  Arago, 
Schweigger,  Gauss  and  Weber,  Steinheil,  Faraday,  Daniell,  and 
Grove,  and  a  host  of  brilliant  minds  in  Europe,  with  Professors  Da- 
na and  Henry,  in  our  own  country,  in  the  past,  and  the  more  mod- 
ern discoveries  and  inventions  of  Thomson,  of  Whitehouse,  of  Cooke, 
of  Varley,  of  Glass  and  Canning,  and  numerous  others.  These  all, 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  contributed  to  the  grand  result.  There 
is  not  a  name  I  have  mentioned,  and  many  whom  I  have  not  men- 
tioned, whose  career  in  science  or  experience  in  mechanical  and  en- 
gineering and  nautical  tactics,  or  in  financial  practice,  might  not  be 
the  theme  of  volumes,  rather  than  of  brief  mention  in  an  ephemeral 
address.  To-night  you  have  before  you  a  sublime  proof  of  the 
grand  progress  of  the  Telegraph  in  its  march  around  the  globe. 

"  It  is  but  a  few  days  since  our  veritable  antipodes  became  tele- 
graphically united  to  us.  We  can  speak  to  and  receive  an  answer 
in  a  few  seconds  of  time  from  Hong-Kong,  in  China,  where  ten 
o'clock  to-night  here  is  ten  o'clock  in  the  day,  and  it  is  perhaps  a 
debatable  question  whether  their  ten  o'clock  is  ten  to-day  or  ten 
to-morrow.  China  and  New  York  are  in  interlocutory  communica- 
tion. We  know  the  fact,  but  can  imagination  realize  the  fact? 
But  I  must  not  further  trespass  on  your  patience  at  this  late 
hour. 

"  I  cannot  close  without  the  expression  of  my  cordial  thanks  to 
my  long-known,  long-tried,  and  honored  friend  Reid,  whose  unwea- 
ried labors  early  contributed  so  effectively  to  the  establishment  of 
telegraph-lines,  and  who  in  a  special  manner,  as  chairman  of  your 
Memorial  Fund,  has  so  faithfully  and  successfully  and  admirably 
carried  to  completion  your  flattering  design. 

"  To  the  eminent  Governors  of  this  State  and  the  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, who  have  given  to  this  demonstration  their  honored  pres- 
ence ;  to  my  excellent  friend  the  distinguished  orator  of  the  day ;  to 
the  Mayor  and  city  authorities  of  New  York ;  to  the  Park  Commis- 
sioners ;  to  the  officers  and  managers  of  the  various  and  even  rival 
telegraph  companies,  who  have  so  cordially  united  on  this  occasion ; 
to  the  numerous  citizens,  ladies  and  gentlemen ;  and,  though  last, 
not  least,  to  every  one  of  my  large  and  increasing  family  of  tele- 


724  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.    MORSE. 

graph  children,  who  have  honored  me  with  the  proud  title  of  Father, 
I  tender  my  cordial  thanks."     (Applause.) 

At  the  close  of  Professor  Morse's  address,  Rev.  Dr.  Ormis- 
ton  offered  prayer,  and  the  assembly  retired,  many  seeking  the 
opportunity  to  take  the  Professor  by  the  hand,  and  to  bid  him 
an  affectionate  farewell. 


CHAPTEE   XXI. 

LITEEAEY    AND    RELIGIOUS    LIFE. 

A  READY   WEITEB —  STUDIES    IN   HIS    DEPARTMENT  —  ATJTHOESHIP  —  LTTOEETIA 

MAEIA   DAVIDSON THE   SERENADE  —  ROMAN    OATHOLIO    OONTROVEEST  — 

FOREIGN  CONSPIRACY — CONFESSIONS  OF  A  PEIEST — GENEEAL  LAFAYETTE'S 
REMARK — OTJR  LIBERTIES  DEFENDED — IMMINENT  DANGERS — DEFENSE  OF 
HIS  INVENTION — RELIGIOUS  LIFE — ANALYSIS  OF  HIS  CHRISTIAN  OHAEAC- 
TEE — SKETCH  BY  REV.  DR.  WHEELEE — ANTICIPATIONS  OF  DEATH — DEATH 
OF   HIS   BROTHER    RICHARD — THE   THREE    BEOTHEES — THE   TOETOISE   AND 

HAEE — IN   HIS   LIBEARY ASIATIC    SOCIETY EVANGELICAL   ALLIANCE  — 

LITEEAEY  AND  BENEVOLENT  LABORS — DOMESTIC  PEACE — THE  EVENING 
OF  LIFE. 

PEOFESSOE  MOESE  held  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer.  His 
genius,  learning,  and  taste,  were  illustrated  by  many  and 
large  contributions  to  the  press.  At  the  foundation  of  the  Na- 
tional Academy  of  Design  he  was  compelled  to  enter  the  lists 
in  a  controversy  that  required  careful  inquiry,  extensive  reading, 
and  mature  reflection.  He  acquitted  himself  well  in  a  dis- 
cussion with  the  North  American  Review,  and  from  that 
time  onward,  notwithstanding  his  native  modesty  and  timidity, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  enter  the  field  of  debate  at  the  call  of 
duty.  His  addresses  before  the  Academy,  and  his  lectures  as 
Professor  of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  the  University,  are  models 
of  graceful  rhetoric  and  elaborate  argument.  For  these  dis- 
courses he  made  preparation  by  patient  and  exhaustive  research 
among  the  best  authors  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  making 
copious  quotations  from  them  into  his  note-books,  and  reprodu- 
cing them  with  great  skill  and  effect. 

The  first  volume  that  appeared  in  his  name  was  a  Memoir 
with  the  "  Eemains  of  Lucretia  Maria  Davidson."  She  was  a 
remarkable  young  lady,  who  died  at  Plattsburg,  IS".  Y.,  in  1825, 


726  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

in  the  seventeenth  year  of  her  age,  having  displayed  an  extraor- 
dinary poetic  faculty,  and  produced  many  poems  of  unusual 
merit.  The  Hon.  Moss  Kent,  of  Plattsburg,  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  her  wonderful  gifts,  undertook  the  office  of  patron, 
and  at  his  expense  she  was  placed  in  the  Troy  Female  Seminary 
to  pursue  a  thorough  course  of  study.  Her  health  declined,  and 
she  was  laid  in  an  early  grave.  Mr.  Kent  placed  all  her  papers 
in  the  hands  of  Professor  Morse,  with  the  request  that  he  would 
edit  them  and  prepare  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  young 
author.  This  work  he  accomplished  with  fidelity  and  delicate 
sensibility.  The  volume  was  published  by  G.  &  C.  Carvill, 
New  York,  1827. 

One  of  his  relatives,  a  lady,  relates  an  incident  in  a  visit  he 
made  to  her  at  TTtica,  1ST.  Y.,  in  the  year  1827.  He  had  been 
playfully  asserting  his  ability  to  write  poetry  as  well  as  to  paint 
portraits,  and  she  denied  his  possession  of  any  genius  in  that 
direction.  "  Give  me  a  subject,"  he  said,  "  and  I  will  show  you 
what  I  can  do."  It  had  happened  a  few  nights  previously  that 
the  yoUng  lady  had  been  serenaded,  but  unfortunately  she  slept 
soundly  through  the  whole  performance.  This  had  naturally 
been  the  subject  of  much  amusing  conversation,  and  she  replied 
to  his  demand  for  a  subject,  "  Take  the  serenade."  The  next 
day  he  produced  and  read  a  poem  on  that  theme.  A  few  weeks 
afterward,  being  in  ISTew  York,  he  was  requested  by  Gulian  C. 
Yerplanck,  Esq.,  to  make  a  contribution  to  "  The  Talisman,"  an 
annual  which  Mr.  Yerplanck  was  editing.  Mr.  Morse  submitted 
"  The  Serenade ; "  Mr.  Yerplanck  was  delighted  with  it,  and 
said,  "  You  must  make  a  picture  to  accompany  it."  Mr.  Morse 
then  made  a  picture,  which  was  engraved  on  steel,  and  published 
in  "  The  Talisman  "  of  1828,  with  the  poem.  For  a  copy  of  it 
we  are  indebted  to  "William  C.  Bryant,  Esq.,  who  kindly  copied 
it  with  his  own  hand  from  "  The  Talisman,"  for  this  volume : 

"THE  SERENADE. 

"Haste!  'tis  the  stillest  hour  of  night, 
The  moon  sheds  down  her  palest  light, 
And  sleep  has  chained  the  lake  and  hill, 
The  wood,  the  plain,  the  babbling  rill; 
And  where  yon  ivied  lattice  shows 
My  fair  one  slumbers  in  repose. 


SERENADE,   CONTINUED.  727 

Come,  ye  that  know  the  lovely  maid, 
And  help  prepare  the  serenade. 
Hither,  before  the  night  is  flown, 
Bring  instruments  of  every  tone ; 
But  lest  with  noise  ye  wake,  not  lull 
Her  dreaming  fancy,  ye  must  cull 
Such  only  as  shall  soothe  the  mind 
And  leave  the  harshest  all  behind ; 
Bring  not  the  thundering  drum,  nor  yet 
The  harshly-shrieking  clarionet, 
Nor  screaming  hautboy,  trumpet  shrill, 
Nor  clanging  cymbals ;  but  with  skill 
Exclude  each  one  that  would  disturb 
The  fairy  architects,  or  curb 
The  wild  creations  of  their  mirth  ; 
All  that  would  wake  the  soul  to  earth. 
Choose  ye  the  softly-breathing  flute, 
The  mellow  horn,  the  loving  lute; 
The  viol  ye  must  not  forget, 
And  take  the  sprightly  flageolet, 
And  grave  bassoon ;  choose,  too,  the  fife, 
Whose  warblings  in  the  tuneful  strife, 
Mingling  in  mystery  with  the  words, 
May  seem  like  notes  of  blithest  birds. 

"Are  ye  prepared?  now  lightly  tread, 
As  if  by  elfin  minstrels  led, 
And  fling  no  sound  upon  the  air 
Shall  rudely  wake  my  slumbering  fair. 
Softly !  now  breathe  the  symphony — 
So  gently  breathe,  the  tones  may  vie 
In  softness  with  the  magic  notes 
In  visions  heard ;  music  that  floats 
So  buoyant  that  it  well  may  seem, 
"With  strains  ethereal  in  her  dream, 
One  song  of  such  mysterious  birth 
She  doubts  it  comes  from  heaven  or  earth. 
Play  on !  my  loved  one  slumbers  still. 
Play  on !  she  wakes  not  with  the  thrill 
Of  joy  produced  by  strains  so  mild ; 
But  fancy  moulds  them  gay  and  wild ; 
Now,  as  the  music  low  declines, 
'Tis  sighing  of  the  forest-pines; 
Or  'tis  the  fitful,  varied  roar 
Of  distant  falls,  or  troubled  shore. 


728  LIFE   0F   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Now,  as  the  tone  grows  full  or  sharp, 
'Tis  whispering  of  the  JSolian  harp; 
The  viol  swells,  now  low.  now  loud, 
'Tis  spirits  chanting  on  a  cloud 
That  passes  by.     It  dies  away; 
So  gently  dies  she  scarce  can  say 
'Tis  gone ;  listens ;  'tis  lost,  she  fears ; 
Listens,  and  thinks  again  she  hears. 
As  dew-drops  mingling  in  a  stream 
To  her  'tis  all  one  blissful  dream — 
A  song  of  angels  throned  in  light. 
Softly!  away!  fair  one,  good-night." 

While  Mr.  Morse  was  in  Italy  in  the  years  1830  and  1831,  he 
became  acquainted  with  several  ecclesiastics  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  one  of  whom,  a  cardinal,  made  a  vigorous  attack  upon 
the  faith  of  the  young  artist.  A  correspondence  between  them 
ensued,  and  frequent  interviews.  Mr.  Morse  was  led  to  believe, 
from  what  he  learned  in  Home,  that  a  political  conspiracy,  under 
the  cloak  of  a  religious  mission,  was  formed  against  the  United 
States  of  America.  "When  he  came  to  Paris  in  1832  and  en- 
joyed the  confidence  and  friendship  of  Lafayette,  he  stated 
his  convictions  to  the  General,  who  fully  concurred  with  him 
in  the  reality  of  such  a  conspiracy.  Returning  to  this  country 
in  the  autumn  of  1832,  inventing  the  Telegraph  on  his  home- 
ward voyage,  he  never  became  so  absorbed  in  his  invention  as 
to  forget  the  impressions  made  in  Italy  respecting  the  danger  to 
which  his  country  was  exposed.  The  conviction  was  so  strong 
that  he  gave  much  time  in  subsequent  years  to  the  publication  in 
periodicals,  in  pamphlets,  and  in  volumes,  of  the  facts  and  argu- 
ments which,  in  his  judgment,  were  important  to  a  fair  under- 
standing of  the  subject.  In  the  year  1834:  Mr.  Morse  published 
a  series  of  papers,  which  the  year  following  were  issued  in  a 
volume  entitled  "  Foreign  Conspiracy  against  the  Liberties  of 
the  United  States :  revised  and  corrected,  with  Notes  by  the 
Author."     The  motto  on  the  title-page  was  from  Spenser  : 

"  .  .  .  .  oft  fire  is  without  smoke, 
And  peril  without  show." 

The  papers,  as  they  first  appeared,  were  copied  widely,  and, 
pervading  the  whole  country,  made  a  deep  and  permanent  im- 
pression.    The  volume  passed  through  numerous  editions,  and 


RELIGIOUS  WORKS.  729 

has  proved  one  of  the  most  efficient  works  that  has  appeared  in 
that  prolific  discussion. 

In  the  year  1837  Professor  Morse  edited  and  published,  with 
an  introduction  by  himself  :  "  Confessions  of  a  French  Catholic 
Priest,  to  which  are  added  Warnings  to  the  People  of  the 
United  States,  by  the  same  Author."  This  volume  bore  upon 
the  title-page  the  line,  "American  liberty  can  be  destroyed 
only  by  the  popish  clergy." — Lafayette.  This  declaration 
was  not  placed  upon  the  title-page  by  the  editor  but  by  the 
author  of  the  book.  It  was  subsequently  challenged,  and  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  though  not  responsible  for  the  statement,  produced 
the  written  testimony  of  living  witnesses,  to  whom  Lafayette 
made  the  remark. 

In  the  year  1841  a  series  of  papers  from  the  pen  of  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  first  published  in  the  Journal  of  Commerce^  was 
issued  in  a  small  volume,  with  the  title :  "  Our  Liberties  de- 
fended ;  the  Question  discussed ;  is  the  Protestant  or  Papal 
System  most  favorable  to  Civil  and  Religious  Liberty  %  " 

In  the  year  1854  a  pamphlet  was  issued  containing  a  series 
of  papers  which  Professor  Morse  contributed  to  the  Journal  of 
Commerce  in  1835.  It  was  published  without  his  name,  under 
the  title  of  "  Imminent  Dangers  to  the  Free  Institutions  of  the 
United  States  through  Foreign  Immigration,  and  the  Present 
State  of  the  Naturalization  Laws.     By  an  American." 

But  these  were  a  very  small  part  of  the  work  that  employed 
the  pen  of  Professor  Morse.  From  the  moment  that  his  Tele- 
graph became  a  fact,  his  time  and  strength  were  required  to  de- 
fend its  birthright.  The  controversies  in  which  rival  claims 
involved  him  demanded  as  severe  study  and  patient  labor  as  the 
original  invention.  In  the  newspaper  press,  in  pamphlets,  and 
in  private  correspondence,  he  maintained  his  position  with  such 
equanimity,  ability,  and  conclusiveness,  as  commanded  the  re- 
spect of  his  opponents.  No  one  could  state  the  case  with  more 
clearness,  arrange  the  facts  in  better  order,  and  make  the  argu- 
ment more  powerful,  than  the  man  in  whose  mind  the  whole 
process  had  orginally  been  formed.  Had  he  been  endowed  with 
the  gift  of  oratory,  no  one  could  have  argued  his  case  before  a 
court  with  more  effect  than  Professor  Morse  himself.  Sincere, 
transparent,  unaffected,  modest,  he  had  the  confidence  of  every 


730  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.   MORSE. 

one  with  whom  he  conferred,  and  his  presentation  of  a  subject 
in  his  letters  and  publications  carried  conviction  of  his  integrity 
to  every  candid  reader. 

RELIGIOUS   LIFE. 

Professor  Morse  was  a  Christian-  in  his  faith  and  practice. 
In  his  long  life,  there  was  probably  not  an  hour  when  his  in- 
quiring and  inventive  mind  was  perplexed  with  doubts  or  fears 
in  regard  to  religious  truth.  The  system  which  he  embraced 
with  all  his  heart,  and  held  with  tenacity  and  affection,  was  that 
which  he  derived  from  his  father,  and  which  was  scarcely  modi- 
fied by  his  subsequent  reading  and  reflection.  He  first  made  a 
public  profession  of  religion  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  in  the 
church  of  which  his  father  was  pastor.  He  was  the  superintend- 
ent of  its  Sabbath-school,  one  of  the  first  established  in  this 
country.  When  the  family  removed  to  ISTew  Haven,  he  became 
a  member  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  that  city.  The 
death  of  his  wife  and  of  his  parents  led  to  his  removal,  and,  hav- 
ing no  fixed  residence  for  many  years  afterward,  he  remained  in 
nominal  connection  with  that  church  until  the  year  1847,  when 
he  settled  in  Poughkeepsie  and  united  with  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  But,  wherever  his  residence  was,  even  temporary, 
he  identified  himself  with  the  religious  community,  and  in  all 
the  relations  of  society  was  known  and  recognized  as  a  Chris- 
tian. Those  who  knew  him  most  intimately,  and  held  com- 
munion with  him  in  hours  of  retirement  from  the  conflicts  of 
the  world,  knew  that  he  was  governed  in  all  his  actions  by  the 
fear  of  God  and  love  of  his  fellow-men.  He  had  a  sense  of 
being  surrounded  at  all  times  by  the  Infinite  and  Eternal,  in 
whom  he  lived  and  moved  and  had  his  being.  He  received  the 
"Word  of  God,  the  sacred  Scriptures,  as  the  guide  and  rule  of 
his  life;  believing  in  their  inspiration,  and  never  questioning 
their  authority.  He  endeavored  to  regulate  his  conduct  by  the 
principles  of  that  "Word,  and  especially  by  that  golden  rule, 
which  required  him  to  do  unto  others  as  he  would  have  others 
do  unto  him.  The  firmness  with  which  he  maintained  his  rights 
was  in  harmony  with  these  principles.  But  he  often  suffered 
wrong  in  silence,  and  the  strength  of  character  natural  to  him 
and  the  family  to  which  he  belonged  availed  him  when  exposed 


BENEVOLENCE.  731 

to  the  annoyances,  perplexities,  and  injuries  of  those  who  sought 
to  deprive  him  of  his  property  and  his  good  name  also.  No 
man  was  more  unjustly  assailed  by  the  pen  and  the  tongue  of 
detraction.  Yet,  under  those  circumstances,  which  oftentimes 
bring  out  the  most  unhappy  traits  of  human  character,  he  main- 
tained a  composure  and  calmness,  with  a  forgiving  and  gentle 
spirit,  beautiful  to  contemplate.  In  crowded  thoroughfares,  in 
the  midst  of  business,  when  he  was  immersed  in  cares,  and  dis- 
tracted with  anxieties,  it  was  his  pleasure  and  comfort  to  con- 
verse upon  the  subject  of  personal  religion,  and  with  the  sim- 
plicity of  a  child  to  confer  with  a  friend  on  those  subjects  which 
immediately  concern  the  relation  of  the  soul  to  God.  He  pre- 
ferred, above  the  applause  and  honors  which  come  from  man, 
the  possession  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit. 

Nor  was  the  religious  life  of  Professor  Morse  one  merely  of 
meditation  and  study.  He  was  active  and  conscientious  in  the 
use  of  his  property,  giving  largely,  as  it  increased,  to  the  various 
objects  of  Christian  benevolence.  Few  men  have  given  more 
in  proportion  to  their  wealth  than  he  did.  The  first  earnings 
of  the  Telegraph  he  gave  to  the  church,  as  we  have  seen.  From 
this  beginning,  the  commencement  of  a  flow  into  his  hands  of 
wealth,  that  afterward  placed  him  above  the  fears  of  want,  he 
continued  to  give  of  his  abundance  as  before  he  had  given  from 
his  penury.  Colleges  and  theological  seminaries  received  lib- 
eral donations.  Missionary  and  other  religious  charities  were 
constant  recipients  of  his  benefactions.  Nor  did  he  confine  his 
gifts  to  religious  objects  only.  Art  and  science  were  always 
regarded  by  him  as  proper  objects  for  the  use  of  his  money ; 
and  he  sought  to  encourage  in  others  the  development  of  those 
tastes  which  he  had  himself  pursued  with  so  much  benefit  to 
himself  and  mankind. 

In  the  later  years  of  Mr.  Morse's  life,  when  he  was  permitted, 
in  the  retirement  of  his  family,  to  cultivate  without  interrup- 
tion those  graces  which  so  adorned  his  character,  his  religious 
life  rapidly  matured.  Those  who  came  within  the  circle  of  his 
household,  and  especially  those  who  were  received  in  his  study, 
found  him,  when  the  honors  of  the  world  were  heaped  upon 
him  and  his  name  had  gone  into  all  the  earth,  a  humble  Chris- 
tian, anticipating  the  glories  of  the  heavenly  state.     Rev.  Dr. 


732  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

Wheeler,  his  pastor  in  Poughkeepsie,  gives  a  charming  picture 
of  his  religious  life  : 

"  It  was  at  Locust  Grove  I  knew  him  best  and  most.  Here 
among  the  grand  old  trees,  the  fresh,  green  lawns,  and  rare  plants, 
which  adorned  his  grounds,  the  fashion  and  substance  of  the  man 
were  seen.  This  home  he  greatly  loved.  Writing  from  one  of  the 
capitals  in  Europe  at  one  time  immediately  after  one  of  the  grand- 
est receptions  that  scholar  or  philosopher  had  received,  he  says : 
'  My  heart  yearns  for  my  dear  old  home  on  the  Hudson ;  its  calm 
repose,  its  sweet  walks,  where  so  often  I  have  been  with  God.'  I 
recall  with  great  satisfaction  the  many  times  on  his  veranda,  look- 
ing westward  upon  flood  and  hills  beyond,  in  large  discourse  he 
would  dwell  upon  the  '  things  unseen,'  and  his  utterances  would 
have  such  depth  and  scope,  that  I  marveled  at  the  beauty  and 
strength  of  that  love  for  God  and  his  realm  which  rose  and  fell  like 
mighty  tides  in  his  heart. 

"  Sometimes  allusion  would  be  made  to  his  career  and  the 
honors  that  had  thickened  upon  him ;  a  significant  smile  would  steal 
over  his  face,  and  he  would  gently  say  :  '  It  is  all  of  God.  He  has 
used  me  as  his  hand  in  all  this.  I  am  not  indifferent  to  the  rewards 
of  earth  and  the  praise  of  my  fellow-men,  but  I  am  more  pleased 
with  the  fact  that  my  Father  in  heaven  has  allowed  me  to  do  some- 
thing for  him  and  his  world.'  Once  he  said  to  me  with  brimming 
eyes,  and  grasping  me  with  both  hands :  '  Oh,  you  cannot  tell  how 
thankful  I  have  been  this  morning,  in  thinking  this  matter  of  the 
Telegraph  all  over,  that  God  has  permitted  me  to  do  something  for 
the  help  and  comfort  of  my  fellows.  I  have  just  heard  of  a  family 
made  happy  by  a  telegraphic  dispatch  from  one  of  its  absent  mem- 
bers, announcing  his  safety,  when  the  whole  household  was  in  grief 
over  his  supposed  death ;  only  think  of  the  many  homes  that  may 
be  thus  gladdened,  relieved  from  solicitude  and  pain ! '  Thus  it 
was  that  he  was  accustomed  to  put  away  all  thought  of  what  might 
accrue  to  himself  of  personal  honor  and  glory  from  his  invention, 
in  the  larger  consideration  of  the  good  and  profit  grown  there- 
from to  others.  Calling  upon  him  one  pleasant  summer  day,  the 
last  summer  of  his  earthly  life,  I  found  him  intent  upon  micro- 
sopical  observations ;  leading  me  to  the  instrument,  he  directed  my 
attention  to  an  insect's  wing.  *  There,'  said  he,  '  that  is  enough  of 
itself  to  satisfy  any  reasonable  mind  of  God's  being,  wisdom,  and 
power.     It  is  in  these  things  we  call  small,  I  am  finding  every  day 


DE.  WHEELER'S  SKETCH.  733 

fresh  proofs  that  God  is  in  direct  and  positive  agency.  I  see  in 
all  these  things  God's  finger,  and  I  am  so  glad  through  them  to  get 
hold  of  God's  hand ;  and  then,'  he  added  with  tears,  '  if  God  makes 
all  these  small  things  around  us  here  so  exquisitely  beautiful,  what 
grandeur  must  attach  to  the  things  beyond,  unseen  and  eternal ! ' 

"  How  refreshing  and  strengthening  the  testimony  of  such  a 
man,  so  thoughtful,  so  well  read,  and  thoroughly  practical  in  scien- 
tific reasearch  as  to  the  being,  the  presence,  and  the  working  of 
God,  whom  many,  professing  to  be  wise,  have  politely  bowed  out 
of  his  own  universe  ! 

"  Professor  Morse  had  no  sympathy  with  such  men.  His  whole 
being  went  into  protest  against  them  ;  their  views  seemed  to  him 
blasphemous.  Through  and  through  from  centre  to  surface,  in  his 
whole  make-up,  in  all  the  workings  of  his  richly-endowed  and  versa- 
tile intellect,  he  was  a  religious  man.  So,  from  his  own  thinking,  his 
own  conviction,  his  own  experience,  there  was  nothing  superficial 
about  him ;  no  superstition,  no  binding,  controlling  force  of  mere 
tradition,  suffering  others  to  think  for  him  religiously.  He  thought 
here  for  himself,  and  his  belief  was  the  outgrowth  of  clear  and  well- 
defined*  conviction. 

"  Soon  after  his  coming  to  Poughkeepsie  for  the  summer,  he 
fractured  one  of  his  limbs,  and  was  confined  for  most  of  the  season 
to  his  room.  This  was  a  great  trial  to  him,  but  he  bore  it  with 
such  resignation,  and  there  ripened  upon  him  during  it  all  such 
heavenly  excellence,  that  it  was  a  rare  privilege  to  see  him  in  his 
chamber.  His  window  opened  upon  the  broad  and  majestic  Hud- 
son. As  I  sat  with  him  one  afternoon,  looking  upon  river  and  hill, 
in  the  changing  light  of  the  setting  sun,  he  said : 

"  *  I  have  been  looking  upon  the  river  of  my  life.  I  thank  God 
that  it  had  such  beginning ;  that  upon  it  has  fallen  such  sunshine, 
and  I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  rejoice  that  so  soon  this 
river  will  flow  out  into  the  broad  sea  of  an  everlasting  love.' 

"  His  face  was  pale ;  he  was  strapped  upon  his  bed,  but,  patient 
and  gentle  in  suffering,  there  came  upon  him  such  a  transfiguration 
of  divine  love  that  I  almost  thought  to  see  him  then,  with  trailing 
garments  of  glory,  sweep  through  the  gates  of  pearl  into  the  city 
of  the  great  King.  But  he  did  not  then  go ;  he  was  spared  a  little 
longer  to  gladden  all  our  hearts,  and  to  leave  upon  us,  if  possible, 
a  still  greater  impression  of  the  superior  sanctity  and  loveliness  of 
his  life.  When  at  last  he  did  fall  asleep,  I  was  not  with  him,  to 
my  great  regret,  but  others  caught  the  inspiration  that  fell  from  his 


734  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

lips  and  shone  upon  his  face,  as  his  Lord  led  him  up  from  darkness 
into  light,  and  breathed  upon  him  the  everlasting  benediction  of  his 
acceptance. 

"  I  have  spoken  of  him  chiefly  as  a  Christian  man  ;  as  such,  I 
knew  him  best.  But  in  his  whole  character,  and  in  all  his  relations, 
he  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  age.  He  was  one 
who  drew  all  who  came  in  contact  with  him  to  his  heart,  disarming 
all  prejudices,  silencing  all  cavil.  In  his  family  he  was  light,  life, 
and  love ;  with  those  in  his  employ,  he  was  ever  considerate  and 
kind,  never  exacting  and  harsh,  but  honorable  and  just,  seeking  the 
good  of  every  dependant;  in  the  community,  he  was  a  pillar  of 
strength  and  beauty,  commanding  the  homage  of  universal  respect ; 
in  the  church  he  walked  with  God  and  men.  He  is  not,  for  God  hath 
taken  him.  Blessed  for  evermore  his  memory,  and  blessed  those 
who  saw  and  knew  him,  not  merely  as  the  man  of  science  and  the 
Christian  philosopher,  but  as  a  man  of  God. 

"  In  bringing  this  letter  to  a  close,  may  I  mention  an  incident  of 
his  leaving  Locust  Grove  for  the  last  time  ? 

"  The  family  had  gone  on  before ;  he  left  last,  and  with  one  of 
his  favorite  and  trusty  servants,  in  a  single  and  open  wago*n.  As 
they  passed  through  the  gate-way  into  the  wood,  he  stopped,  and, 
rising  from  his  seat,  looked  fondly  back,  through  the  trees,  over  the 
lawn,  on  the  old  home,  and  then,  resuming  his  seat,  said,  *  Drive 
on.'  On  passing  the  cemetery  he  stopped  again,  and,  looking  over 
'  God's  acre,'  where  the  dead  were  so  quietly  slumbering,  he  ex- 
claimed :  '  Beautiful !  beautiful !  but  I  shall  not  lie  there.  I  have 
prepared  a  place  elsewhere.' 

"  So  he  passed  on  and  was  hurried  over  iron  ways  to  the  great 
metropolis,  where,  in  the  next  spring-time,  his  change  was  to  come." 

The  absorbing  cares  of  his  active  and  restless  life,  the  hon- 
ors of  the  world,  and  the  enjoyments  of  those  rewards  which 
were  so  largely  his,  had  not  served  to  hide  from  his  sight  the 
evidences  of  advancing  age,  and  the  approach  of  the  end  of  his 
earthly  career.  But  this  prospect  served  only  to  strengthen  his 
faith  and  brighten  his  hopes.  "Writing-in  1868  from  Dresden, 
to  his  grandson,' he  says :  "  The  nearer  I  approach  to  the  end  of 
my  pilgrimage,  the  clearer  is  the  evidence  of  the  divine  origin 
of  the  Bible,  the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  God's  remedy  for 
fallen  man  are  more  appreciated,  and  the  future  is  illumined 
with  hope  and  joy."     And  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  dated 


DEATH  OF  K.  0.  MORSE.  735 

Paris,  March  4,  1868,  lie  says :  "  It  cannot  be  long  before  all 
this  will  be  gone.  I  feel  daily  the  necessity  of  sitting  looser  to 
the  world,  and  taking  stronger  hold  on  heaven.  The  Saviour 
daily  seems  more  precious ;  his  love,  his  atonement,  his  divine 
power,  are  themes  which  occupy  my  mind  in  the  wakeful  hours 
of  the  night,  and  change  the  time  of  '  watching  for  the  morn- 
ing '  from  irksomeness  to  joyful  communion  with  him." 

In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  his  youngest  brother,  Richard 
C.  Morse,  died  in  a  foreign  land.  There  had  been  three  brothers 
of  them,  the  only  children  who  survived  the  period  of  infancy — 
three  brothers  bound  by  the  closest  fraternal  ties,  with  an  affec- 
tion as  rare  as  beautiful.  It  is  worthy  of  being  written  here 
that  they  inherited  no  property  from  their  venerable  father,  but 
they  did  assume  a  load  of  debts  in  which  he  had  been  involved 
by  indorsements  for  friends,  and  by  his  own  publications.  To 
the  payment  of  these  debts  these  sons  with  filial  piety,  though 
under  no  legal  or  moral  obligation  so  to  do,  devoted  all  their 
earnings,  until  principal  and  interest  were  discharged.  When 
Professor  Morse  became  able  to  bear  his  part  of  this  burden,  he 
cheerfully  returned  to  his  brothers  what  they  had  many  years 
before  advanced  on  his  account,  so  that  the  three  brothers  shared 
equally  in  the  payment  of  their  father's  debts.  They  all  lived 
to  be  old  men,  rejoicing  in  each  other's  success,  and  in  sympa- 
thy when  trials  and  misfortunes  overtook  them. 

A  playfulness  marked  their  correspondence  and  intercourse, 
quite  unsuspected  in  the  gravity  and  dignity  of  their  public  life. 
Between  Sidney  and  the  Professor  there  was  always  a  rivalry 
in  the  race  for  the  goal  of  success.  Sidney  was  slow,  medita- 
tive, and  cautious.  The  Professor  was  quick,  perceptive,  and 
energetic.  Early  in  life  the  fable  of  the  tortoise  and  hare  be- 
came a  familiar  illustration  between  them,  of  their  respec- 
tive traits  and  habits.  Sidney  was  fond  of  laughing  with  his 
brother,  comparing  himself  to  the  tortoise  creeping  along, 
and  while  the  hare,  wearied  with  rapid  running,  has  paused  to 
rest  and  fallen  asleep,  the  tortoise  passes  him  and  wins  the  race. 
When  the  Telegraph  was  triumphant,  and  the  Professor's  suc- 
cess was  assured,  he  made  a  drawing,  his  delight  always,  of  a 
hare  at  the  end  of  a  race-course,  holding  in  his  forepaws  two 
telegraph  wires  extending  to  a  tortoise  toiling  slowly  along ;  the 


736  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 

wires  touching  him  up  to  quicken  his  steps  and  to  tell  him  also 
that  the  hare  has  won  the  race  ! 

In  one  of  the  letters  of  Sidney  to  the  Professor,  who  had 
asked  his  brother  if  he  was  expected  to  pay  interest  on  his  por- 
tion of  the  debts,  Sidney  says  to  him :  "  If  you  still  think  the 
hare  has  won  the  race,  you  will  pay  the  interest ;  if  you  think 
the  tortoise  is  ahead,  you  need  not  pay  it."  The  Professor  paid 
the  interest. 

When  the  sad  tidings  came  across  the  ocean  by  telegraph 
that  the  youngest  of  the  brothers  had  died  in  Kissingen,  the 
Professor  wrote  to  his  brother  Sidney : 

"  And  so  the  triple  cord  is  broken,  and  our  dear  brother  Richard, 
the  youngest,  is  the  first  of  us  to  pass  the  dark  valley.  A  happy 
spirit  now,  we  have  not  a  doubt,  with  his  Saviour  and  his  friends 
who  have  preceded  him.  It  is  another  call  to  be  also  ready.  We 
shall  not  be  long  in  following  him.  I  feel  stirred  to  more  diligent 
improvement  of  the  remnant  of  life  still  graciously  granted  by 
infinite  love.  We  must  work  while  it  is  day,  it  is  far  spent,  and 
the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work.  I  feel  the  blow  more 
than  I  supposed  it  possible. 

"  And  so  he  is  gone.  We  shall  see  his  kind  face  no  more  this 
side  heaven.  Well,  it  is  but  a  short,  a  temporary  separation.  The 
world,  with  all  its  attractions,  I  find  is  losing  its  hold  upon  me.  I 
wish  to  think  more  of  that  world  where  sin  will  no  more  defile,  and 
sorrow,  and  the  machinations  of  the  wicked,  no  more  annoy." 

His  time  was  chiefly  spent  with  his  family,  or  in  his  library, 
surrounded  with  those  books  and  scientific  instruments  which 
were  the  delight  of  his  life.  The  weight  of  years  was  now  upon 
him,  but  every  faculty  of  his  mind  and  every  sense  were  as 
acute  and  apparently  as  vigorous  as  ever.  His  handwriting 
was  as  beautiful  and  legible  as  copperplate  engraving.  Under 
the  frontispiece  of  this  volume  is  a  facsimile  of  his  signature. 
Into  his  study  came  men  of  science  and  letters  who  sought  his 
counsel  and  aid.  Philanthropists  found  in  him  a  friend  whose 
name  and  purse  were  always  ready  to  further  any  good  work. 
As  president  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  he  corresponded  with 
officers  of  Government  and  men  of  learning,  in  the  promotion  of 
its  important  objects.     He  was  ardently  devoted  to  the  cause  of 


EVENING  OF  LIFE.  737 

religious  liberty,  and  was  one  of  the  delegation  to1  Russia,  ap- 
pointed by  the  Evangelical  Alliance  to  obtain  concessions  to  the 
Protestants  in  the  Baltic  provinces.  His  advanced  age  rendered 
it  inexpedient  for  him  to  make  the  journey,  but,  as  chairman  of 
the  delegation,  he  wrote  the  first  draft  of  the  memorial  to  be 
presented  to  the  Czar.  In  such  works  of  Christian  benevolence, 
in  literary  and  scientific  pursuits,  in  social  and  domestic  enjoy- 
ments, the  evening  of  life  came  on.  His  children  and  theirs 
were  around  him — in  the  summer  at  Poughkeepsie,  in  the  win- 
ter in  New  York — and  his  home  was  the  abode  of  contentment 
and  peace. 

47 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

1870-1872. 

AN  OLD  PAINTING — LETTER  TO  THE  CONVENTION  IN  HOME— LAST  PUBLIC  SER- 
TIOE — UNVEILING-  THE  STATUE  OF  EKANKXIN — SICKNESS — DEATH — FU- 
NERAL— MEMORIAL  SEEVICES  IN  WASHINGTON — BOSTON — ACTION  OF  CON- 
GRESS— LEGISLATURE      OF     MASSACHUSETTS — TELEGRAPHIC     SYMPATHY 

TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT — SKETCH  OF  CHARACTER. 

PROFESSOR  MORSE  was  eighty  years  old  when  the  statue 
in  his  honor  was  erected  in  the  Central  Park.  He  had 
been  many  years  contemplating,  without  apprehension  or  regret, 
the  end  of  life.  His  interest  in  the  present  and  the  past  was 
not  diminished  by  his  contemplations  of  the  future.  A  pleasant 
incident  awakened  recollections  of  .his  earliest  art  studies.  In 
Charlestown,  his  native  place,  a  large  painting  was  found  among 
the  rubbish  in  the  lofts  of  the  City  Hall,  almost  incapable  of  be- 
ing distinguished  by  reason  of  neglect  and  decay.  The  name  of 
Morse  was  found  on  the  back  of  it ;  and  Hon.  Gr.  Washington 
Warren  wrote  to  the  Professor  asking  information  respecting  it. 
A  letter  was  received  in  reply,  which  is  now  preserved  in  the 
records  of  the  Charlestown  Board  of  Aldermen. 

"  New  York,  May  11,  1870. 
"  My  dear  Sir  :  I  take  pleasure  in  replying  to  your  queries,  in 
your  favor  of  yesterday,  respecting  the  painting  in  the  Charlestown 
City  Hall.  The  subject  is,  '  The  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Ply- 
mouth.' From  the  date,  February,  1811,  you  will  perceive  that  it 
was  painted  before  I  commenced  my  studies  in  the  art.  It  was  my 
earliest  effort  at  painting  an  historical  picture,  and  can  have  no  par- 
ticular merit,  being  the  effort  of  a  boy  of  nineteen.  It  may  have  an 
historical  interest  in  the  fact  that  it  was  this  painting,  and  a  land- 


AN  EARLY  PICTURE.  739 

scape  painted  about  the  same  time,  that  decided  my  father,  by  the 
advice  of  Stuart  and  Allston,  to  permit  me  to  visit  Europe  with  the 
latter  artist,  to  study  art  as  a  profession.  I  left  with  him  in  July 
of  the  same  year,  1811,  arriving  in  England  in  August;  have  not 
seen  this  picture  since  that  date ;  it  was  painted  in  the  parsonage, 
which  was  built  near  the  present  church,  but  which  has  been  for 
many  years  removed  to  another  locality.  A  few  years  ago  I  ihade 
a  very  brief  visit  to  Charlestown  with  my  wife  and  a  daughter,  who 
were  desirous  of  seeing  the  house  and  room  in  which  I  was  born  ;  I 
then  heard  that  this  picture  was  in  the  City  Hall,  and  I  intended  to 
visit  it,  but  they  felt  more  interest  in  the  house,  so  the  time  I  had 
at  command  was  devoted  to  showing  them  the  house  in  which  I 
was  born,  temporarily  occupied  by  my  parents,  while  the  parsonage, 
now  removed,  was  in  process  of  building.  This  house  is  on  the 
main  street,  on  the  north  side,  a  little  west  of  the  Unitarian  brick 
church,  and  when  we  visited  it  it  had  been  occupied  by  Captain  Edes. 

I  have  just  entered  upon  my  eightieth  year,  and  can  scarcely  ex- 
pect that  there  are  many,  if  any,  of  my  personal  friends  and  fellow- 
townsmen  still  living ;  but  I  cannot  forget  the  place  of  my  birth, 
nor  the  kind  expressions  of  remembrance  by  their  descendants. 
"  Respectfully,  your  ob't  servant,  Samuel  F.  B.  Moese. 

"  G.  Washington  Warren,  Esq.,  Charlestown,  Mass." 

The  picture  is  now  hung  in  the  mayor's  office  at  Charles- 
town, and  has  peculiar  interest  from  the  facts  presented  in  this 
letter.  In  the  year  1871,  the  Grand-duke  Alexis,  son  of  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  came  to  the  United  States,  and,  during  his 
visit  in  the  city  of  New  York,  Professor  Morse  assisted  largely 
in  showing  attentions  to  the  distinguished  guest.  It  was  the 
winter  following  that  an  important  telegraphic  convention 
was  held  in  the  city  of  Rome,  which  Professor  Morse  could  not 
attend.  Anxious  always  to  make  the  Telegraph  an  instrument 
of  good,  and  with  a  heart  burning  with  desires  for  peace  on 
earth,  and  good-will  among  men,  he  wrote  to  Cyrus  W.  Field, 
Esq.,  at  Rome,  a  letter  which  was  read  to  the  convention.  At  its 
conclusion  the  convention  broke  out  in  prolonged  cheers  for 
the  illustrious  author,  and  the  letter  was  ordered  to  be  printed 
among  the  records  of  the  convention.  It  is  in  these  words, 
and  is  worthy  of  being  preserved  as  one  of  the  last  public  com- 
munications from  the  hand  of  the  inventor  of  the  Telegraph. 


740  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

"New  York,  December  4,  1871. 

"  My  dear  Me.  Field  :  Excuse  my  delay  in  writing  you.  The 
excitement  occasioned  by  the  visit  of  the  Grand-duke  Alexis  has 
just  closed,  and  I  have  been  wholly  engaged  by  the  various  duties 
connected  with  his  presence. 

"I  have  wished  for  a  few  calm  moments  to  put  on  paper  some 
thoughts  respecting  the  doings  of  the  great  Telegraphic  Conven- 
tion to  which  you  are  a  delegate. 

"  The  Telegraph  has  now  assumed  such  a  marvelous  position  in 
human  affairs  throughout  the  world ;  its  influences  are  so  great  and 
important  in  all  the  varied  concerns  of  nations,  that  its  efficient  pro- 
tection from  injury  has  become  a  necessity.  It  is  a  powerful  ad- 
vocate for  universal  peace.  Not  that  of  itself  it  can  command  a 
1  Peace,  be  still ! '  to  the  angry  waves  of  human  passions,  but  that 
by  its  rapid  interchange  of  thought  and  opinion  it  gives  the  oppor- 
tunity of  explanations  to  acts  and  laws  which  in  their  ordinary 
wording  often  create  doubt  and  suspicion. 

"  Were  there  no  means  of  quick  explanation,  it  is  readily  seen 
that  doubt  and  suspicion,  working  on  the  susceptibilities  of  the  pub- 
lic mind,  would  engender  misconception,  hatred,  and  strife.  How 
important,  then,  that  in  the  intercourse  of  nations  there  should  be 
the  ready  means  at  hand  for  prompt  correction  and  explanation  ! 

"  Could  there  not  be  passed,  in  the  great  International  Conven- 
tion, some  resolution  to  the  effect  that,  in  whatever  condition,  whether 
of  peace  or  war  between  nations,  the  telegraph  should  be  deemed 
a  sacred  thing,  to  be  by  common  consent  effectually  protected  both 
on  land  and  beneath  the  waters  ? 

"  In  the  interest  of  human  happiness,  of  that  '  peace  on  earth  ' 
which,  in  announcing  the  advent  of  the  Saviour,  the  angels  pro- 
claimed, with  '  good-will  to  men,'  I  hope  that  the  convention  will 
not  adjourn  without  adopting  a  resolution  asking  of  the  nations 
their  united  effective  protection  to  this  great  agent  of  civilization. 

"  The  mode  and  the  terms  of  such  resolution  may  be  safely  left 
to  the  intelligent  members  of  the  honorable  and  distinguished  con- 
vention.    Believe  me,  as  ever,  your  friend  and  servant, 

"  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 
"  Hon.  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Rome,  Italy." 

A  few  days  after  this  letter  was  written,  his  brother  Sid- 
ney, his  only  surviving  brother,  his  counselor,  comforter,  and 
more  than  friend,  was  smitten  with  apoplexy,  and,  after  lying 


STATUE   OF   FKANKLIN.  741 

unconscious  for  several  days,  expired.  This  was  a  sad  blow 
to  the  aged  survivor,  the  eldest  of  the  three,  and  outlasting 
them  all.  The  writer  of  this  sat  on  one  side  of  the  bed,  on  the 
other  the  venerable  Professor,  and  between  us  lay  the  dying 
man.  The  Professor  spoke  in  the  ear  of  his  brother,  but  there 
was  no  evidence  that  he  was  heard.  He  felt  that  he  was  indeed 
alone  when  his  last  brother  was  gone.  His  friends  thought 
and  said  he  would  not  long  remain  behind.  He  had  been 
subject  to  neuralgia,  and  now  the  attacks  became  more  fre- 
quent and  more  severe. 

The  last  time  that  he  appeared  in  public  was  on  the  occasion 
of  the  inauguration  of  the  statue  of  Benjamin  Franklin  in  Print- 
ing-House  Square,  in  front  of  the  City  Hall,  January  17,  1872. 
It  was  happily  conceived  by  the  committee  of  arrangements 
that  there  would  be  a  singular  fitness  in  asking  Morse  to  unveil 
to  the  world  a  statue  of  Franklin.  Those  names,  identified 
with  electricity,  are  to '  be  always  associated.  The  Professor 
was  now  in  feeble  health,  and  the  excitement  and  exposure  of 
the  occasion  would  be  dangerous.  But  his  desire  to  be  present 
and  to  perform  the  service  assigned  was  so  great  that  he  said  he 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  go,  if  it  were  the  last  public  act  that  he 
should  perform.  It  proved  to  be  a  very  cold  day.  Accompanied 
by  his  family,  he  rode  in  his  carriage  to  the  square,  was  received 
by  the  committee,  and  escorted  to  the  platform  in  the  open  air, 
by  the  side  of  the  veiled  statue.  An  immense  multitude  cheered 
him  as  he  ascended  the  steps,  and  stood  uncovered  in  the  midst 
of  them.  When  the  introductory  exercises  had  been  performed 
he  drew  the  cord  that  removed  the  covering,  and  the  statue  of 
Franklin  and  the  form  of  Morse  himself  stood  side  by  side. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  voices  shouted  applause.  When  silence 
was  restored,  the  vast  assembly  listened  to  catch  his  words,  as 
with  tremulous  voice  he  said : 

"  Mr.  De  Groot  and  Fellow-Citizens  :  I  esteem  it  one  of  my 
highest  honors  that  I  should  have  been  designated  to  perform  the 
office  of  unveiling  this  day  the  fine  statue  of  our  illustrious  and  im- 
mortal Franklin.  When  requested  to  accept  this  duty  I  was  con- 
fined to  my  bed,  but  I  could  not  refuse,  and  I  said,  '  Yes,  if  I  have  to 
be  lifted  to  the  spot ! '  Franklin  needs  no  eulogy  from  me.  No  one 
has  more  reason  to  venerate  his  name  than  myself.     May  his  illusr- 


742  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

trious  example  of  devotion  to  the  interest  of  universal  humanity  be 
the  seed  of  further  fruit  for  the  good  of  the  world  !  " 

DEATH. 

The  last  public  act  of  bis  life  was  this  participation  in  the 
ceremony  of  inaugurating  the  statue  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 
His  failing  health  compelled  him  to  decline  the  invitation  to 
the  banquet  in  the  evening,  where  bis  name  was  repeatedly 
mentioned  with  that  of  the  old  philosopher,  and  received  with 
the  warmest  applause.  He  went  home  to  die.  Neuralgia  con- 
centrated its  attacks  in  bis  bead,  and  be  walked  the  floor  in 
agony,  holding  both  bands  to  bis  temples,  and  groaning  with 
excessive  pam.  Day  after  day,  and  weeks,  succeeded,  while  be 
gradually  succumbed  to  the  disease.  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Adams, 
on  whose  ministry  be  attended  in  the  city,  he  expressed  unwa- 
vering faith,  and,  in  response  to  a  remark  concerning  tbe  good- 
ness of  God  to  him  in  tbe  past,  be  said,  with  cheerful  hope, 
"  The  best  is  yet  to  come." 

The  pain  in  bis  bead,  that  bad  nearly  distracted  him,  now 
ceased,  and  stupor  ensued.  His  bad  been  a  teeming,  busy,  un- 
clouded brain,  for  more  than  eighty  years.  Sickness  had  rarely 
laid  its  band  upon  bim.  Trouble,  trials,  anxieties,  disappoint- 
ments, bereavements,  carking  cares,  bitter  persecutions,  extreme 
poverty,  the  birth-pangs  of  a  great  invention,  toil,  discourage- 
ment, success,  triumph,  lawsuits,  losses,  gains,  wealth,  luxury, 
honors,  fame,  the  homage  of  republics,  kingdoms,  and  empires, 
laid  at  bis  feet — through  all  these  vicissitudes  of  fortune  be  bad 
passed,  beyond  tbe  experience,  perhaps,  of  any  private  citizen. 
Through  fourscore  years  be  bad  borne  and  worn  them  all,  with 
the  grace  of  a  Christian,  the  calmness  of  a  philosopher,  and  the 
simplicity  of  a  child.  Conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  bis  own  pur- 
poses and  action,  charitable  toward  all,  and  especially  to  bis  ene- 
mies, he  had  been  calm  when  others  were  excited,  and  so  the 
vexations  that  wear  out  tbe  life  of  most  men  failed  to  shorten 
bis  days.  But  now  the  end  was  near.  To  him,  the  father  of 
the  Telegraph,  tbe  last  message  bad  come.  It  was  not  a  sudden 
summons.  He  bad  been  always  ready,  and  bad  often  wished 
that  it  might  not.be  delayed.  And  when  it  came  it  found  him 
waiting.     Peacefully  be  was  sinking  into  tbe  arms  of  death. 


DYING   HOURS.  743 

For  some  days  lie  was  scarcely  conscious  of  surrounding  persons, 
save  of  his  fond  wife,  on  whom  he  turned  his  mild  blue  eyes, 
with  looks  of  love  he  could  not  speak.  The  birthday  of  his 
youngest  child  arrived;  and,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  he  recalled 
it,  placed  his  hands  upon  his  son's  head,  and  caressed  him  ten- 
derly. A  picture  made  by  his  niece,  as  a  present  to  the  boy, 
was  produced,  and,  rousing  himself,  he  asked  for  his  spectacles, 
put  them  on,  examined  the  drawing,  and  pronounced  it  admira- 
ble. So  the  first  passion  of  his  life  was  almost  his  last  emotion. 
In  childhood  he  began  to  draw.  He  never  loved  any  thing  so 
much  as  his  chosen  art.  And  now,  forgetting  the  honors  and 
rewards  of  the  great  invention  that  had  made  his  name  immor- 
tal, the  expiring  man  revives  at  the  sight  of  a  little  drawing,  and, 
remembering  his  own  work  when  a  boy,  gives  his  dying  words 
to  its  praise ! 

Yet  once  more  is  the  thought  of  the  Telegraph  revived ! 
The  attending  physicians  were  inspecting  his  lungs,  and  one  of 
them,  tapping  upon  his  chest  to  learn  their  condition,  said  to 
him,  pleasantly,  "  This  is  the  way  we  doctors  telegraph." 

"  Very  good,"  said  the  dying  man,  and  never  spoke  again. 

The  intelligence  that  Professor  Morse  was  dying  touched  the 
heart  of  the  nation.  It  was  announced  wherever  his  electric 
wires  were  stretched — over  the  country,  under  the  ocean,  and  to 
the  ends  of  the  world.  Bulletins  were  issued  from  hour  to  hour, 
to  meet  the  anxioiTS  inquiries  of  the  people.  Every  hour  of  the 
night,  as  well  as  of  the  day,  reporters  of  the  press  sought  to 
know  his  condition.  His  door  was  besieged  by  friends  testify- 
ing their  sympathy.  Those  he  loved  were  around  him  with 
ministries  of  love.  "When  far  past  the  power  of  speech,  he  put 
up  his  lips  to  his  loving  wife  fpr  one  more  kiss.  Holy  men 
commended  his  departing  spirit  to  Him  whom  unseen  he  adored. 
Tears  of  affection  fell  like  rain  upon  his  bed.  Beauty,  serene 
and  majestic,  clothed  his  countenance  and  lighted  his  eyes.  The 
image  of  the  heavenly  was  revealed.  His  peace  was  like  a  river. 
Not  a  cloud,  not  a  fear,  no  care,  no  want,  disturbed  the  calmness 
of  his  passing  soul. 

He  had  reached  and  enjoyed  his  loftiest  and  last  ambition. 
Around  him  were  gathered  all  that  art  and  taste  and  wealth  and 
love  contribute  to  the  delight  of  men.     Office  and  power  he  had 


744  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

never  wished,  but  lie  had  sought  fame  and  wealth  and  honor ; 
and,  when  gained,  he  had  gladly  used  them  for  truth  and  virtue 
and  philanthropy,  counting  all  he  had  and  was  but  means  of 
usefulness  for  the  sake  of  Him  in  whom  he  lived. 

A  long,  eventful,  brilliant  career  was  closing.  The  light  was 
going  out  of  those  eyes  that  had  so  long  been  bright  with  the 
fire  of  genius  and  the  softer  rays  of  love.  The  fingers  that 
guided  the  lightning  through  the  seas  had  lost  their  cunning. 
The  brain  in  which  was  born  the  grandest  of  all  conceptions 
ever  made  real  by  the  art  of  man — to  annihilate  time  and  space 
in  human  intercourse,  and  bring  the  ends  of  the  earth  into  in- 
stant union — and  that  throbbed  with  conscious  triumph  when 
the  work  was  done,  was  resting  now.  The  heart  that  never  har- 
bored an  unkind  feeling  toward  a  human  being,  that  always 
warmed  with  tender  affection  for  the  suffering — that  kind,  gen- 
tle, loving  heart,  in  which  wife  and  children  nestled  and  were 
blest ;  where  every  virtue  that  gilds  human  life  had  its  source, 
and  out  of  which  flowed  streams  of  kindness,  to  gladden  home, 
the  social  circle,  and  the  world — that  great,  good  heart  now 
ceased  to  beat. 

He  died  April  2,  1872. 

POSTHUMOUS  HONORS. 

The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  being  in  session 
at  the  time,  the  Governor,  Hon.  John  T.  Hoffman,  sent  to  thai 
body  the  following  communication,  April  3d  : 

"  The  Telegraph  to-day  announces  the  death  of  its  inventor, 
Samuel  F.  B.  Morse.  Born  in  Massachusetts,  his  home  has  for 
many  years  of  his  eventful  life  been  in  New  York.  His  fame  be- 
longs to  neither,  but  to  the  country  and  the  world  ;  yet  it  seems 
fitting  that  this  great  State,  in  which  he  lived  and  died,  should  be 
the  first  to  pay  appropriate  honors  to  his  memory.  Living,  he  re- 
ceived from  governments  everywhere  more  public  honors  than  were 
ever  paid  to  any  American  private  citizen ;  dead,  let  all  the  people 
pay  homage  to  his  name.  I  respectfully  recommend  to  the  Legisla- 
ture the  adoption  of  such  resolutions  as  may  be  suitable,  and  the 
appointment  of  a  joint  committee  to  attend  the  funeral  of  the  illus- 
trious deceased.  John  T.  Hoffman." 


THE   FUNERAL.  745 

In'both  Houses  appropriate  resolutions  were  adopted  and  a 
joint  committee  was  appointed  to  attend  the  funeral.  The 
funeral  services  were  held  Friday,  April  5th,  at  Madison-Square 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  pro- 
cession entered  the  church  in  the  following  order : 

Rev.  Wm.  Adams,  D.  D. ;  Rev.  Francis  B.  Wheeler,  D.  D. 

Corpse. 

Pall-bearers  : 

William  Orton,  Cyetjs  W.  Field, 

Daniel  Huntington,  Charles  Butler, 

Peter  Cooper,  John  A.  Dix, 

Cambridge  Livingston,  Ezra  Cornell. 

The  Family. 

Governor  Hoefman  and  Staff. 

Members  of  the  Legislature. 

Directors  of  the  New  York,  Newfoundland,  and 

London  Telegraph  Company. 

Directors  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company, 

and  officers  and  operators. 

Members  of  the  Academy  of  Design. 

Members  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance. 

Members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Members  of  the  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science 

and  Art. 

Members  of  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange. 

Delegations  from  the  Common  Councils  of  New  York, 

Brooklyn,  and  Poughkeepsie,  and  many  of  the 

Yale  Alumni. 

The  Legislative  Committee:  Messrs.  James  W.  Husted, 

L.  Bradford  Prince,  James  C.  Osgood,  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  Severn 

D.  Moulton,  and  John  Simpson. 

After  preliminary  devotional  services  the  funeral  address 
was  delivered  by  Dr.  Adams.  This  oration  was  one  of  great 
eloquence  and  beauty,  reciting  the  history  of  the  illustrious 
dead,  and  giving  the  appropriate  lessons  drawn  from  his  re- 
markable career.     In  its  conclusion  Dr.  Adams  said : 

"  To-day  we  part  forever  with  all  that  is  mortal  of  that  man  who 
has  done  so  much  in  the  cause  of  Christian  civilization.     Less  than 


746  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

one  year  ago  his  fellow-citizens,  chiefly  telegraphic  operators,  who 
loved  him  as  children  love  a  father,  raised  his  statue  of  bronze  in 
Central  Park.  To-day  all  we  can  give  him  is  a  grave.  That  vener- 
able form,  that  face  so  saintly  in  its  purity  and  refinement,  we  shall 
see  no  more.  How  much  we  shall  miss  him  in  our  homes,  our 
churches,  in  public  gatherings,  in  the  streets,  and  in  society  which 
he  adorned  and  blessed !  But  his  life  has  been  so  useful,  so  happy, 
and  so  complete,  that  for  him  nothing  remains  to  be  wished.  Con- 
gratulate the  man  who,  leaving  to  his  family,  friends,  and  country, 
a  name  spotless,  untarnished,  beloved  of  nations,  to  be  repeated  in 
foreign  tongues,  and  by  sparkling  seas,  has  died  in  the  bright  and 
blessed  hope  of  everlasting  life. 

"  Farewell,  beloved  friend,  honored  citizen,  public  benefactor, 
good  and  faithful  servant !  While  thy  eulogy  shall  be  pronounced 
in  many  languages  by  thy  fellow-men,  this,  I  believe,  was  your  own 
highest  aspiration — to  have  your  name,  as  an  humble  disciple,  written 
in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life.  There  it  will  shine,  and  ours  also, 
even  the  humblest  of  us  all,  if  united  to  Christ,  above  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament  and  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever.  A  small 
thing  is  it  to  be  judged  of  man's  judgment ;  and  all  the  greatness  and 
glory  of  this  world  pass  away  like  a  dream.  '  God  accepteth  not 
the  persons  of  princes,  nor  regardeth  the  rich  more  than  the  poor ; 
for  they  all  are  the  work  of  his  hands.'  Truly  great  and  immortal  is 
that  man,  however  obscure  his  earthly  lot,  who  so  believes  in  Jesus 
Christ  that  he  may  appropriate  to  himself  the  words  of  the  Lord 
of  Life,  '  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.' 

"  The  three  grandest  objects  which  ever  can  occupy  the  mind 
of  man  are  the  Divine  Redeemer,  the  human  soul,  the  day  of  death 
and  judgment.  Blessed  is  that  man,  and  so  will  he  be  when  all  the 
thrones,  monuments,  and  eulogies  of  the  world  are  forgotten,  who 
so  lives  that  he  shall  be  able  to  combine  the  three  and  say,  as  did 
this  true  Christian  in  his  last  articulation,  '  I  know  whom  I  have 
believed,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I 
have  committed  to  him  against  that  day.'  " 

Prayer  was  then  offered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wheeler,  and  the 
hymn  "  Just  as  I  am  "  was  chanted  by  the  choir.  The  remains 
were  taken  to  Greenwood  Cemetery  and  deposited  in  the  receiv- 
ing-vault. The  burial  service  was  read  and  prayer  offered  by 
the  Rev.  J.  Aspinwall  Hodge,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Hartford,  and  son-in-law  of  Richard  C.  Morse. 


UNIVERSAL  SORROW.  747 

The  President  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company 
issued  the  following  message : 

"New  York,  April  4,  1872. 
"  To  all  Telegraph  Superintendents  and  Managers  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada :  All  that  is  mortal  of  the  venerable  and  vener- 
ated father  of  the  American  Telegraph  system,  Professor  Samuel  F. 
B.  Morse,  will  be  consigned  to  the  grave  on  Friday,  April  5th.  No 
expression  of  outward  exhibition  can  give  fitting  evidence  of  the 
sorrow  which  his  death  has  occasioned  among  those  connected  with 
the  Telegraph,  or  within  the  reach  of  its  influence,  not  only  in  Amer- 
ica, but  throughout  the  world ;  but,  in  token  of  respect  to  his  memory, 
some  symbol  of  mourning  should  be  exhibited  at  all  telegraph-sta- 
tions on  the  day  of  burial ;  a  simple  rosette,  or  a  bit  of  crape,  will  suf- 
fice. William  OrtOjS",  President." 

The  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  National 
Academy  of  Design,  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  the  New 
York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  the  various  scientific,  philan- 
thropic, and  religious  institutions  with  which  he  had  been  asso- 
ciated, adopted  resolutions  of  respect  for  his  memory.  In  other 
cities  and  countries  similar  tributes  were  paid.  The  telegraph- 
poles  in  many  places  were  hung  with  mourning,  and  the  bells 
were  tolled. 

CONGRESS   OE   THE   TOOTED    STATES. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Hon.  S.  S.  Cox  offered  a 
concurrent  resolution,  declaring  that  Congress  has  heard  "  with 
profound  regret  of  the  death  of  Professor  Morse,  whose  distin- 
guished and  varied  abilities  have  contributed  more  than  those  of 
any  other  person  to  the  development  and  progress  of  the  prac- 
tical arts,  and  that  his  purity  of  private  life,  his  loftiness  of  scien- 
tific aims,  and  his  resolute  faith  in  truth,  render  it  highly  proper 
that  the  Representatives  and  Senators  should  solemnly  testify  to 
his  worth  and  greatness."  This  resolution  was  unanimously 
agreed  to. 

Mr.  Fernando  Wood,  of  New  York  City,  gave  a  brief  history 
of  the  legislation  under  which  Professor  Morse's  invention  was 
practically  tested  in  this  country.  The  speaker  was  a  member 
of  the  Twenty-seventh  Congress,  to  which  Professor  Morse  ap- 
plied for  aid  to  test  his  invention.  And  he  expressed  the  great 
pride  with  which  he  (Mr.  Wood)  found  his  name  recorded  in  the 


748  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

affirmative,  and  he  was  to-day  the  only  living  member  of  either 
House  who  voted  in  favor  of  the  bill. 

In  the  Senate,  on  motion  of  Hon.  J.  W.  Patterson,  of  New 
Hampshire,  a  similar  resolution  was  adopted.  A  committee,  ap- 
pointed by  both  Houses,  was  charged  with  making  arrangements 
for  a  suitable  service  in  memory  of  Morse.  The  Morse  Memo- 
rial Association  of  the  city  of  "W  ashington  combined  with  this 
committee,  and  preparations  were  made  for  a  solemn  service  in 
the  hall  of  the  House.     This  was  held  April  16th. 

A  crowded  audience  attended.  The  Speaker  of  the  House, 
Mr.  Blaine,  presided,  assisted  by  Yice-President  Colfax.  The 
President  and  Cabinet,  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  together 
with  the  Governors  of  the  States,  in  person  or  by  proxy,  occupied 
seats  on  the  inner  semicircle.  Senators  and  Representatives  oc- 
cupied the  other  seats  on  the  floor.  In  front  of  the  main  gallery 
was  an  oil-painting  of  Professor  Morse,  and  around  the  outer 
frame  of  the  portrait  was  the  legend  "  What  hath  God  wrought ! " 
The  ceremonies  were  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Adams,  of  New  York,  when  Speaker  Blaine  said  : 

"  Less  than  thirty  years  ago,  a  man  of  genius  and  learning  was 
an  earnest  petitioner  before  Congress  for  a  small  pecuniary  aid,  that 
enabled  him  to  test  certain  occult  theories  of  science  which  he  had 
laboriously  evolved.  To-night  the  representatives  of  forty  million 
people  assemble  in  their  legislative  hall  to  do  homage  and  honor  to 
the  name  of  'Morse.'  Great  discoverers  and  inventors  rarely  live  to 
witness  the  full  development  and  perfection  of  their  mighty  concep- 
tions, but  to  him  whose  death  we  now  mourn,  and  whose  fame  we 
celebrate,  it  was  in  God's  good  providence  vouchsafed  otherwise. 
The  little  thread  of  wire  placed  as  a  timid  experiment  between  the 
national  capital  and  a  neighboring  city,  grew  and  lengthened,  and 
multiplied  with  almost  the  rapidity  of  the  electric  current  that 
darted  along  its  iron  nerves,  until,  within  his  own  lifetime,  conti- 
nent was  bound  unto  continent,  hemisphere  answered  through  ocean's 
depths  unto  hemisphere,  and  an  encircled  globe  flashed  forth  his 
eulogy  in  the  unmatched  elements  of  a  grand  achievement.  Charged 
by  the  House  of  Representatives  with  the  agreeable  and  honorable 
duty  of  presiding  here,  and  of  announcing  the  various  participants 
in  the  exercises  of  the  evening,  I  welcome  to  this  hall  those  who 
join  with  us  in  this  expressive  tribute  to  the  memory  and  to  the 
merit  of  a  great  man." 


SERVICES  IN   THE   CAPITOL.  749 

The  exercises  were  then  conducted  in  the  following  order : 

Resolutions  by  Hon.  C.  0.  Cox,  M.  D.,  of  Washington,  D.  0. 

Address  by  Hon.  J.  W.  Patterson,  of  New  Hampshire. 

Address  by  Hon.  Fernando  Wood,  of  New  York. 

Vocal  Music  by  the  Choral  Society  of  Washington. , 

Address  by  Hon.  J.  A.  Garfield,  of  Ohio. 

Address  by  Hon.  S.  S.  Cox,  of  New  York. 

Address  by  Hon.  D.  W.  Voorhes,  of  Indiana. 

Address  by  Hon.  N.  P.  Banks,  of  Massachusetts. 

Vocal  Music  by  the  Choral  Society  of  Washington. 

Benediction  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wheeler,  of  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

Telegraphic  messages  came  in  and  were  read  by  Cyrus  W. 
Field,  Esq.,  sent  the  same  day  from  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa, 
to  America,  paying  funeral  tributes  to  the  memory  of  the  man 
whose  genius  and  skill  had  brought  these  four  quarters  of  the 
globe  into  daily  intercourse !  From  the  British  Provinces  on  the 
North,  from  California,  and  the  farthest  South  and  East,  similar, 
messages  came,  so  that  the  whole  civilized  world  was  actually 
represented,  and  in  spirit  was  present,  at  these  memorial  services 
in  the  Capitol  at  Washington. 

On  the  same  evening  with  the  meeting  in  the  Capitol,  me- 
morial meetings  were  held  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States. 
The  lines  of  telegraph  were  used  freely  for  direct  communication 
between  them,  and,  the  progress  of  the  several  meetings  being 
reported  to  all,  they  were  in  perfect  sympathy.  The  idea  was 
novel,  and  happily  carried  out. 

Massachusetts,  the  native  State  of  Professor  Morse,  paid 
him  distinguished  honors.  Its  Legislature  adopted  the  follow- 
ing resolutions : 

"  JZesolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  has  learned, 
with  profound  regret,  of  the  decease  of  Samuel  Finley  Breese 
Morse,  the  distinguished  inventor  of  that  wonderful  system  of  elec- 
tric telegraphy  which  is  conferring  unspeakable  blessings  upon  the 
whole  human  family. 

"  Resolved,  That,  born  upon  our  soil,  and  under  the  very  shadow 
of  this  capitol,  his  name  will  ever  be  associated  by  the  people  of 
this  State  with  that  of  another  of  her  illustrious  sons,  who  demon- 
strated to  the  world  the  existence  of  that  mighty  but  subtile  agency 


750  LIFE  0F  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

which  the  genius  and  skill  of  his  peer  and  successor  has  brought 
under  subjection  and  made  subservient  to  the  will  of  man. 

"  Resolved,  That  with  the  regrets  his  death  has  occasioned  are 
mingled  emotions  of  joy  and  gratitude  that  he  was  permitted,  by 
Him  in  whose  hands  are  the  issues  of  life  and  death,  to  attain  to 
the  full  age  allotted  to  man  upon  earth,  and  that  he  was  thereby 
enabled  to  witness  the  complete  triumph  of  the  work  to  which  his 
life  was  consecrated — a  privilege  which  has  seldom  been  enjoyed  by 
the  world's  greatest  benefactors. 

"  Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor  be  requested  to 
transmit  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  the  family  of  the  deceased, 
with  the  assurance  of  the  spmpathy  of  the  people  of  this  Common- 
wealth in  the  loss  they  have  sustained." 

A  memorial  meeting  was  held  in  Eaneuil  Hall,  Boston,  at 
which  the  mayor  of  the  city  presided,  supported  by  Josiali 
Quincy,  G.  S.  Hillard,  and  others.  Addresses  were  deliverd  by 
Professor  E.  K  Horsford,  Hon.  E.  H.  Dana,  Hon.  G.  S.  Hil- 
lard, and  S.  P.  Whipple,  Esq. ;  and  appropriate  resolutions  were 
adopted. 

In  every  part  of  his  own  country,  and  in  many  foreign 
lands,  testimonials  of  respect  and  gratitude  were  offered  to  his 
memory — such  and  so  many  as  were  never  before  laid  upon  the 
grave  of  a  man  who  never  held  a  public  office  among  his  fellow- 
men. 

EEVIEW   OF    HIS   CHARACTER. 

It  is  not  given  to  mortals  to  leave  a  perfect  example  for  the 
admiration  and  imitation  of  posterity.  But  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
the  lif e  and  character  of  few  men  whose  history  is  left  on  record 
afford  less  opportunity  for  criticisim  than  is  found  in  the  con- 
spicuous career  of  the  inventor  of  the  Telegraph. 

Having  followed  him  step  by  step  from  his  birth  to  the 
grave,  in  public,  social,  and  private  relations,  in  struggles  with 
poverty,  enemies,  and  wrongs ;  in  courts  of  law,  the  press,  and 
halls  of  science ;  having  seen  him  tempted,  assailed,  defeated, 
and  again  in  victory,  honor,  and  renown ;  having  read  thousands 
of  his  private  letters,  his  essays,  and  pamphlets,  and  volumes  in 
which  his  claims  are  canvassed,  his  merits  discussed,  and  his  char- 
acter reviewed ;  having  had  access  to  his  most  private  papers 


TRAITS   OF   CHARACTER.  751 

and  confidential  correspondence,  in  which  all  that  is  most  secret 
and  sacred  in  the  life  of  man  is  hid — it  is  right  to  say  that  in 
this  mass  of  testimony  by  friends  and  foes  there  is  not  a  line 
that  requires  to  be  erased  or  changed  to  preserve  the  lustre  of 
his  name. 

Such  is  the  natural  result  of  those  influences  which  formed 
and  developed  his  character.  Intellectual  strength  and  inflexible 
integrity  were  traits  that  distinguished  his  ancestry.  Virtue 
and  usefulness  made  the  atmosphere  of  his  father's  house. 
There  he  became  familiar  with  the  names  and  works  of  illus- 
trious men,  in  his  own  and  other  lands ;  and  to  be  like  them 
was  the  aspiration  of  his  young  ambition.  He  studied  Plu- 
tarch's lives  of  great  men  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  drew 
their  pro  traits  with  his  pen  almost  as  soon  as  he  could  write. 
And  in  his  young  mind  was  a  sentiment  that  Plutarch  did  not 
teach — the  sense  of  personal  responsibility  to  the  Infinite  Crea- 
tor. Him  he  acknowledged  as  the  source  and  end  of  his  being. 
This  became  a  passion,  absorbing  his  thoughts,  infusing  into  his 
life  a  secret  power  to  will  and  to  do.  In  reverential  moments, 
contemplating  the  extent  and  results  of  the  great  invention  con- 
ceived in  the  recesses  of  his  own  mind,  he  felt,  deeply  and 
sincerely,  that  it  was  not  of  himself,  but  of  Grod.  Hence  he  was 
always  under  a  sense  of  personal  obligation  to  use  this  power  for 
the  good  of  his  fellow-men. 

Subject  to  the  infirmities  of  a  delicate  constitution,  often 
sunk  in  the  depths  of  despondency,  afflicted  with  nervous  dis- 
orders that  were  attended  with  great  physical  suffering,  and 
harassed  through  all  his  life  by  vexations  disappointments,  re- 
verses, and  wrongs,  his  heroic  faith  in  God  alone  held  him  up 
and  made  him  victorious. 

It  was  the  device  and  purpose  of  those  who  sought  to  rob 
him  of  his  honors  and  his  rights  to  depreciate  his  intellectual 
ability  and  his  scientific  attainments.  But  among  all  the  men 
of  science,  and  of  the  men  of  learning  in  the  law,  there  was  not 
one  who  was  a  match  for  him  when  he  gave  his  mind  to  a  sub- 
ject which  required  his  perfect  mastery.  His  favorite  study,  in 
college  and  afterward,  was  electricity.  And  when,  in  1827,  the 
powers  of  electro-magnetism  were  revealed  to  him,  he  compre- 
hended its  relations  and  capabilities,  and  at  the  proper  time  ap- 


752  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  P.   B.  MORSE. 

plied  them  with  the  skill  and  precision  of  an  expert.  He  drew 
up  the  brief,  with  his  own  hand,  for  one  of  the  distinguished 
counsel,  in  a  great  lawsuit  involving  his  patent  rights,  and  his 
lawyer  said  it  was  the  argument  that  carried  conviction  to  every 
unprejudiced  mind.  Such  was  the  versatility  and  variety  of 
his  mental  endowments  that  he  would  have  been  great  in  any 
department  of  human  pursuits.  His  wonderful  rapidity  of 
thought  was  associated  with  patient,  plodding  perseverance,  a 
combination  rare,  but  mightily  effective.  He  leaped  to  a  pos- 
sible conclusion,  and  then  slowly  developed  the  successive  steps 
by  which  the  end  was  gained  and  the  result  made  secure.  He 
covered  thousands  of  pages  with  his  pencil-notes,  annotated  large 
and  numerous  volumes,  filled  huge  folios  with  valuable  excerpts 
from  newspapers,  illustrated  processes  of  thought  with  diagrams, 
and  was  thus  fortified  and  enriched  with  stores  of  knowledge 
and  masses  of  facts,  so  digested,  combined,  and  arranged,  that  he 
had  them  at  his  easy  command  to  defend  the  past,  or  to  help 
him  onward  to  fresh  conquests  in  the  fields  of  truth.  Yet  such 
was  his  modesty  and  reticence  in  regard  to  himself  that  none 
outside  of  his  household  were  aware  of  his  resources,  and  his 
attainments  were  only  known  when  displayed  in  self-defense. 
Then  they  never  failed  to  be  ample  for  the  occasion,  as  every 
opponent  had  reason  to  remember. 

Yet  he  was  as  gentle  as  he  was  great.  Many  thought  him 
weak,  because  he  was  simple,  childlike,  and  unworldly.  '  Often 
he  suffered  wrong  rather  than  resist,  and  this  disposition  to  yield 
was  frequently  his  loss.  The  firmness,  tenacity,  and  persever- 
ance, with  which  he  fought  his  foes,  were  the  fruits  of  his  integ- 
rity, principle,  and  profound  convictions  of  right  and  duty.  His 
nature  was  tender,  loving,  and  kind.  Home,  and  wife,  and  chil- 
dren, were  his  joys.  In  the  midst  of  foreign  triumphs  and  fiercest 
conflicts,  his  heart  turned  fondly  to  the  banks  of  the  river  where 
his  loved  ones  waited  his  return. 

"  More  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,"  said  Mr.  Mason,  the 
American  Ambassador  at  the  court  of  France  in  1858,  "I  have 
had  the  honor  to  call  Professor  Morse  my  friend,  and  I  venture 
to  say  that  no  man  ever  lived  who  more  eminently  deserved  to 
be  pronounced — 

'  Integer  vitse,  scelerisque  puras'" 

(A  man  of  blameless  life  and  pure). 


PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.  753 

Indeed,  he  deserves  it,  more  surely  than  he  on  whom  Horace 
pronounced  the  high  eulogium,  for  Professor  Morse  is  a  Chris- 
tian gentleman." 

Leonardo  da  Yinci  was  an  artist,  a  painter ;  and  his  achieve- 
ments with  the  brush  are  the  monuments  that  preserve  his  name. 
But  he  was  also  an  engineer,  a  mechanician,  a  philanthropist, 
and  a  statesman.  He  was  great  in  all  that  he  attempted.  A 
man  of  marvelous  industry,  patience,  and  perseverance,  he  de- 
vised and  directed  schemes  for  the  good  of  his  country  and  the 
benefit  of  his  fellow-men.  Morse  was  endowed  with  similar 
powers,  and  inspired  with  the  same  purposes.  He  was  a  paint- 
er, an  artist ;  and  he  was  also  an  artisan,  an  inventor ;  a  mech- 
anician, working  in  brass  with  his  own  hands ;  an  author,  writ- 
ing with  masterly  ability,  measuring  his  strength  and  learning 
with  the  ablest  lawyers,  the  profoundest  theologians,  and  emi- 
nent statesmen,  maintaining  himself  with  complete  success  on 
all  occasions.  Leonardo  is  remembered  by  his  works  of  art. 
Morse,  as  a  painter,  is  lost  in  his  renown  as  an  inventor  and 
benef  actor  of  his  race. 

In  person,  Professor  Morse  was  tall,  slender,  graceful,  and  at- 
tractive. Six  feet  in  stature,  he  stood  erect  and  firm,  even  in 
old  age.  His  blue  eyes  were  expressive  of  genius  and  affection. 
His  nature  was  a  rare  combination  of  solid  intellect  and  delicate 
sensibility.  Thoughtful,  sober,  and  quiet,  he  readily  entered 
into  the  enjoyments  of  domestic  and  social  life,  indulging  in  sal- 
lies of  humor,  and  readily  appreciating  and  greatly  enjoying  the 
wit  of  others.  Dignified  in  his  intercourse  with  men,  courteous 
and  affable  with  the  gentler  sex,  he  was  a  good  husband,  a  judi- 
cious father,  a  generous  and  faithful  friend.  He  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  incur  the  hostility  of  men  who  would  deprive  him 
of  the  merit  and  the  reward  of  his  labors.  But  this  is  the  com- 
mon fate  of  great  inventors.  He  lived  until  his  rights  were 
vindicated  by  every  tribunal  to  which  they  could  be  referred, 
and  acknowledged  by  all  civilized  nations.  And  he  died  leav- 
ing to  his  children  a  spotless  and  illustrious  name,  and  to  his 
country  the  honor  of  having  given  birth  to  the  only  Electro- 
Magnetic  Recording  Telegraph  whose  line  is  gone  out  through 
all  the  earth,  and  its  words  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
48 


AP  PEIDIX. 

[EXTRACTS  FROM  A  PAMPHLET  PREPARED  AND  PUBLISHED  IN  PARIS,  186T.] 
BY   SAMTJEL   F.   B.   MOESE. 

IN"  the  month  of  October,  1832,  I  left  France  for  the  United  States  in  .the 
packet-ship  Sully.  Early  in  the  voyage,  in  the  course  of  conversations 
in  the  cabin,  some  of  the  facts  in  relation  to  electricity,  familiar  to  me  from 
my  college-days,  were  casually  brought  to  my  recollection  in  describing 
the  then  recent  discovery  of  the  means  of  obtaining  the  electric  spark  from 
the  magnet,  a  discovery  which  demonstrated  the  intimate  relations  of  mag- 
netism and  electricity.  The  fact  that  electricity  passed  with  such  rapidity 
through  a  space  of  many  miles  was  alluded  to,  in  which  Franklin's  opinion 
of  the  instantaneity  of  the  passage  of  electricity  was  brought  to  notice. 
This  led  me  to  remark  that,  "  if  that  were  so,  and  the  presence  of  electri- 
city could  be  made  visible  in  any  desired  part  of  the  circuit,  I  see  no  rea- 
son why  intelligence  might  not  be  transmitted  instantaneously  by  electri- 
city." This  was  the  crude  seed  which  at  once  took  root,  and  with  the 
favoring  leisure  of  a  long  voyage,  and  a  mind  unoccupied  with  other 
studies,  grew  into  form,  absorbing  my  thoughts  in  the  sleepless  hours  of 
the  night,  and  turning  the  tedium  of  the  voyage  into  an  agreeable  pastime. 
Before  the  end  of  the  voyage  the  invention  had  the  following  attributes. 

I  may  observe,  in  passing,  that  my  aim  at  the  outset  was  simplicity  of 
means  as  well  as  result.  Hence  I  devised  a  single  circuit  of  conductors 
from  some  generator  of  electricity.  I  planned  a  system  of  signs  consisting 
of  dots  or  points,  and  spaces  to  represent  numerals;  and  two  modes  of 
causing  the  electricity  to  mark  or  imprint  these  signs  upon  a  strip  orriVbon 
of  paper.  One  was  by  chemical  decomposition  of  a  salt  which  should  dis- 
color the  paper ;  the  other  was  by  the  mechanical  action  of  the  electro- 
magnet, operating  upon  the  paper  by  a  lever  charged  at  one  extremity  with 
a  pen  or  pencil.  I  conceived  the  plan  of  moving  the  paper  ribbon  at  a 
regular  rate  by  means  of  clock-worlc  machinery  to  receive  the  signs.  These 
processes,  as  well  as  the  mathematically -calculated  signs,  devised  for 
and  adapted  to  recording,  were  sketched  in  my  sketch-book.  I  also  drew 
in  my  sketch-book  modes  of  interring  the  conductors  in  tubes  in  the  earth, 
and,  soon  after  landing,  planned  and  drew  out  the  method  upon  posts.    This 


APPENDIX. 


755 


was  the  general  condition  of  the  invention  (with  the  exception  of  the  plan 
upon  posts)  when  I  arrived  in  New  York,  on  the  15th  of  November,  1832. 

Among  the  original  charac- 
teristics of  the  invention  as  de- 
vised on  board  the  ship,  one  of  tbe 
most  important  was  the  mathe- 
matically-calculated signs  adapt- 
ed to  recording.  As  these  signs 
have  ever  since  played  a  most 
important  part  in  the  modern 
telegraphs,  they  would  seem  to 
demand  here  a  more  distinct  no-  ymuw 
tice  of  their  origin.  < 

In  reflecting  on  the  operations 
of  electricity  as  a  proposed  agent 
in  telegraphy,  I  was  aware  that 
its  presence  in  a  conductor  of  mod- 
erate length  could  be  indicated  in 
several  ways.  The  physical  effects 
in  a  shock;  the  visible  spark ;  visi- 
ble bubbles  during  decomposition, 
and  marks  left  from  decomposi- 
tion ;  its  magnetic  effects  upon 
soft  iron  and  steel ;  and  its  calo- 
rific effects — these  were  all  well- 
known  phenomena.  Could  any 
of  these  be  made  available  for 
recording,  and  at  a  great  distance  ? 
This  was  the  important  problem 
to  be  solved.  Electricity  had 
been  flashed  many  miles  through 
a  conductor,  apparently  instanta- 
neously, and  produced  some  of 
these  effects  at  a  distance.  May 
not  all  of  them,  likewise,  be  pro- 
duced at  a  distance  ?  If  so,  which 
of  them  seemed  to  promise  the 
surest  result  of  &  permanent  rec-. 
ord?  Static  electricity,  as  an 
agent,  was  first  proposed,  but 
was  quickly  dismissed  as  too  un- 
controllable, and  I  directed  my 
attention  exclusively  to  the  phe- 
nomena of  dynamic  electricity. 
The  decomposition  of  a  salt  hav- 
ing a  metallic  basis  would  leave  a  mark  upon  paper  or  cloth — but  what  salt  ? 
Some  would  probably  answer  the  purpose.    Assuming,  therefore,  that  such 


756  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.  B.  MORSE. 

a  salt  could  be  found,  how  was  it  to  be  used?  If  a  strip  of  paper  or  cloth 
were  moistened  with  the  salt,  and  were  then  simply  put  in  contact  with  a 
conductor  charged  with  electricity,  would  there  be  any  effect  upon  the 
paper  ?  A  magnetic  effect  is  produced  exterior  to  the  charged  conductor  ; 
is  there  any  salt  or  substance  so  sensitive  as  to  be  affected  either  by  decom- 
position, or  in  any  other  way,  by  this  magnetic  influence,  by  simple  contact 
with  an  electrically-charged  wire?  It  was  doubtful,  but  worth  an  experiment. 

But,  if  such  effect  were  verified  by  experiment,  it  was  conceived  that 
marks  like  those  in  the  diagram  (1)  might  be  made  across  the  moistened 
paper,  as  it  passed  beneath  and  in  contact  with  the  conjunctive  wire  A  B, 
when  the  wire  was  electrically  charged  and  discharged. 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  on  trial  no  such  effect  was  produced  by  the 
magnetic  properties  of  an  electrically-charged  wire  upon  any  salt  that  I  after- 
ward submitted  to  the  experiment.  Nevertheless,  it  is  perceived  that,  had 
this  device  (which  was  noted  down  for  testing)  been  verified,  the  simplest 
of  all  modes  of  recording  would  have  been  the  result. 

The  nearest  approach  to  this  simplicity  seemed  to  be  the  passing  of  the 
chemically-prepared  paper  between  the  two  broken  parts  of  a  circuit  so 
that  the  electricity  should  pass  through  the  moistened  paper  or  cloth  ;  this . 
would  mark  a  point  or  dot  when  the  circuit  was  closed,  and  by  rapid  clos- 
ing and  opening  of  the  circuit,  while  the  paper  was  moved  regularly  for- 
ward, points  or  dots,  in  any  required  groups,  could  be  made  at  will.  But 
what  salt  would  best  produce  this  result  was  to  be  determined  after  reach- 
ing the  end  of  the  voyage.  In  the  mean  time,  as  I  originally  proposed  to 
record  numerals  only,  intending  to  indicate  words  and  sentences  by  numbers, 
it  was  a  desideratum  to  arrange  the  ten  digits  to  be  represented  by  dots  or 
points  within  as  small  a  space  as  possible.  The  first  and  most  obvious  mode 
seemed  to  be  the  following : 

123456  7  8  9  10 

But  a  few  minutes'  reflection  showed  that  after  Jive  dots  or  points  the  num- 
ber of  dots  became  inconveniently  numerous  in  indicating  the  larger  digits ; 
hence  it  occurred  to  me  that,  by  extending  the  spaces  appropriated  to  the 
five  larger  digits,  giving  them  a  greater  space  value  than  was  possessed  by 
the  five  smaller  digits,  I  might  reduce  the  number  of  dots,  necessary  to  in- 
dicate any  of  the  ten  digits,  within  five  dots.  On  this  principle,  therefore,  I 
constructed  the  following  signs  for  the  ten  numerals,  and  devised  the  types 
for  regulating  the  opening  and  closing  of  an  electric  circuit.  {See  Diagram  2.) 
On  inspecting  the  diagram  (2)  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  types  were 
to  be  divided  into  definite  parts. 

Type  1  contains  4  parts,  and  appropriates  1  part    to  its  cog,  and  3  to  its  space. 

"                     3  parts  to  its  cog,  and  3  " 

5  parts  to  its  cog,  and  3  " 

7  parts  to  its  cog,  and  3  " 

9  parts  to  its  cog,  and  3  " 

1  part    to  its  cog,  and  5  " 

3  parts  to  its  cog,  and  5  " 

5  parts  to  its  cog,  and  5  " 

7  parts  to  its  cog,  and  5  " 

"                     9  parts  to  its  cog,  and  5  " 


2 

6 

3 

'         8 

4 

'       10 

5 

1       12 

6 

6 

7 

8 

8 

'       10 

9 

'       12 

0 

1       14 

APPENDIX. 


757 


Each  of  the  first  five  digits,  therefore,  is  indicated  by  a  space  of  three 
parts,  and 

Each  of  the  last  five  digits  is  indicated  by  a  space  of  five  parts. 


T 
C 
J. 


r- 


rj::::::: 


c=0 


C.VM 


i^ 


<m 


5 

1 

c 

1 — 

s* 

i — 

•  i— i 

: 
:j 

•CO 

il 

758  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

The  space  type  for  separating  completed  numbers,  whether  single  or 
compounded,  contains  six  parts. 

The  length  of  the  spaces,  therefore,  was  an  element  to  be  used  in  deter- 
mining the  difference  between  the  class  of  the  first  five  digits  and  the  class 
of  the  last  five  digits,  and  not  simply  the  number  of  dots  or  points. 
Whether  one  dot  was  to  be  read  as  numeral  1  or  as  numeral  6  was  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  length  of  the  space  after  it,  and,  for  the  purpose  of  measur- 
ing this  space  in  the  last  numeral  of  a  dispatch,  the  single  dot  or  point  was 
to  be  used  as  a  supernumerary^/wic^e  to  every  dispatch. 

A  space  of  the  length  of  nine  or  more  parts,  after  a  dot  or  group  of  dots, 
indicates  the  dot  or  group  of  dots  to  be  a  complete  number,  whether  single 
or  compounded. 

A  space  less  than  the  length*  of  the  nine  parts,  after  a  dot  or  group  of 
dots,  indicates  that  they  are  a  portion  of  a  compounded  number. 

An  example  will  illustrate  this  first  mode  of  recording  that  was  pro- 
posed.    Suppose  the  numbers  to  be  telegraphed  are 

77—8—92 

The  type  would  be  arranged  as  in  the  above  diagram  (3).  The  record  would 
show  two  dots,  then  a  space  of  five  parts,  which,  being  less  than  nine  parts, 
determines  the  two  dots  to  belong  to  numeral  7,  the  five  parts  being  its 
proper  or  natural  space,  and  that  it  is  one  of  a  compounded  number ;  then 
follow  two  similar  dots,  but  followed  by  a  space  of  eleven  parts,  which, 
consisting  of  more  than  nine  parts,  shows  that  a  space  type  of  six  parts  has 
been  inserted,  separating  this  last  group  from  the  next ;  six  parts  subtracted 
from  the  eleven  parts  leave  five  parts  for  the  proper  or  natural  space  of  the 
last  numeral,  showing  it  to  be  like  the  first,  the  numeral  7.  Next  come 
three  dots,  and  also  followed  by  a  space  of  eleven  parts,  which,  consisting 
of  more  than  nine  parts,  isolates  the  numeral,  and  shows  that  a  space  type 
of  six  parts  must  be  subtracted  from  the  eleven,  leaving  five  parts  for  the 
natural  or  proper  space  of  the  last  numeral,  indicating,  therefore,  the  nu- 
meral 8.  Then  come  four  dots,  followed  by  a  space  of  five  parts,  which, 
being  less  than  nine  parts,  shows  the  four  dots  to  be  a  numeral  belonging 
to  a  compounded  number,  and  that  it  belongs  to  the  class  of  the  five  larger 
digits,  and  indicates  the  numeral  9.  Next  come  two  dots,  followed  by  a 
space  of  three  parts,  which,  being  less  than  nine  parts,  shows  it  to  belong 
to  the  class  of  the  first  five  digits,  and  therefore  indicates  the  numeral  2, 
because  it  is  succeeded  by  the  final  1,  which  is  not  to  be  regarded  except  as 
serving  to  measure  the  space  to  determine  the  character  of  the  previous 
numeral. 

This  method  (in  the  light  of  my  improvements  of  the  code,  which  very 
soon  followed  after  the  first  practical  test)  seems  crude  and  even  impractical, 
especially  in  view  of  my  perfected  alphabetic  code  devised  as  early  as  1835, 
and  now  with  some  comparatively  slight  improvements  in  use  through- 
out the  world.  But,  cumbrous  and  inconvenient  as  it  was,  in  its  earliest 
stages,  if  compared  in  its  results  with  the  results  of  the  semaphoric  modes 


APPENDIX.  759 

in  use  at  that  day,  it  will  be  perceived  that  it  was  even  then  a  great  step  in 
advance. 

A  day  had  scarcely  passed  after  my  landing,  before  I  commenced  the 
construction  of  the  invention  from  the  plans  and  drawings  made  on  board  the 
ship.  The  signs  to  be  recorded  or  imprinted  it  was  necessary  to  embody  in 
a  species  of  type,  the  name  I  gave  to  the  cogged  pieces  which  were  to  make 
the  required  closings  and  openings  of  the  circuit  of  conductors,  necessary  to 
mark  or  imprint  the  points  or  signs  for  numerals  upon  the  strip  of  paper 
at  the  regulated  intervals  of  time  ;  the  paper  or  ribbon  having  a  regular 
movement,  while  the  type  performed  the  closing  and  opening  of  the  circuit 
at  irregular  intervals  (and  thus  broke  the  continuous  line  of  the  regular 
movement  of  the  paper  into  irregular  parts  at  pleasure),  and  furnished  the 
means  of  breaking  the  line  into  dots  and  spaces,  in  such  variety  as  at  once 
to  enable  me  not  only  to  construct  the  numerals,  but  eventually,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  different  combinations  of  long  lines,  short  lines,  or  points,  and 
spaces,  all  the  different  letters  of  the  alphabet.  The  type  proposed  at 
this  time  consisted  of  thin  strips  of  type-metal  with  cogs  varied  at  intervals, 
as  seen  in  Diagram  2.  These  by  means  of  a  mechanical  movement  (here- 
inafter described)  were  made  and  intended  for  closing  and  opening  the  cir- 
cuit at  the  desired  times.  These  types,  therefore,  for  imprinting  at  a  dis- 
tance, were,  at  that  time,  an  essential  part  of  the  machinery  in  process  of 
construction ;  and  having  more  facilities,  immediately  on  my  arrival,  for 
elaborating  these  types  than  for  other  parts  of  the  machinery,  they  were  the 
first  constructed.  A  mould  of  brass  was  made  and  a  quantity  of  the  type  was 
cast  before  the  close  of  the  year  1832.  The  rest  of  the  machinery,  except 
a  single-cup  battery,  and  a  few  yards  of  wire,  and  the  train  of  wheels  of  a 
wooden  clock,  which  I  adapted  to  the  service  of  unrolling  the  strip  of  paper, 
I  was  compelled,  from  the  necessities  of  my  profession,  to  leave  in  the  con- 
dition of  drawings  until  I  found  some  more  permanent  resting-place.  From 
November,  1832,  until  the  summer  of  1835  (two  and  a  half  years),  I  had 
changed  my  residence  three  times,  and  was  wholly  without  the  pecuniary 
means  for  putting  together  and  embodying  the  various  parts  of  my  inven- 
tion in  one  whole.  But  in  July,  1835, 1  took  possession  of  my  new  home,  in 
the  new  building  of  the  New  York  City  University,  and  I  then  lost  not  a 
day  in  collecting  the  parts  and  putting  into  practical  form  the  first  rude  in- 
strument which  was  to  demonstrate  the  operation  of  the  invention.  I  was 
favored  with  a  little  leisure  from  the  unfinished  condition  of  the  University 
building,  which  impeded  the  access  of  visitors  to  my  apartments  for  my 
usual  professional  duties. 

I  ought  here  to  say  that,  with  the  aid  of  a  single-cup  battery,  as  early 
as  1834,  previous  to  my  removal  to  the  University,  I  ascertained  that  no 
visible  effect  was  produced  upon  numerous  salts,  which  I  submitted  to 
trial  by  putting  them  in  simple  contact  with  the  wire  charged  with  electricity, 
as  shown  in  the  plan  of  Diagram  1,  proposed  for  experiment  on  board  the 
ship.  I  succeeded,  however,  in  marking  by  chemical  decomposition,  when 
the  electricity  was  passed  through  the  moistened  paper  or  cloth,  in  1836,  in 


760  LIFE   OF  SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  University,  but  the  process  was  attended  with  so  many  inconveniences 
that  it  was  laid  aside  for  the  moment,  not  abandoned,  that  I  might  give  my 
attention  more  directly  to  the  electro-magnetic  mode  of  recording. 

If  my  nomadic  mode  of  life  for  two  years  previous,  and  the  condition  of 
my  pecuniary  means,  be  kept  in  mind ;  if,  also,  it  be  considered  that  many 
of  the  mechanical  facilities  in  New  York,  so  abundant  at  the  present  day, 
for  embodying  the  invention,  did  not  exist,  and  therefore  were  denied  to 
me,  it  will  account  both  for  the  slowness  in  completing  the  instrumentali- 
ties of  my  invention,  and  the  rudeness  of  the  first-constructed  instrument. 
The  electro-magnet  was  not  an  instrument  found  for  sale  in  the  shops,  as  at 
this  day ;  insulated  wire  was  nowhere  to  be  obtained,  except  in  the  small- 
est quantities,  as  bonnet-wire  of  iron  wound  with  cotton  thread.  Copper 
wire  was  not  in  use  for  that  purpose,  and  was  sold  in  the  shops  by  the 
pound  or  yard  at  high  prices  and  also  in  very  limited  quantities. 

To  form,  my  electro-magnet,  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  procuring  from 
the  blacksmith  a  small  rod  of  iron  bent  in  horseshoe  form  ;  of  purchasing 
a  few  yards  of  copper  wire,  and  of  winding  upon  it,  by  hand,  its  cotton- 
thread  insulation,  before  I  could  construct  the  rude  helices  of  the  magnet. 
I  had  already  purchased  a  cheap  wooden  clock  and  adapted  the  train  of 
wheels  to  the  rate  of  movement  required  for  the  ribbon  of  paper. 

I  needed  a  proper  support  for  the  machinery  on  which  to  arrange  the 
various  disconnected  parts.  A  stretching-frame  for  canvas,  XX,  Diagram 
4  (having  a  bar  across  the  middle),  which  stood  unemployed  against  the  wall 
of  my  atelier,  suggested  to  me  a  rough  but  convenient  method  of  putting 
into  operation  the  printing  or  marking  of  the  signs.  I  nailed  it  at  the 
bottom  against  the  edge  of  a  common  table.  Across  the  lower  part  of  the 
frame  I  constructed  a  narrow  trough,  to  hold  three  narrow  cylinders  of 
wood,  ABO;  A  and  0  small,  one  on  eaoh  side  of  the  large  cylinder  B. 
The'  wooden  clock  D  was  placed  at  one  end  of  this  trough.  The  small 
cylinder  0  next  to  the  clock  had  a  small  pulley-wheel  fixed  upon  its  pro- 
longed axis,  outside  the  trough  ;  a  similar  pulley- wheel  was  fixed  upon  the 
prolonged  axis  of  the  slower  wheels  of  the  train  of  wheels  outside  the 
clock;  these  two  pulley-wheels  were  connected  by  an  endless  cord  or 
band. 

Upon  the  other  small  cylinder  A,  on  the  other  side  of  cylinder  B,  was 
wound  the  ribbon  of  paper,  composed  of  long  strips  of  paper  pasted  to- 
gether, end  to  end.  When  the  clock-train  was  put  in  movement,  the  rib- 
bon of  paper  was  gradually  unrolled  from  its  cylinder,  and,  passing  over  the 
cylinder  B,  was  rolled  up  upon  the  cylinder  0  by  meaus  of  the  cord  and 
pulleys.  To  give  the  weight  which  moved  the  clock-train  a  sufficiently 
long  space  in  which  to  fall,  a  long  rod  or  strip  of  wood  projecting  upward 
was  nailed  to  the  side  of  the  frame,  at  the  top  of  which  rod  was  a  pulley- 
wheel  over  which  the  cord  attached  to  the  wTeight  E  was  passed. 

Upon  the  middle  of  the  cross-bar  of  the  frame  there  was  a  small  shelf 
or  bracket  h  to  hold  the  electro-magnet,  which  was  the  moving  power  of 
the  marking  or  printing  lever. 


APPENDIX. 


761 


The  lever  was  an  A-shaped  pendulum,  F,  suspended  by  its  apex  at  f 
from  the  centre  of  the  top  of  the  frame,  directly  above  the  centre  of  the 
cylinder  B  in  the  trough  below.  This  lever  was  made  of  two  thin  rules  of 
wood  meeting  at  the  top  /,  but  opening  downward  about  one  inch  apart, 
and  joined  at  the  bottom  by  a  transverse  bar  (which  was  close  to  the 
paper  as  it  moved  over  the  large  cylinder),  and  another  about  one  inch 
above  it.    Through  the  centre  of  these  two  bars  a  small  tube  or  pencil-case 


Diagram  4. 


762 


LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MOESE. 


TYPE. 


QBB 


a 


6 


Cj 


rLruT- 


8 


"LTLTLTL 

9 


rL-TLn_r"l_rL 

0 


EXAMPLE  OF    IMPRINTING. 

*4"      "h"     6  3*      2       "0"  "4 

Diagram  4. 


g  was  fixed,  through  which  a  pencil  loosely  played.  The  pencil  had  a 
small  weight  upon  its  top  to  keep  the  point  in  constant  contact  with  the 
paper  ribbon.  Upon  the  lever  directly  opposite  to  the  poles  of  the  electro- 
magnet was  fastened  the  armature  of  the  magnet,  or  a  small  bar  of  soft 
iron  h.  The  movement  of  the  lever  was  guided  by  stops  on  the  frame  at 
the  sides  of  the  lever,  permitting  to  it  only  a  movement  forward  to,  and 
back  from,  the  magnet ;  the  pencil  at  the  bottom  of  the  lever  was  thus 
allowed  to  advance  when  the  magnet  was  charged,  and  to  retreat  when 
discharged,  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch.  The  lever  advanced  by  the  attrac- 
tion of  the  magnet,  and  retreated  by  a  weight  in  the  first  attempts,  but  im- 
mediately afterward  by  the  action  of  a  spring. 

The  first  voltaic  battery  or  pile '  was  of  a  single  pair,  I,  having  one  of 
its  poles  connected  by  a  conjunctive  wire  with  one  of  the  helices  of  the 
electro-magnet,  and  the  other  pole  with  one  of  two  cups  of  mercury  K ;  a 
conjunctive  wire  connected  with  the  other  helix  of  the  magnet.  The  only 
part  of  the  voltaic  circuit  not  completed  was  between  the  two  cups  of  mer- 
cury J  and  K.  "When  a  forked  wire  upon  the  lever  O  0  united  the  two 
cups  J  K,  the  circuit  was  complete,  the  magnet  was  discharged,  the  arma- 
ture h  was  attracted,  and  the  lever  F  drawn  toward  the  magnet.  "When 
the  forked  wire  was  removed  the  magnet  was.discharged,  and  the  spring 
brought  back  the  lever  to  its  normal  position.  "When  the  clock-work  was 
put  in  motion,  the  ribbon  of  paper  was  drawn  over  the  large  cylinder  B ; 
from  the  cylinder  A,  the  pencil  g  on  the  lever,  being  in  constant  contact 
with  the  ribbon  of  paper,  traced  a  continuous  line  lengthwise  with  the  rib- 
bon. When  the  lever  was  in  a  normal  position,  the  line  was  upon  one  side 
of  the  ribbon,  as  at  r  ;  when  attracted  by  the  magnet  to  the  other  limit  of  its 
motion,  the  line  was  on  the  other  side,  as  at  s  in  Diagram  5. 


1  I  had  at  this  time  a  Cruikshank's  battery  of  twelve  pairs,  but  so  out  of  order 
as  not  to  be  available  for  experiment. 


APPENDIX. 


763 


The  pathway  of  the  pencil-point  (when  the  lever  was  attracted  toward 
and  held  hy  the  magnet  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  tracing  the  line  s)  con- 
tains the  three  elements  of  points,  spaces,  and  lines,  forming  hy  their  vari- 
ous combinations  the  various  conventional  characters  for  numerals  and 
letters.  The  other  line  r,  traced  by  the  pencil  when  the  lever  is  in  its  nor- 
mal position,  may,  therefore,  be  disregarded.  Only  the  variations  in  the  line  s 
traced  by  the  pencil  when  the  magnet  is  charged  is  of  importance.  A 
specimen  of  these  combinations  is  exhibited  in  the  following  diagram  (6). 

A  is  the  line  r  in  Diagram  5  which  the  pencil  traces  when  the  lever  is 
in  its  normal  position. 


764 


LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 


B  is  the  line  s  in  the  same  diagram  which  is  to  contain  the  conventional 
characters  to  be  read  as  if  marked  in  points,  spaces,  and  lines,  as  on  the  line 
0  below  the  ribbon  of  paper.  The  arrows  show  the  direction  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  ribbon  of  paper  when  the  clock-work  is  in  motion. 


& 


'      H/VI       /VL/l__ 


B 


i 


& 


V     I 


AAA 

I        H 


v\r 


^rvi^ 


OghGhCtj-dh  . 


R 


,4/1/1/      1/ 


"T/L  /WW      L_, 

3    hi       4       I 

/W\Ay\       / — l/~ 1/1/1       /^V/l/VL 


Diagram  7. 

Supposing  the  ribbon  of  paper  in  motion  while  the  magnet  is  not 
charged,  and  the  pencil  to  have  commenced  marking  the  upper  line  at  A, 
when  arriving  at  d,  the  circuit  is  quickly  closed  and  opened  again ;  the 


APPENDIX.  765 

pencil  is  thus  drawn  a  moment  to  the  lower  line  B,  marking  a  transverse 
across  and  back  again,  leaving  a  point  in  the  lower  line  B.  But,  as  the  rib- 
bon of  paper  is  in  motion,  the  transverse  line  back  again  does  not  return 
the  way  it  came,  but  goes  back  to  e.  From  e  to/  is  a  space.  If  the  circuit 
be  closed  twice,  and  at  each  closing  be  opened  quickly  again,  there  will  be 
two  points  left  in  the  line  B,  followed  by  another  space.;  if  three  times, 
there  will  be  three  points,  and  then  a  longer  space,  and  so  on,  making  one 
or  more  points  and  spaces  at  pleasure.  But  if,  instead  of  opening  the  cir- 
cuit quickly,  it  be  kept  closed  a  moment,  and  then  opened,  the  pencil  leaves 
a  line  on  the  line  B,  as  at  F  G.  Thus  points,  spaces,  and  lines,  are  made  at 
will.  Combinations  of  these  (strictly  speaking,  broken  parts  of  a  continu- 
ous line)  I  made  in  sufficient  variety  to  form  my  conventional  alphabet. 
(See  Diagram  7.) 

At  the  time  of  the  construction  of  this  first  telegraphic  instrument,  I 
had  not  conceived  the  idea  of  the  present  Tcey  manipulator  dependent  on 
the  skill  of  the  operator,  but  I  presumed  that  the  accuracy  of  the  imprint- 
ing of  signs  could  only  be  secured  by  mechanical  mathematical  arrange- 
ments and  by  automatic  process.  Hence  the  first  conception,  on  board  the 
ship,  of  embodying  the  signs  in  type  mathematically  divided  mto points  and 
spaces.  (See  Diagram  2.)  Hence  also  the  construction  of  the  type-mould, 
and  castings  of  the  first  type,  in  1832. 

Having  ascertained  that  the  machinery  I  had  constructed,  rude  as  it 
was,  would  move  the  ribbon  of  paper  at  a  regular  speed,  and  that  the  pen- 
cil-lever was  obedient  to  the  closing  and  opening  of  the  circuit,  the  next 
thing  to  construct  was  the  manipulator  or  regulator  of  the  closing  and 
opening  of  the  circuit. 

I  had  already  in  abundance  the  type  cast  in  1832.  These  were  now  to 
be  put  in  use. 

I  prepared  rules  or  composing-sticks  M  (Diagram  4)  of  about  three  feet 
in  length  each,  formed  by  two  strips  of  wood,  so  placed  side  by  side  as  to 
leave  a  narrow  channel  large  enough  to  contain  the  type  in  desired  order 
and  to  allow  the  cogs  of  the  type  to  project  above  the  upper  edge  of  the 
rules.  Through  and  along  the  bottom  of  the  rules,  projecting  downward, 
were  several  needle-points,  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  length ;  their  use 
will  be  perceived  presently. 

A  long  trough  L  L,  sufficiently  wide  to  allow  of  easy  passage  of  the 
rules  through  its  length,  was  constructed  with  the  following  parts.  Near 
each  end  of  this  trough  were  two  small  cylinders,  of  wood,  L  L.  On  the 
prolonged  axle  of  one  of  them  was  a  hand-crank,  and  over  the  two  cylin- 
ders an  endless  band  of  worsted  tape  about  one  and  a  half  inch  in  width, 
which,  when  the  crank  was  turned,  passed  from  end  to  end  of  the  trough. 
Midway  and  across  the  trough  was  erected  a  small  frame  or  bridge  N", 
within  which  a  wooden  lever  0  O  was  suspended  parallel  with  the  endless 
band,  having  its  fulcrum  at  N  at  a  point  about  two-thirds  its  length,  but 
the  longer  part  reaching  from  the  fulcrum  to  the  end  of  the  trough,  on 
each  side  of  which  under  the  end  of  the  longer  part  of  the  lever  were  placed 


766  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 

the  two  cups  of  mercury  J  K.  Upon  the  end  of  the  lever  and  above  the 
cups  of  mercury  was  fixed  a  forked  wire  so  bent  as  to  connect  both  cups 
when  the  end  of  the  lever  was  depressed,  and  to  disconnect  them  when  it 
was  raised.  At  the  other  or  shorter  end  of  the  lever  a  weight  P  over- 
balanced the  longer  part,  and  on  the  under  side  beneath  the  weight  was  a 
beveled  tooth  projecting  downward.  The  rule  or  composing-stick,  having 
the  type  set  up,  was  then  placed  upon  the  endless  band :  the  needle-points 
beneath  the  rule  striking  through  the  band  and  retaining  the  rule  in  its 
place.  By  turning  the  crank  the  rule  was  made  to  pass  beneath  the  lever. 
The  first  cog  of  the  type,  coming  in  contact  with  the  tooth  beneath  the 
weight  of  the  lever,  raised  that  end  and  depressed  the  other,  causing  the 
forked  wire  to  descend  into  the  two  cups  of  mercury,  and  closing  the  cir- 
cuit. When  the  cog  had  passed  the  tooth,  the  weight  caused  the  tooth  to 
fall  into  the  space  between  the  first  and  second  cogs,  and  the  fork  at  the 
other  end  of  the  lever  to  rise  out  of  the  cups  of  mercury,  opening  the  cir- 
cuit. At  each  dip  of  the  fork  into  the  cups,  the  circuit  was  closed,  the  mag- 
net was  charged,  the  armature  on  the  pendulum  lever  was  attracted,  and 
the  pencil  passed  from  the  upper  line  A  (Diagram  6)  to  the  lower  line  B. 
When  the  fork  was  raised  out  of  the  cups  the  circuit  was  opened,  the  mag- 
net was  discharged,  and  the  pendulum  lever  with  its  pencil  resumed  its 
normal  position  by  the  action  of  the  spring.  A  repetition  of  this  process, 
as  the  rules  with  the  type  passed  beneath  the  tooth  on  the  lever,  com- 
pleted the  action  of  the  instrument. 

This  was  the  construction  and  mode  of  operation  of  the  first  recording 
instrument  for  imprinting  characters  at  a  distance.  In  this  shape  it  " pro- 
duced a  new  practical  result,  seen  and  felt  and  appreciated  by  the  senses" 
witnessed,  and  testified  to,  by  many  witnesses  as  seen  in  operation  in  1835, 
1836,  1837.  It  was  undoubtedly  an  imperfect  instrument,  but  it  produced, 
then,  the  same  result  that  is  produced  more  effectively,  by  more  perfectly 
made  instruments,  at  this  day.  It  was  a  result  never  conceived  nor  accom- 
plished before ;  it  was  an  important  practical  result  for  the  first  time  at- 
tained. 

The  recording  instruments  throughout  the  world  at  this  hour  have  the 
same  characteristics  as  this  first  rude  instrument. 

They  record  or  imprint  conventional  signs,  points,  spaces,  and  lines,  upon 
a  ribbon  of  paper,  moved  by  clock  machinery,  and  by  the  action  of  an 
electro-magnet,  charged  and  discharged  through  the  agency  of  electricity, 
by  means  of  a  single  circuit  of  conductors.  The  mechanism  of  to-day  is 
indeed  more  beautiful,  more  finished,  more  exact,  and  as  varied  in  form  as 
the  varied  forms  of  the  timepiece.  The  result  is  consequently  more  rapidly 
produced,  but  the  result  is  the  same  as  in  this  original  instrument.  The 
semaphore  was  then  transmuted  into  a  telegraph.  The  evanescent  sign  had 
become  fixed,  permanently  written  or  imprinted  at  a  distance. 

I  have  said  that  the  modern  instruments  have  the  same  characteristics 
as  the  first  instrument. 

To  make  clear  the  identity  of  the  modern  recording  instruments  with 


APPENDIX. 


767 


this  recording  instrument  of  1835,  which  at  first  hlush  may  not  be  so  ob- 
vious, I  have  made  the  diagrams  (8,  9). 

As  in  the  timepiece  there  is  seen  every  variety  of  form  and  arrange- 
ment of  parts  to  produce  the  same  result  (the  passage  of  time),  so  in  the 
recording  instruments  of  the  present  day  there  is  the  same  variety  of  form 
and  arrangement  of  parts  to  produce  the  writing  or  imprinting,  the  final 
result  in  all. 


Diagram  8. 


Compare  Diagrams  8,  9,  with  Diagram  4.  The  letters  in  each  diagram 
refer  to  similar  parts  in  each,  so  that,  in  describing  one,  all  are  described. 
In  Diagram  8,  the  machinery  that  moves  the  ribbon  of  paper  is  removed 
in  order  the  better  to  show  the  writing  or  recording  apparatus.  F  is  the 
lever;  fits  fulcrum;  h  the  armature  of  the  electro-magnet  affixed  to  the 
lever ;  m  shows  the  stylus  or  marking  instrument  in  Diagrams  8,  9,  affixed 
to  the  extremity  of  the  lever,  having  the  fulcrum /between  the  stylus  m 
and  the  armature  h.  This  is  the  modification  in  the  modern  instruments, 
while  in  Diagrams  4  and  9  g  shows  the  stylus  affixed  to  the  other  ex- 
tremity of  the  lever  F,  having  the  armature  Ti  between  the  stylus  g  and  the 
fulcrum/.  If,  therefore,  as  in  Diagram  9,  two  ribbons  of  paper  are  put  in 
movement,  one  before  each  stylus  g  and  m,  it  will  be  seen  that  g  in  Dia- 
gram 9  makes  the  zigzag  marks  represented  in  Diagram  6  like  those  of  g  in 
the  original  instrument  (Diagram  4),  while  at  the  same  time,  by  the  same 
movement  of  the  lever,  the  stylus  m.  at  the  other  exremity  of  the  same 
lever,  marks  the  alphabet  in  points  and  lines,  or  dots  and  dahes,  upon  its 
own  ribbon  of  paper,  the  characters  in  universal  use  at  the  present  day. 

It  is  thus  perceived  that  by  prolonging  the  lever  of  the  modern  modifi- 
cation of  the  recording  instruments  beyond  the  armature  h  toward  the  cyl- 
inder B,  and  affixing  a  stylus,  pen  or  pencil  g,  on  its  extremity,  and  allow- 
ing it  to  be  in  contact  with  the  moving  ribbon  of  paper,  as  in  the  original 


768 


LIFE   OF  SAMUEL   F.   B.   MORSE. 


instrument  of  1835,  the  action  of  the  lever  F  may  he  made  to  mark  the 
original  zigzag  characters  at  g,  while  the  modern  points  and  lines  are  at 
the  same  time  marked  by  m  on  its  own  ribbon  of  paper.  The  dotted  lines 
shadow  the  original  A-shaped  lever  of  Diagram  4,  sbowing  the  same  as- 
semblage and  arrangement  of  parts  as  in  the  original  instrument. 

It  may  seem  singular  to  some  that  the  plan  of  direct  up-and-down 
movement  of  the  lever,  as  in  Diagrams  8  and  9  at  m,  to  mark  upon  the 
paper  (the  plan  devised  on  board  the  ship,  and  which  is  now  the  most  uni- 
versal), should  not  have  been  the  first  that  was  put  in  operation,  since  too 


Diagram  9. 


it  was  the  first  and  the  most  obvious  mode  devised.  Having  chosen,  how- 
ever, for  economical  reasons,  the  stretching-frame  as  the  most  convenient 
support  at  hand  for  the  machinery,  it  was  necessary  to  adapt  the  parts  to 
this  choice,  even  if  my  results  must  be  attained  in  a  more  indirect  manner. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  direct  action  of  the  lever,  as  at  present  univer- 
sally used  in  the  register,  would  accomplish  the  result  better,  and  it  was 
put  into  use  almost  immediately  after  the  first  trial.     Lightness  in  the  lever 


APPENDIX. 


769 


was  a  desideratum,  and  this  seemed  to  be  easiest  attained  by  suspending  it 
at  its  fulcrum/,  but,  especially  as  &  pencil  was  chosen  as  the  first  marking 
instrument  (Diagram  10),  it  was  supposed  to  be  necessary  in  some  way  to 
avoid  the  direct  blow  of  the  pencil  upon  the  paper,  which  was  produced 
by  this  mode,  but  which  endangered  the  point,  and  therefore  the  zigzag 


Diagram  10. 

sliding  movement  was  adopted.  The  pencil  as  employed  in  Diagram  9,  at  g, 
was  not  the  only  marking  instrument  devised  and  put  in  operation  in  the 
earlier  instruments.  Besides  the  direct  action  of  the  pencil  as  in  Diagram 
10,  fountain-pens  of  various  kinds,  one  of  which  is  shown  in  Diagram  11, 


DlAGEAM 


and  a  small  printing-wheel,  as  shown  in  Diagram  12,  were  used,  the  latter 
being  supplied  with  ink  from  a  sponge  with  which  it  was  in  contact.    All 
these  were  used  with  more  or  less  of  success. 
49 


770 


LIFE   OF   SAMUEL   F.   B.    MORSE. 


The  same  result,  however,  to  wit,  recorded  characters  representing 
numerals  and  letters,  and  words  and  sentences,  was  given  by  each  of  these 
modes  in  this  first-constructed  instrument  as  is  given  in  instruments  of  the 
present  day.  The  instrumentalities  are  the  same,  and  the  result  the  same ; 
the  only  difference  is  in  the  mode  of  using  the  marking  lever. 

It  will  be  now  perceived  that  my  invention  of  1832  had  certain  very  im- 
portant novel  characteristics  which  distinguished  it  from  all  inventions  of 
a  previous  date.     It  was  not  like  any  of  them. 


Diageam  12. 


Although  the  contemplation  of  static  electricity  as  a  means  of  producing 
a  permanent  record  at  a  distance  gave  rise  in  my  mind  to  the  conception 
of  the  invention  on  board  the  ship,  it  was  not  the  static  form  of  electricity, 
but  its  dynamic  form,  which  I  immediately  adopted  for  carrying  into 
operation  what  I  had  devised.  Electricity  was  proposed  to  be  used  by  me 
neither  in  the  form,  nor  for  the  purpose,  nor  by  the  same  instrumentalities, 
as  were  proposed  in  the  earliest  contrivances,  say  previous  to  the  year  1800. 
None  of  them  proposed 'to  record  their  intelligence.  None  of  them  pro- 
posed or  made  use  of  the  electro-magnet,  for  it  was  not  then  invented,  nor 
the  scientific  basis  of  it  discovered.  None  of  them  had  invented  a  system  of 
signs  adapted  to  recording,  for  the  necessity  for  them  had  not  arisen.  For 
the  same  reason,  none  had  proposed  a  moving  ribbon  of  paper  for  receiving 
the  record.     None  proposed  to  use  a  single  circuit  of  conductors. 

In  the  earliest  attempts  to  use  electricity  for  communicating  at  a  dis- 
tance, static  electricity  was  the  form  proposed  and  attempted.  Failure 
was  the  uniform  result,  not  for  the  lack  of  ingenuity  in  the  savants  of  that 
day,  but  from  the  intractable  nature  of  the  form  of  electricity  to  which 
they  were  limited.  When  the  dynamic  form  of  electricity  became  known, 
it  was  at  once  seized  upon  as  an  agent  in  accomplishing  communication  at 
a  distance. 


APPENDIX  771 

Still,  between  the  years  1800  and  1832,  the  means  by  which  that  end 
was  to  be  accomplished  were  all  semaphoric.  Decomposition  by  dynamic 
electricity  in  the  form  of  gas-bubbles,  and  the  deflection  of  the  magnetic 
needle,  were  the  sole  novelties  in  the  signals  of  their  proposed  plans.  No 
pei-iod,  therefore,  is  more  strongly  isolated  from  all  previous  dates  than  the 
date  1832  as  the  epoch  of  a  new  method  of  applying  electricity  by  the  elec- 
tro-magnet to  the  creation  of  a  new  art,  of  a  new  method  of  communicat- 
ing to  a  distance,  to  wit,  recording,  a  method  wholly  unlike  any  previously 
imagined  or  invented. 

But  the  instrument  I  had  devised  in- 1832,  and  constructed  in  1835  (so 
far  at  least  as  to  demonstrate  its  practicability  to  communicate  from  one 
station  to  a  distant  station),  did  not  completely  embody  my  whole  plan. 
This  whole  plan  was  not  complete  until  I  could,  by  a  duplicate  of  the  in- 
strument, have  the  means  of  a  return  from  that  distant  station.  This  was 
necessary  in  order  to  receive  from,  as  well  as  to  send  to,  a  particular  station. 
The  whole  plan  comprised  intercommunication,  or  reciprocal  communica- 
tion. 

It  is  true  that  any  ordinary  mind  could  easily  comprehend  from  the 
operation  of  the  single  original  apparatus  that,  if  precisely  the  same  appa- 
ratus were  used  from  the  receiving  station  to  the  sending  station,  intercom- 
munication would  be  complete.  No  new  appliances  were  necessary.  A 
duplicate  of  the  instrumentalities  already  in  use  from  the  sending  station 
to  the  receiving  station  was  all  that  was  needed  to  complete  my  whole  plan, 
and  to  establish  intercommunication.  But  this  was  an  affair  of  finance,  and 
not  of  invention.  To  supply  the  duplicate  required  pecuniary  means,  and 
these  I  had  not  at  command.  But  the  rigidly  captious  may  ask,  "  Why  did 
you  not  borrow  the  pecuniary  means  ?  "  My  reply  must  be  that  I  preferred 
the  delay,  and  the  hazards  of  a  delay,  to  the  hazard  of  being  unable  to 
repay  a  loan.  I  must  be  pardoned  if  I  state  that,  even  from  my  earliest 
youth,  I  ever  had  the  deepest  repugnance  to  incur  debt  by  borrowing,  even 
from  my  own  relatives.  Is  it  my  idiosyncrasy?  If  so,  the' reader  will  ex- 
cuse it,  and  my  allusion  to  it. 

By  dint  of  the  most  rigid  economy,  I  was  able  slowly  to  complete  and 
to  add  this  duplicate,  necessary  to  complete  my  whole  plan.  Although  the 
original  single  instrument  was  freely  shown  to  my  pupils  and  to  many 
friends,  I  was  reluctant  to  make  any  more  public  exhibitions  of  the  inven- 
tion until  this  duplicate  should  be  added,  and  this  was  done  in  the  early 
part  of  August,  1837.  Early  in  September,  I  was  more  free  in  exhibiting 
the  invention,  and  on  the  2d  and  on  the  4th  of  September  I  showed  the  in- 
struments in  operation  to  some  hundreds  of  persons  assembled  in  the  large 
hall  of  the  University.  Most  writers  on  the  Telegraph  choose  to  take  this 
date  as  the  date  of  my  invention.  But  why,  with  the  facts  before  them,  is 
this  just?  To  the  existence  and  previous  operation  of  the  essential  part 
of  my  whole  plan,  long  before  this  more  public  operation  of  1837,  there 
were  many  witnesses  whose  evidence  is  before  the  courts  on  oath.  But  there 
are  other  writers,  having  ascertained  the  date  of  my  caveat  at  the  Patent- 


772  LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.    B.   MORSE. 

Office  on  the  6th  of  Octoher,  1837,  and  others  again  -who  find  the  date  of 
the  7th  of  April,  1838,  the  date  of  my  application  in  "Washington  for  letters- 
patent,  who  choose  to  consider  this  latter  date  as  the  date  of  my  invention. 
To  all  these  I  propose  a  question.  Suppose  I  had  never  applied  for  letters- 
patent  for  the  invention,  hut  had  chosen  to  give  it  to  the  puhlic,  or  suppose 
I  had  never  brought  it  to  France,  would  there,  therefore,  he  no  invention, 
and  no  inventor  of  it  ?     Their  answer  will  settle  that  point. 

Between  the  date,  1835,  of  the  completion  of  the  first  instrument  and 
1837,  the  date  of  its  more  puhlic  exhibition,  there  was  a  very  important 
addition  to  it,  which  I  had  already  devised  and  provided  against  a  fore- 
shadowed exigency,  to  meet  it  if  it  should  occur  when  the  conductors  were 
extended,  not  to  a  few  hundred  feet  in  length  in  a  room,  but  to  stations 
many  miles  distant.  I  was  not  ignorant  of  the  possibility  that  the  electro- 
magnet might  be  so  enfeebled,  when  charged  from  a  great  distance,  as  to  be 
inoperative  for  direct  printing.  This  possibility  was  a  subject  of  much 
thought  and  anxiety  long  previous  to  the  year  1836,  long  previous  to  my 
acquaintance  or  consultations  with  my  friend  Professor  Gale  on  the  subject, 
but  I  had  then  already  conceived  and  drawn  a  plan  for  obviating  it.  The 
plan,  however,  was  so  simple  that  it  scarcely  needed  a  drawing  to  illustrate 
it ;  a  few  words  sufficed  to  make  it  comprehended.  If  the  magnet,  say  at 
twenty  miles  distant,  became  so  enfeebled  as  to  be  unable  to  print  directly, 
it  yet  might  have  power  sufficient  to  close  and  open  another  circuit  of 
twenty  miles  farther,  and  so  on  until  it  reached  the  requrred  station.  This 
plan  was  often  spoken  of  to  friends  previous  to  the  year  1836,  but  early  in 
January,  1836,  after  showing  the  original  instrument  in  operation  to  my 
friend  and  colleague,  Professor  Gale,  I  imparted  to  him  this  plan  of  a  relay 
battery  and  magnet  to  resolve  his  doubts  regarding  the  practicability  of 
producing  magnetic  power  sufficient  to  write  at  a  distance. 

This  apprehended  difficulty  of  an  enfeebled  magnet,  as  distance  increased, 
was  among  the  very  first  subjects  of  discussion  with  Professor  Gale ;  so 
soon  as  my  plan  for  obviating  it  was  revealed  to  him,  it  was  deemed  per- 
fectly satisfactory.  It  was  not  then  permanently  embodied  for  use.  A 
moment's  reflection  will  show  why.  The  relay  was  not  then  necessary  to 
show  the  final  result  of  the  telegraph  in  the  short  circuit  of  less  than  a 
mile  arranged  around  a  hall.  The  operation  and  result  of  printing  at  a  dis- 
tance was  complete  without  it.  But  the  frequent  objection  made  by  vis- 
itors that  the  instrument  shown  them  might  answer  well  enough  for  an  in- 
teresting philosophical  experiment  in  a  class-room,  but  would  not  operate 
at  a  distance,  at  length  induced  me  not  merely  to  explain  the  relay  by  words 
and  diagrams,  but,  so  soon  as  I  could  command  another  magnet,  to  embody 
it  in  proper  form. 

This  plan  of  the  relay  thus  made  in  the  spring  of  1837  was  productive  of 
an  important  incident  of  great  consequence  to  me  in  the  prosecution  of  my 
invention.  A  few  days  after  the  more  public  exhibition  of  the  telegraph, 
the  late  Alfred  Vail,  Esq.  (then  a  student  in  the  University,  who  was  pres- 
ent at  the  exhibition  on  the  4th  of  September),  became  so  fascinated  with 


APPENDIX.  773 

the  invention  that  he  called  to  have  it  more  perfectly  explained  to  him. 
The  usual  objection  that  it  would  not  operate  at  a  distance  was  a  bar  to  his 
belief  in  its  success.  No  sooner,  however,  had  I  explained  the  operation  of 
the  relay,  than  he  desired  an  interest  in  the  invention,  and,  to  procure  this 
interest,  he  offered  to  negotiate  with  his  father  and  brother  to  supply  the 
funds  necessary  to  have  constructed  such  a  telegraphic  instrument  as  would 
demonstrate  to  the  United  States  Congress,  and  to  the  country,  its  practi- 
cability and  utility.  Thus  the  invention  of  the  relay  was  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  construction  of  the  apparatus  which  was  shown  to  Congress  in 
Washington  in  the  winter  of  1837-1838. 

The  simple  and  effective  instruments  as  modified  by  Messrs.  Digney 
Freres,  of  Paris,  embody  the  distinctive  features  of  my  invention  more  to 
my  satisfaction  than  any  of  the  French  instruments.  There  is  a  modifica- 
tion which  they  have  made,  however,  which  requires  a  few  remarks  to 
prevent  misapprehension  in  regard  to  its  exact  nature.  In  reading 
the  excellent  work  of  M.  Brequet,  p.  163,  in  his  chapter  "Morse  Regis- 
ter marking  the  signs  in  inTc"  "  Reeepteur  Morse  faisant  les  signaux  d  Ven- 
cre^  I  find  some  things  to  correct.  A  wrong  impression  is  made  in  de- 
scribing the  mode  of  emoossing  the  characters  by  a  a  steel  point,  "  a  gau- 
frage,"  as  if  that  were  my  only  original  mode  of  marking.  This  is  not  the 
fact ;  a  pencil,  a  fountain-pen,  and  the  small  printing-wheel  by  which  ink 
was  used,  were  among  the  first  modes  of  marking.  There  were  many  modes 
of  marking  which  I  devised  and  tried,  but  experience  alone  could  settle 
which  was  best ;  the  pencil  and  pen  and  small  printing-wheel  with  ink 
were  the  original  modes  in  use ;  the  steel  point  (Diagram  13),  for  emboss- 
ing the  character,  was  invented  some  time  after,  and  patented  as  an  im- 


DlAGEAM   13. 

provement,  since  it  dispensed  with  ink ;  M.  Brequet  gives  to  Thomas  John, 
of  Prague,  the  invention  of  the  small  printing-wheel,  "unemolette  ou  rou- 
lette," to  mark  the  characters,  and  states  that  he  received  for  his  invention 
a  platina  medal  from  the  Society  of  Encouragement. 

That  Mr.  Thomas  John  made  his  improvement  independently,  without 
a  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  I  had  it  in  use  nearly  twenty  years  before,  I 
have  no  doubt,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  introduction  of  this  ink- 
ing wheel  is  not  a  novelty :  whatever  of  novelty  there  is  in  its  present  use 


774 


LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 


consists  m  the  mode  of  its  application,  and  in  the  beautiful  apparatus  con- 
structed by  Messrs.  Digney  Freres  the  mode,  so  far  as  I  know,  is  new. 
The  mode  of  application  of  Mr.  John  is  different  from  mine  and  from 
Messrs.  Digneys'.  My  original  mode  (its  first  use)  was  by  bringing  down  the 
printing- wheel,  inked  from  a  sponge,  upon  the  paper.  Mr.  John  brings  the 
printing-wheel  against  the  paper  from  the  side. 

My  caveat,  filed  in  the  Patent-Office  in  Washington  on  the  6th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1837,  in  describing  the  register,  specifies:  "3.  A  pencil,  or  fountain- 
pen,  or  a  small  printing-wheel,  or  any  other  marking  material ;  "  and  the 


Diagram  14. 


mode  of  using  the  wheel  is  also  described,  thus :  "When  the  printing-wheel 
is  used,  the  wheel  is  brought  in  contact  with  the  paper  by  the  magnet  when 
required  to  mark."  The  wheel  in  my  first  experiments,  inked  by  a  sponge, 
was  brought  down  upon  the  paper ;  Mr.  John's  mode  of  applying  the  wheel, 
inked  in  a  reservoir,  was  by  bringing  it  against  the  paper  from  the  side, 
while  Messrs.  Digneys'  mode  was  bringing  the  paper  against  the  wheel 
inked  by  a  felt  roller.  This  latter  mode  I  conceive  to  be  a  substantial  im- 
provement, since  it  combines  delicacy  with  efficiency,  and  requires  so  much 
less  power  for  the  operation  that  even  the  relays  can  be  dispensed  with  on 
lines  of  considerable  extent.  My  original  mode  of  using  the  printing-wheel 
by  ink  from  a  sponge  I  found  so  inconvenient,  from  its  constant  tendency 
to  soil  the  paper,  and  the  fountain-pens  of  every  variety  of  form  so  unreli- 


APPENDIX.  775 

able,  that  the  steel  point  "a,  gaufrage  "  (Diagram  13)  I  considered  at  the 
time  a  great  improvement,  since  it  gave  the  characters  with  certainty,  with- 
out the  inconvenience  of  constant  attention  and  the  dirt  and  accidents  of 
the  ink. 

If,  then,  judged  by  the  first  rule  laid  down  by  Dr.  Eussell,  I  claim  to  be 
the  inventor  of  the  first  recording  telegraph  (not  to  say,  strictly  speaking, 
the  first  real  telegraph),  am  I  not  "  the  first  who  produced  the  practical  re- 
sult which,  however  imperfect,  gave  a  result  which  was  seen,  and  felt,  and 
appreciated,  by  the  senses?  "  Am  I  not,  according  to  this  rule,  "  the  true 
maker  and  inventor  whom  the  world  should  recognize,  no  matter  how 
much  may  have  been  done  by  others  to  improve  my  work?  " 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood  as  appropriating  to  myself  the  credit  of 
the  many  modifications  of  the  telegraph  that  have  since  been  made  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  because  I  claim  the  invention  of  the  generic  telegraph.  I 
do  not  pretend  that  the  mechanism  of  the  first  forms  of  the  telegraph  was 
not  rude,  and  even  uncouth  when  compared  with  the  beautiful  workman- 
ship of  the  European  ateliers,  of  the  hundreds  of  accomplished  mechani- 
cians who  have  brought  to  the  work  their  incomparable  ingenuity  and 
skill,  but  I  think  I  may  justly  claim  that  the  essential  characteristics  of  a 
new  art  were  demonstrated  even  in  the  rudest  instruments,  constructed  in 
the  earliest  times  of  the  invention.  So  suggestive  were  the  novelties  in- 
troduced by  the  promulgation  of  the  new  art,  so  wide  the  field  which  it 
opened  for  investigation  in  science  and  mechanics,  that  it  would  be  strange 
indeed  if  modifications  of  the  separate  elements  that  made  up  the  whole 
invention  should  not  at  once  be  conceived  and  produced.  And  yet  I  may 
appeal  to  the  fact  generally  acknowledged  that  the  essential  features  of  the 
original  invention  have  not  been  obliterated;  they  can  be  easily  and  dis- 
tinctly traced  through  all  the  improvements  made  in  the  various  parts  by 
which  the  different  processes  of  the  art  have  been  more  easily  performed. 


776 


LIFE   OF   SAMUEL  F.   B.   MORSE. 


MOESE'S  TELEGRAPHIC   ALPHABET. 

The  Telegraphic  Alphabet  represents  each  letter  of  the  English  alpha- 
bet, with  the  numerals,  by  which  any  amount  of  writing  or  correspondence 
may  be  conducted,  in  all  the  details  of  letters  and  words  of  the  common 
mode  of  correspondence,  or  writing. 


ALPHABET. 


NUMERALS. 


A 
B 
C 
D 
E 
F 

G  J 
H 
IY 
K 
L 
M 

O 
P 

Q 

E 
SZ 
T 
IT 
V 
W 
X 
& 


THE    END. 


3 


i                   DATE  DUE 

MW   I® 

JUI'nI 

I  G   1393 

UNIVERSITY  PRODUCTS,  INC.    #859-5503 

BOSTON  COLLEGE 

-.JI11L . 

3  9031  00027699  8 


